Randy Olson, Melissa Farlow Photography

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  • Trucks full of plastic bottles pull into Toplun, a recycling facility in Valenzuela, Philippines. The Philippines is the third largest contributor to ocean plastics with 500,000 tons a year. Twenty-five percent of the waste of the Philippines is produced in Metro Manila.
    RANDY OLSON_MM8515_2692106-1.JPG
  • A worker hangs on as trucks full of plastic bottles pull into Toplun, a recycling facility in Valenzuela, Philippines. The Philippines is the third largest contributor to ocean plastics with 500,000 tons a year. Twenty-five percent of the waste of the Philippines is produced in Metro Manila.
    RANDY OLSON_MM8515_2692106.JPG
  • Young boy gallops at full speed riding bare back on a horse leaving clouds of dust in the barren, high-mountain Peruvian desert near Chauchilla.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187591.jpg
  • A Zapotec Indian woman in traditional clothing serves food to wedding guests while others dance into the night. Weekends are full of wedding celebrations in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mexico, the narrow and flat part of the country where the Zapotec culture is still strong. <br />
Women are noticeably open and confident, taking a leading role in business and government. <br />
The Isthmus never became part of the Aztec Empire and resistance to the Spanish was strong in the mid-1500s.  This party was complete with traditional food and dancing. After the church wedding, the couple walked through the streets of town following musicians. They collect family and carry food to where the street is blocked off for the party.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187048.jpg
  • Evening on the ranch, a young cowboy stands under a full moon with his trained former mustang, Paiute. Decked out with a black hat, a sheriff's badge and red cape, Tanner follows in the footsteps of his mother who trains wild horses and learned the talents of her grandfather.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MM7517_1910432.TIF
  • The bride and groom put their heads together and share a private moment at their wedding party.  Weekends are full of celebrations complete with traditional food and dancing in the street. After the church wedding, the couple walked through the streets of town following musicians. They collected family members who carried food to the street blocked off for the party. <br />
Mexico's narrowest point is the Isthmus of Tehuantepec--flat, country where the Zapotec culture is still strong.  Women take leading role in business and government.  The Isthmus never became part of the Aztec Empire and resistance to the Spanish was strong in the mid-1500s.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187034.jpg
  • An American alligator hunts at night in the shallow, tannin-rich waters of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia. The mahogany-red hue of the water which, when reflective looks like black coffee, is caused by acid released from decaying vegetation.<br />
<br />
An adult alligator can reach 8–12 feet in length and weigh 400 to 500 pounds. The primitive reptile was nearly hunted to extinction for sport and for its leathery hide, which is used for shoes and purses.The Okefenokee is home to an estimated 10,000-13,000 American Alligators.<br />
<br />
Established in 1937, the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge protects the waters, wilderness, and wildlife of the 402,000-acre Okefenokee Swamp.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_110250-6.JPG
  • An American alligator suns in the shallow, tannin-rich waters of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia. The mahogany-red hue of the water which, when reflective looks like black coffee, is caused by the acid released from decaying vegetation.<br />
<br />
An adult alligator can reach 8–12 feet in length and weigh 400 to 500 pounds. The primitive reptile was nearly hunted to extinction for sport and for its leathery hide, which is used for shoes and purses.The Okefenokee is home to an estimated 10,000-13,000 American Alligators.<br />
<br />
Established in 1937, the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge protects the waters, wilderness, and wildlife of the 402,000-acre Okefenokee Swamp.
