An Actually Recommendable 93-Photo Slideshow

The fight was overly one-sided, and the student surely knew it, making him try anything. In one of many demonstrations for free, quality public education in Chile, a group of riot police surrounded a couple who stood in an embrace. I could hear the youth screaming at the police but I couldn’t see him, so I stood as tall as possible on the tips of my toes and raised my camera to photograph them as the police tried to separate them. I could see one policeman pressing his fingers into the youth’s throat, but he resisted and was determined not to be separated from his companion in spite of the tear gas cloud covering them. As a change of tactic, the officer took his fingers off the student’s throat and forced his arm between the two demonstrators right across the boy’s mouth. That was when he defended himself by biting into the policeman’s arm, protected by body armor. The policeman pressed the youth’s head against his armor, and blood began to flow from his mouth before the couple was taken away under arrest. They were still in an embrace.

I guess if you are going to idly click through one internet slideshow today, it might as well be Reuter’s collection of the best photographs of the year, which includes commentary from each photographer. (This one, from Ivan Alvarado in Chile, can be seen here.) Be warned that a lot of the photos are very sad and often graphic. I’d suggest staying 100 miles away from slide no. 32, in particular. [Reuters]