Photography

Graves are visible near the dried-up Aral Sea outside Aralsk, Kazakhstan, Monday, July 3, 2023. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

On the Aral Sea, graves rise above the dust. They’re reminders of the life its waters once sustained

ARALSK, Kazakhstan (AP) — In the middle of the vast desert that surrounds what is left of the Aral Sea, graves stand as stark reminders — of communities that once thrived, of the powerful body of water that teemed with life, and of the years of change that fueled its disappearance.

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EBRAHIM NOROOZI, VICTORIA MILKO

Chin Choeun, 54, climbs down a palm tree at Trapang Ampel village, outside Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, March 15, 2024. Choeun spends nearly 12 hours a day collecting sap from palm trees that he and his wife turn into palm sugar. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Collecting sap to make palm sugar is an arduous, and less appealing, job for Cambodians

Voters queue at a polling station at noon local time in Moscow, Russia, on Sunday, March 17, 2024. The Russian opposition called on people to head to polling stations at noon on Sunday in protest as voting takes place on the last day of a presidential election that was all but certain to extend President Vladimir Putin's rule after he clamped down on dissent. AP can't confirm that all the voters seen at the polling station at noon were taking part in the opposition protest. (AP Photo)

Russians vote in election dominated by Putin

Residents push a giant paper-mache "torito" or bull stuffed with fireworks during a nighttime lighting of bull-shaped figures as part of the annual festival honoring Saint John of God, in Tultepec, Mexico, Friday, March 8, 2024. The celebration, now its 35th year, pays homage to the patron saint of the poor and sick, St. John of God, who the fireworks' producers view as a protective figure. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

The culture of Mexican fireworks revealed, through the lens of an AP photographer

Marco Ugarte has been a photographer based in Mexico City for over 30 years. He covered the fireworks festival in nearby Tultepec for just the second time a week ago. Aiming to show the artisans’ passion and dedication for the dangerous art of making fireworks, Ugarte was given training in safety and respect for the pyrotechnics before he aimed his camera on the explosive party. Here is what he said in Spanish about the experience to Deputy Director of Global Photography Enric Marti.

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MARCO UGARTE

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People gather for an auction of farm equipment during 56th annual mud sale to benefit the local fire department in Gordonville, Pa., Saturday, March 9, 2024. Mud sales are a relatively new tradition in the heart of Pennsylvania's Amish country, going back about 60 years and held in early spring as the ground begins to thaw but it's too early for much farm work. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Spring for Amish people in Pennsylvania means ‘mud sales,’ from pitchforks to pies

Nguyen Thi Thuy, a vendor who sells steamed buns on a floating market, paddles her boat in Can Tho, Vietnam, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024. On good days she makes about $4 — hardly enough to put food on the table. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

In Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, the lure of moving to the city grows even stronger amid climate shocks

Students perform a prayer during the first day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan at Ar-Raudlatul Hasanah Islamic Boarding School in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, Tuesday, March 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Binsar Bakkara)

Muslims around the world observe holy month of Ramadan with prayer and fasting

Balinese Hindus participate in a purification ceremony during sunrise on Melasti at Padanggala beach in Bali, Indonesia on Friday, March 8, 2024. Melasti is a day leading up to the New Year where Balinese Hindus perform rituals as an act of symbolic cleansing. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)

Balinese celebrate New Year with firefights, sword-piercing and a sacred Day of Silence

Ryan Gosling performs the song "I'm Just Ken" from the movie "Barbie" during the Oscars on Sunday, March 10, 2024, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Standout moments from the 96th Academy Awards, from the red carpet through the show

Worshippers carry an image of the Holy Christ of the Blood while it rains, during a procession through the streets of downtown Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, March 9, 2024. Preceded by nine days of prayers and emulating a documented historical tradition dating back five hundred years, worshippers requested rain as Catalonia last month declared drought emergency for the area of around 6 million people including the city of Barcelona. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

A religious procession in Barcelona celebrates rain during a severe drought in northeast Spain

Israel-Hamas war

Palestinians crowd a market in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024. An estimated 1.5 million Palestinians displaced by the war took refuge in Rafahor, which is likely Israel's next focus in its war against Hamas. (AP Photo/Mohammed Dahman)

Palestinians cling to life in Rafah, a town likely to be Israel’s next focus in the war on Hamas

Palestinians wave their national flag and celebrate by a destroyed Israeli tank at the southern Gaza Strip fence east of Khan Younis on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Yousef Masoud)

These photos capture 100 days of agony in an unprecedented war between Israel and Hamas

FILE - Demonstrators use the flashlights on their mobile phones as they protest against Israeli attacks on Gaza, in Barcelona, Spain on Nov. 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File)

Emotions run high at pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrations around the world

Ryan Gosling performs the song "I'm Just Ken" from the movie "Barbie" during the Oscars on Sunday, March 10, 2024, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

AP Week in Pictures: Global

March 8-14, 2024

From the Academy Awards in Los Angeles to Ramadan celebrations to the Fireworks Festival in Mexico, this photo gallery highlights some of the most compelling images from around the world made or published by The Associated Press in the past week.

Ryan Michelle Bathe, left, and Sterling K. Brown arrive at the Oscars on Sunday, March 10, 2024, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

AP Week in Pictures: North America

Trains are parked outside the central train station in Frankfurt, Germany, Tuesday, March 12, 2024. German train drivers union GDL called for another strike on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

AP Week in Pictures: Europe and Africa

A woman holds a bengala in front of La Moneda presidential palace during an International Women's Day march, in Santiago, Chile, March 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)

AP Week in Pictures: Latin America and Caribbean

Indonesian Muslims attend an evening prayer called 'tarawih' marking the first eve of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, at Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia, Monday, March 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

AP Week in Pictures: Asia