    MELISSA FARLOW_05842_110250.JPG
  • A grandmother works picking flowers with her family under the smoking volcano Popocatepetl in nearby Atlixco, flower capital of Mexico.  Workers harvest bouquets of zempazuchitl flowers for Day of the Dead celebrations.  Fields full of yellow flowers are cultivated to decorate altars and graves for the Mexican fiesta.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187016.jpg
  • Shopping carts full of plastic bags surround lunch tables at Sams Club in Shenzhen The company also opened the first Wal-Mart in Shenzhen, China.<br />
<br />
In China 17 years ago, the best store was a government “Friendship Store” that displayed a photo of a female employee on the wall with a sign underneath, “Worst Employee of the Month.” The only way you could motivate workers at that time was to shame them. And there was very little plastic packaging.<br />
<br />
This is the city where Deng made his famous “to be rich is glorious” speech. The signs that hang overhead in this abundant store proudly announce, “Made in China.” <br />
<br />
Interestingly, but perhaps not surprisingly, beauty in China is seen as utilitarian. Cosmetics for instance are a major business in China and women in the China Middle see this as an important part of their lifestyle. Wal-Mart aims for the Comfort Class consumer earning between $5,000 and $20,000 a year.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7493_1176309-1.jpg
  • Couples weather fog while lounging on a rocky beach in Miraflores, an affluent neighborhood in Lima. Some read newspapers and others sleep while a food vender carries treats looking for sales on a Sunday morning.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187049.jpg
  • Onlookers watch as a model is reflected in a window at an interview for a fashion show.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7493_1176469.jpg
  • Models wait to be interviewed for a fashion show. Beijing has become a modern day fashion capital of the country.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7493_1176468.jpg
  • A bride checks her earring in a mirror while she prepares for her wedding.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7493_1176434.JPG
  • A woman in a red uniform stands guard while two women exit a villa in the Palais de Fortune development.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7493_1176252.jpg
  • Power grid of towers and electrical lines are outside the Palais de Fortune development.
    RANDY OLSON_MM7493_1176252-1.jpg
  • Cowboy chic bar patrons crowd together under a red glow to watch dancing and mechanical bull riding. The bar scene is packed at midnight in Monterrey, Mexico's third largest city of 3 million, also the capital of Nuevo Leon. A modern, industrial city, Monterrey is described as most Americanized-where the pursuit of profit seems more American than Mexican.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187055.jpg
  • Clinic director readies to examine a child burned by scalding water.
    RANDY OLSON_04319_1182078.JPG
  • Man loading bag of cement onto a truck.
    RANDY OLSON_04319_1203356.JPG
  • After the church wedding, the bride and groom are escorted through the streets of town following musicians. They collected family members who carried food to the street blocked off for the party. <br />
Mexico's narrowest point is the Isthmus of Tehuantepec--flat, country where the Zapotec culture is still strong.  Women take leading role in business and government.  The Isthmus never became part of the Aztec Empire and resistance to the Spanish was strong in the mid-1500s.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187034-1.JPG
  • Circus performers dressed in their costumes ride on a truck through town to advertise the show in Pisco. Locals watch the parade as 20 performers from Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Uruguay and Chile smile and wave as they ride around in a circus truck the first night in town.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187037-1.JPG
  • A car rounds a curve along a scenic section of the Pan American highway north of Oaxaca in Mexico.<br />
The Pan-American Highway is a network of road that passes through the America's many diverse climates and ecological types – ranging from dense jungles to arid deserts.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187636.jpg
  • Tourists walk through the ruins of Monte Alban, a Zapotec capital in the Valley of Oaxaca. Inhabited over a period of 1,500 years by a succession of peoples – Olmecs, Zapotecs and Mixtecs – the terraces, dams, canals, pyramids and artificial mounds of Monte Albán were literally carved out of the mountain and are the symbols of a sacred topography. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with unique architecture.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187614.jpg
  • People play in the surf along the beach during soft summer light in La Serena, Chile's premier beach resort. La Serena enjoys a transitional climate between the arid northern desert of the Atacama and the pleasant Mediterranean climate of the central coast.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187584.jpg
  • Vicunas live near the arid Atacama Desert in Reserva Nacional Salinas y Aguada Blanca. They survive eating nutrient-poor, tough, bunch grasses. Highly valued for their wool, vicunas are protected by law. The vicuna is the national animal of Peru and appears on the Peruvian coat of arms.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187564.jpg
  • Songs and prayer are how nuns begin their day at Santa Catalina Convent in Arequipa, Peru. The Monasterio de Santa Catalina was built in 1580. Among the 30 cloistered nuns who live in silence are five novices who study for five years to become a nun. The youngest nun is 15. The oldest is 98.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187061.jpg
