Motivated by fear and desperation, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have been uprooted from their homes in Myanmar, seeking refuge from ethnic targeting by their government's military. Sadly, instead of shelter, what most find is nothing short of horrendous. As Nicole Tung's nightmarish pictures capture, some Rohingya mothers are forced to beg for scraps on the side of a dark and treacherous road to feed their children.
—Gabriel H. Sanchez, photo essay editor, BuzzFeed News
The island of Puerto Rico needs as much attention and support as possible right now. As the government finally kicks its aid and military response into high gear to help the millions without potable water and electricity, this National Geographic photo essay is a gorgeous tribute to a beautiful island and its proud and resilient people. As you click through the images of lush rainforests, streets lined with coconut palms, and hard-working citizens, I hope they will inspire you to make a donation to your charity of choice to help these Americans in dire need.
—Laura Geiser, photo editor, BuzzFeed News
Fascist and neo-Nazi groups are once again at the center of our collective attention as culture wars over religion, race, and nationality have proliferated and intensified around the world. This resurgence is difficult to report on without being hyperbolic about its scale. This photo essay from the New Republic looks at the intersection of fascism and society through a holistic lens, seeing the subject — as both fascist and human — in a fascinating way.
—Kate Bubacz, deputy photo director, BuzzFeed News
The majority who are familiar with the Jonestown and the Peoples Temple likely remember it for the massacre during which 900 Americans died in 1978. This photo story sheds light on life in the commune: It shows the Jonestown members living an ostensibly normal existence in a remote location in South America, where the community's leader, Jim Jones, had promised a utopia founded on social equality.
—Anna Mendoza, photo editor, BuzzFeed Australia
After fleeing their newly integrated high school due to mob violence, the Little Rock Nine returned two days later with federal troop protection to escort them to school. The Associated Press' photo collection, published on the anniversary of the week of this historic event, provides a powerful and necessary reminder that systemic racism in the US was the norm just over a half-century ago. These photos are paired with original reporting from that day by journalist Relman Morin. Especially chilling are the last lines of his article, quoting bystanders: “Let ’em do what they want now. But they can’t keep those soldiers here indefinitely and the minute they’re gone, you’ll see—”
—Laura Geiser, photo editor, BuzzFeed News
There's an eerie silence that permeates throughout Andrew Lichtenstein's photographs taken at the sites of racial tragedies in the US. These are places where blood was spilled and unspeakable horrors inflicted, the consequences of which we are still grappling with today. Turn on the TV or listen in at any dinner table in America and you'll undoubtedly hear a slew of opinions on US race relations — but here, in these dark and melancholic pictures, the spaces are allowed to speak for themselves.
—Gabriel H. Sanchez, photo essay editor, BuzzFeed News
This series evokes the idiosyncratic kind of throwback that’s almost only experienced by travelers who revisit a city they haven’t been to in decades. Here, Girard provides that uncanny retrospective with Hong Kong. It’s incredible to see the ways in which the city, which has urbanized rapidly over four decades, has both evolved and retained its character.
—Anna Mendoza, photo editor, BuzzFeed Australia
The photographic approach of Fabiola Ferrero is subtle at first, but the horror of the Venezuelan hunger crisis becomes apparent in the photo captions, which detail the subjects' dramatic weight loss. This essay effectively becomes a visual record of destitution — one that will hopefully only be revisited in history books.
—Kate Bubacz, deputy photo director, BuzzFeed News
Here are the most moving, sorrowful, and breathtaking pictures from the past week.