  • Cloistered nuns pray seven times a day and otherwise remain silent.  Contemplation is the most important thing in their lives. Santa Catalina Convent, the Monasterio de Santa Catalina was built in 1580 and enlarged in the 17th century. In the chapel, the 30 cloistered nuns come together who live secluded inside the convent.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187059.jpg
  • A blurring of cultures as children dance in the street wearing Halloween masks in celebration of Day of the Dead. The American and Hispanic celebrations coincide involving masks and candy in the small Mexican town where families use burros and make mescal from agave plants.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187045.jpg
  • Bygone atmosphere of aging alleys and jumbled rooflines characterizes Valparaiso's older neighborhoods. Victorian-era funicular railways run up and down the port city's notoriously steep hillsides behind a building where a man sits in a window.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187027.jpg
  • On the edge of the PanAmerican highway, a Huastec Indian family plays soccer kicking the ball under a clothes line in the front courtyard. The family still follows the old ways in the mountains of Mexico, living in a thatched adobe house and surviving on farming.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187011.jpg
  • Cloistered nuns pray seven times a day and otherwise remain silent.  Contemplation is the most important thing in their lives. Santa Catalina Convent, the Monasterio de Santa Catalina was built in 1580 and enlarged in the 17th century. In the chapel, the 30 cloistered nuns come together who live secluded inside the convent.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187059-1.JPG
  • Fishermen unload their catch of the day to sell at the fish market on the beach at San Andres. Women buyers bid on the fish, then load them to sell in Lima.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187588-2.JPG
  • A young girl lights a candle at an alter in her home at the beginning of Day of the Dead or Día de los Muertos. It is a Mexican fiesta celebrating life and death of loved ones.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187588.jpg
  • Pedestrians walk down stairs to  a tunnel under the International Bridge Number one, the oldest existing link between Mexico's Nuevo Laredo and Laredo, Texas. Day and night more than four million people-commuters, shoppers and sightseers-walk across the bridge each year.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187476-1.JPG
  • Framed in blue shutters, a dog hangs out of an open window watching people walk by.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187554-2.JPG
  • Children dressed in their costumes ride on a truck through town to celebrate the first da of spring. The Primavera parade is also known as Friendship Day or Children’s Day.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187037-2.JPG
  • Circus performers dressed in their costumes ride on a truck through town to advertise the show in Pisco. 20 performers from Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Uruguay and Chile smile and wave as they ride around in a circus truck the first night in town.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187037.jpg
  • Dressed up in a suit and bow tie, a young boy patiently waits for cake to be offered while attending a wedding reception in the restored Colonial colonnades edge of Lima's Plaza de Armas.  Well dressed guests mingle at the party towering over the youth.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187638-6.JPG
  • Skeletons bleach in the desert sun Chauchilla Cemetery, a burial ground dating from the late Nazca Period from A.D. 500-700. Grave robbers have looted most of the tombs in this  remote spot of southern Peru, scattering bones, garments and pottery shards across the blistering sands. Tourists pay to see some skulls that have been re-arranged. Mummies with hair, teeth and clothing sit in rock walled tomb-like graves facing east.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187496-1.JPG
  • School children explore a worn pyramid on an archeological site. The Huaca Rajada, of Sipán, Peru, is a Moche Pyramid near Chiclayo, Peru in the Lambayeque Valley, famous for the tomb of the Lord of Sipán, Peru excavated in 1987. The ruins of Sipán are dated from 50–700 AD, during the Moche culture.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187661.jpg
  • A tourist walk on top of a worn pyramid above a tomb and archeological site.<br />
The Huaca Rajada, of Sipán, Peru, is a Moche Pyramid near Chiclayo, Peru in the Lambayeque Valley, famous for the tomb of the Lord of Sipán, Peru, excavated in 1987. The ruins of Sipán are dated from 50–700 AD, during the Moche culture.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187659.jpg
  • Flags and statuary decorate a colorful roadside altar in a desolate region of northern Chile. Shrines or  animitas are a common tradition of memorials that mark the site where someone died. People who are not related to the person who was killed can offer a prayer at the animita; in this way, animitas can take the roles of popular saints in the Catholic religion.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187656.jpg
  • Stair and original walls from 1580 in Santa Catalina Convent.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187651.jpg
  • Four uniformed sailors line up to watch the brigantine schooner Esmeralda in the port of Valparaiso. The ship returned through the Panama Canal after being out on a training mission for 7 months. They sailed to Europe near Norway, Poland, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Portugal, Spain, England, France, Mexico and the United States. The ship had 336 officers and crew-95 Marine cadet officers, 72 Navy.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187649.jpg
  • Sunlight floods the doorway as Christian worshipers file into Lo Vasquez  sanctuary. They walked during a religious pilgrimage to the Catholic cathedral located near both Santiago and Valparaiso, Chile.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187647.jpg
  • Pre-Columbian reliefs in stone at the Sechin ruins near Casma dating 1600 B.C.<br />
They are well-preserved among the Peru's coastal ruins. Three outside walls of the main temple are covered with relief carvings of warriors and of captives being eviscerated. The gruesomely realistic stone carvings are up to four meters high. Little is known about the warlike people who are responsible which is one of the site's main points of interest.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187646.jpg
  • Pre-Columbian reliefs in stone at the Sechin ruins near Casma dating 1600 B.C.<br />
They are well-preserved among the Peru's coastal ruins. Three outside walls of the main temple are covered with relief carvings of warriors and of captives being eviscerated.  The gruesomely realistic stone carvings are up to four meters high.  Little is known about the warlike people who are responsible which is one of the site's main points of interest.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187643.jpg
  • Dune landscape in the wildlife sanctuary, Resrva Nactional de Paracas, Peru.  Sand dunes line the most important wildlife sanctuary on the Peruvian coast that is known for it's clear blue waters, birds and marine life.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187640.jpg
  • Tourists walk on an outcrop in a wildlife sanctuary, Reserva Nacional de Paracas, Peru. Dunes line the most important wildlife sanctuary, Reserva Nacional de Paracas, on the Peruvian coast known for it's eroded, sculpted rocks and arches and birds and marine life.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187638.jpg
  • Pan American highway in the Atacama Desert, the driest place on earth. The series of roads connects North America to the southern tip of South America through a variety of landscapes. This desolate stretch of the road is south of Antofagasta, Chile.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187633.jpg
  • La Portada on Chile's desert coast has an eroded, natural arch created by marine erosion by ocean waters like much of the surrounding coastal cliffs. The La Portada Natural Monument is south of Antofagasta.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187601.jpg
  • A young girl lights a candle at an alter in her home at the beginning of Day of the Dead or Día de los Muertos. It is a Mexican fiesta celebrating life and death of loved ones.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187588.jpg
  • Bunch grass clumps grow in the arid landscape near the El Tatio geysers in the Atacama Desert.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187551.jpg
  • Hikers walking along the top ridge of a large sand dune in the Atacama Desert. Known as the driest place on earth, the desert is also considered the oldest. It has experienced semi-arid conditions for over 150 million years, and the inner core—the driest spot—has been hyper-arid for over 15 million years.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187548.jpg
  • Hikers walking along the top ridge of a large dune in the Atacama Desert a region in north Chile that is considered the driest place on earth. Located between the Andes and Coastal mountains, the parched desert is formed by wind and erosion.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187547.jpg
  • A lone hiker climb atop weathered desert sand landscape of driest place on earth. The Atacama Desert sometimes goes more than a century without recorded precipitation. The Atacama Desert is also considered the oldest desert on earth. On the whole, it has experienced semi-arid conditions for over 150 million years, and the inner core—the driest spot—has been hyper-arid for over 15 million years.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187540.jpg
  • Costumed young dancers move to the beat of a young drummer who blends African and Peruvian rhythms in their living room. The family descended from slaves brought to work in the area's cotton plantations.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187502.jpg
  • A respected older musician plays of fiddle and the music he learned from his own grandfather. In the small community of El Carmen, near Pisco, most locals trace their ancestry to African slaves, brought there generations ago to work in the Peru's cotton plantations. The brightly-colored red walls of his home are adorned with family pictures.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187500.jpg
  • During October Festival of Bullfighting for the Lord of the Miracles, hundreds of spectators gather to critique the finesse of both red-caped matadors and bovine competitors. Plaza de Acho is Peru's oldest bull ring is located in a Lima suburb under the towering Cerro San Cristóbal mountain.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187498.jpg
  • Skeletons bleach in the desert sun Chauchilla Cemetery, a burial ground dating from the late Nazca Period from A.D. 500-700. Grave robbers have looted most of the tombs in this  remote spot of southern Peru, scattering bones, garments and pottery shards across the blistering sands. Tourists pay to see some skulls that have been re-arranged. Mummies with hair, teeth and clothing sit in rock walled tomb-like graves facing east.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187496.jpg
  • Costumed revelers march on the Pan American highway in San Pedro Totolapán, Mexico, on Day of the Dead. They stop traffic to solicit handouts from drivers; if no pesos appear, the driver is generally treated to verbal abuse.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187492.jpg
  • Across a ridge top, a farmer follows his burros burdened with firewood to a mescal factory in rural Oaxaca. The region is where 80% of the mescal made in Mexico. Workers harvest the Maguey plant and bury it with dirt placing it in an oven with hot rocks for 36-48 hours. The burned plant is milled with a horse pulling a heavy stone. It is fermented 8-10 days and the manager plays classical music to help the process. It is distilled twice to be about 70% alcohol and stored for 3-6 months.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187490.jpg
  • A lone man walks on a footbridge crossing Cascada Cola de Caballo or Horsetail Falls, a waterfall with a 75-foot drop that flows through Cumbres de Monterrey in Las Cumbres National Park in Mexico.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187485.jpg
  • The most recognized symbol of Monterrey, Mexico is Cerro de la Silla, the saddle-backed mountain range. It is the backdrop behind the modern orange sculptural monument with laser beams, “Faro Del Comercio” or “Beacon of Commerce,” by sculpture Luis Barraz that is a contrast to the traditional cathedral, Baroque style Cathedral of Monterrey. <br />
<br />
Beyond Macro Plaza both colonial and contemporary architecture are found on the streets. The third largest city in Mexico, Monterrey is the capital of Nuevo Leon. It is an industrial and commercial city with cultural interests. It’s said that Monterrey faces more to the north and the United States than south to Latin America.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187480.jpg
  • Pedestrians dash through and underground walkway that leads onto International Bridge Number one, the oldest existing link between Mexico's Nuevo Laredo and Laredo, Texas. Day and night more than four million people-commuters, shoppers and sightseers-walk across the bridge each year.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187476.jpg
  • Sand dunes encroach on the Pan American Highway, on Peru's coast blown from a secluded beach by strong coastal winds.  The paved but isolated section of the road hugs the coastline in the Sechura Desert south of Casma, Peru. <br />
The Pan American highway connects a myriad of countries and cultural experiences along the 10,000-mile portion of road that stretches through Latin America.  Bustling sophisticated cities contrast desolate desert and rural countryside in Mexico, Peru and Chile.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187474.jpg
  • Chilean cowboys in traditional Andalusian sombreros watch as huasos wearing colorful ponchos line up their horses under a flag in the ring. They are competing in a rodeo in ranch country north of Santiago by pinning a steer and trying to beat the clock.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187472.jpg
  • Man sits in front of alter in his home in Xoxocotlan for Day of the Dead. Dia de los Muertos is Mexico's most characteristic fiesta where it is believed that souls of the dead return to the earth.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187074.jpg
  • Sugar workers are covered with black char as they harvest cane in the hot sun after fields are burned. Canes are burned before they are cut because leaves from the plant are so sharp they dull blades of their machetes. The stalks are then loaded on a truck, taken to a mill to be processed into white and brown sugar. <br />
The Pomalca sugar cane coop located at Campo Rosaliais, Peru.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187071.jpg
  • Sugar workers harvest cane in the heat after fields are burned.<br />
Workers are covered with black char when they cut sugar canes with a machete. The sharp leaves destroy workers and tools, so they are burned before the raw sugar is harvested. The stalks are then loaded on a truck, taken to a mill to be processed into white and brown sugar. <br />
The Pomalca sugar cane coop located at Campo Rosaliais, Peru.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187070.jpg
  • A Huastec Indian woman arranges shoes to sell at the Ciudad Valles Sunday market in the mountain region of northern Mexico.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187068.jpg
  • A businessmen crosses a street where patterns of reflected buildings make a geometric pattern in Chile's bustling capital city.<br />
Approximately three decades of uninterrupted economic growth have transformed Santiago into one of Latin America's most sophisticated metropolitan areas, with extensive suburban development, dozens of shopping malls, and impressive high-rise architecture.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187067.jpg
  • Novices studying to become cloistered nuns take a break from their prayers at Santa Catalina Convent to sing in the garden.<br />
The young, cloistered nuns never leave convent grounds and live a life of contemplation in Arequipa, Peru. Older nuns allow the young women free time once a day to help them adjust to the cloistered, regimented life. Having just left their families they will never see again, the vow of commitment the novices take is a serious lifelong decision.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187062.jpg
  • Cloistered nuns come together for chorus and prayer in Santa Catalina Convent in Arequipa, Peru. Ornate paintings and art adorn the walls of the chapel.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187060.jpg
  • A white-gloved military parade takes over a street through the downtown Santiago.<br />
Carabineros de Chile are the uniformed Chilean national police force and gendarmery created on April 27, 1927. Their mission is to maintain order and create public respect for the laws of the country.<br />
They also re-establish order and security in Chilean society through civic education, service to the community, police work, and in a war situation, to act as a paramilitary force (all their members have military training).
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187054.jpg
  • A young boy paddles a tortora reed boat through the surf near a little village of Huanchaco located north of Lima.  The caballitos, or "little horses," are traditional hand-made boats used by fishermen in the region.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187047.jpg
  • Chilean cowboy pushes his horse toward the railing to trap a steer at a rodeo.<br />
Hausos topped with Andalusian hats or flat-brimmed sombreros compete in teams at a rodeo in the Rodeo InterAsociacional Marga-Marga northwest of Santiago, Chile. The teams that are called colleras run a cow out of a pen and pin it while racing against the clock.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187044.jpg
  • Woman places flowers on a graven in Xoxocotlan for the Mexican fiesta, Day of the Dead celebrations. Día de los Muertos is a celebration of life and death and relatives bring food and drink and spend time with their loved ones in the cemetery.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187043.jpg
  • Wind blows makeshift shelters of El Nino victims of flash flooding in the desert of Peru.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187041.jpg
  • Costumed revelers rest in the shade of a cantina while parading for Day of the Dead celebration in rural Mexico.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187040.jpg
  • A U.S. Customs Service agent plays with a search dog near trucks crossing at the Mexican border.<br />
<br />
The Canine Enfocement Program is used to combat terrorism, interdict narcotics, and other contraband while helping to facilitate and process legitimate trade and travel.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187039.jpg
  • Business men take a break at an upscale coffee bar. Coffee shops are on every block in downtown Santiago where men catch a cup of coffee and maybe a kiss. The waitress wearing a short red dress works for substantial tips at Cafe Cousino or Coffee with Legs. She can make $800 a week by flirting, lighting cigarettes and serving coffee.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187038.jpg
  • Chilean cowboys or huasos compete in teams at a rodeo. Wearing red ponchos and topped with Andalusian hats or flat-brimmed sombreros, teams compete at the Rodeo InterAsociacional Marga-Marga northwest of Santiago, Chile. The teams,  also called colleras, run a cow out of a pen and pin it while racing against the clock.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187031.jpg
  • Workers collect wild agave in rural Oaxaca where 80% of the mescal made in Mexico. They use it to produce 1,000 liters of mescal a month at a small factory. The laborers cut 8-year old wild maguey instead of domestic plants with machetes they carry on their belts.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187029.jpg
  • Matador faces a bull in Peru's oldest bullring, Plaza de Archo in Rímac, a Lima suburb. Red cape flying, sword drawn, the costumed man faces a close call with the angry beast. Bullfighting remains a passion for many Peruvians who revel in its pomp and pageantry--and its inherent danger.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187023.jpg
  • Restored Colonial colonnades edge Lima's Plaza de Armas, bringing many people into the streets of Peru's capital city. The era when the City of Kings was founded by conquistador Francisco Pizarro in 1535, established it as the showplace of Spanish South America.
    MELISSA FARLOW_04526_1187022.jpg
  • Mariachis musicians gather a street-side crowd of both Mexicans and gringo tourists for nightly serenading. Plaza Garibaldi is where mariachi bands dressed in sharply, matching suits, have gathered since the 1920s, to play traditional heartfelt ballads for a few pesos.
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  • Masai family and their herd of goats.
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  • Masai family and their herd of goats.
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  • Masai tribesman cooking meat over a smoking fire.
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  • Lined up containers wait on a woman working a pump as kids watch.
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  • Ghanaian standing in water as others relax in a canoe on shore.
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  • Ghanaians carrying volunteer's supplies.
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  • Ghanaian steering a long canoe on Lake Volta.
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  • Arriving in Motoka on a ferry ride across Lake Volta.
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  • Ghanaian woman with a colorful umbrella walking through her village.
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  • A man crushes rocks for road construction outside the El Molo village of Komote in Kenya's Lake Turkana region.
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  • With ears pricked forward, a yearling thoroughbred curiously awaits at a white fence on Manchester Farm, a Thoroughbred horse with a barn that is located on the backside of Keeneland Race Track. What makes Kentucky special is that it is geologically favored for horses. Millions of years ago, layers of shells were buried and the crushed limestone makes the grass rich in calcium. As the land sinks, hills and valley are formed which make a perfect terrain for building strong muscles when horses run.
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  • The Heidelberg Project, an outdoor art museum started by Tyree Guyton in 1986.
    MELISSA FARLOW_MT6613_1457243.jpg
  • A young girl and her adopted wild horse stand by the water that flows from Cold Creek into a water hole.
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