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2013 Pictures of the Year

57 images Created 15 Dec 2013

From chaotic byways of Bangkok to the back roads of northern Laos to the mean streets of Phoenix, these are my favorite photos of 2013.

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  • 06 JANUARY 2013 - BANGKOK, THAILAND:  People reach for Buddhist amulets recently blessed by monks after a service for a relic that is a piece of the Buddha's hair. The relic has been on display in Bangkok for about 10 years. There was a ceremony in Sanam Luang in Bangkok Sunday to honor the relic. People prayed for it and received blessings from Buddhist monks and Brahmin priests who presided over the service. The hair is being moved to Ayutthaya, where it will be displayed in a Buddhist temple. The piece of hair has been on loan to Thai Buddhists from a Buddhist temple in Sri Lanka.   PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    BuddhaHairRelic033.jpg
  • 12 JANUARY 2013 - BANGKOK, THAILAND:  Ladyboy entertainers check themselves in the mirror in front of the Cockatoo bar in the Soi Cowboy red light district in Bangkok. In Thai, the ladyboys are called kathoey. Many work in the entertainment and night life sectors of the Thai economy. Prostitution in Thailand is illegal, although in practice it is tolerated and partly regulated. Prostitution is practiced openly throughout the country. The number of prostitutes is difficult to determine, estimates vary widely. Since the Vietnam War, Thailand has gained international notoriety among travelers from many countries as a sex tourism destination. One estimate published in 2003 placed the trade at US$ 4.3 billion per year or about three percent of the Thai economy. It has been suggested that at least 10% of tourist dollars may be spent on the sex trade. According to a 2001 report by the World Health Organisation: "There are between 150,000 and 200,000 sex workers (in Thailand)."    PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    NanaSoiCowboy0112023.jpg
  • 13 JANUARY 2013 - BANGKOK, THAILAND:  A Thai boy jumps into Khlong Bang Luang from a tree on the canal bank in Bangkok. The Bang Luang neighborhood lines Khlong (Canal) Bang Luang in the Thonburi section of Bangkok on the west side of Chao Phraya River. It was established in the late 18th Century by King Taksin the Great after the Burmese sacked the Siamese capital of Ayutthaya. The neighborhood, like most of Thonburi, is relatively undeveloped and still criss crossed by the canals which once made Bangkok famous. It's now a popular day trip from central Bangkok and offers a glimpse into what the city used to be like.     PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    KhlongBangLuangNeighborhood040.jpg
  • 18 JANUARY 2013 - BANGKOK, THAILAND: A transgendered sex worker gets ready for her shift in a dressing room in the Nana Entertainment District in Bangkok. Prostitution in Thailand is technically illegal, although in practice it is tolerated and partly regulated. Prostitution is practiced openly throughout the country. The number of prostitutes is difficult to determine, estimates vary widely. Since the Vietnam War, Thailand has gained international notoriety among travelers from many countries as a sex tourism destination. One estimate published in 2003 placed the trade at US$ 4.3 billion per year or about three percent of the Thai economy. It has been suggested that at least 10% of tourist dollars may be spent on the sex trade. According to a 2001 report by the World Health Organisation: "There are between 150,000 and 200,000 sex workers (in Thailand)."          PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    Nana0118010.jpg
  • 30 JANUARY 2013 - PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA:    People use their smart phones to photograph the crematorium for late Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk in Phnom Penh. Sihanouk (31 October 1922 - 15 October 2012) was the King of Cambodia from 1941 to 1955 and again from 1993 to 2004. He was the effective ruler of Cambodia from 1953 to 1970. After his second abdication in 2004, he was given the honorific of "The King-Father of Cambodia." Sihanouk held so many positions since 1941 that the Guinness Book of World Records identifies him as the politician who has served the world's greatest variety of political offices. These included two terms as king, two as sovereign prince, one as president, two as prime minister, as well as numerous positions as leader of various governments-in-exile. He served as puppet head of state for the Khmer Rouge government in 1975-1976. Most of these positions were only honorific, including the last position as constitutional king of Cambodia. Sihanouk's actual period of effective rule over Cambodia was from 9 November 1953, when Cambodia gained its independence from France, until 18 March 1970, when General Lon Nol and the National Assembly deposed him. Upon his final abdication, the Cambodian throne council appointed Norodom Sihamoni, one of Sihanouk's sons, as the new king. Sihanouk died in Beijing, China, where he was receiving medical care, on Oct. 15, 2012. His cremation is scheduled to take place on Feb. 4, 2013. Over a million people are expected to attend the service.        PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    MourningSihanouk037.jpg
  • 31 JANUARY 2013 - PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA:  A Cambodian woman has her eyebrows shaved off after shaving her head while mourning the death of former Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk. In Cambodia, the spouse and the children mourn the death of their husband or father by shaving their heads, and many Cambodian women have shaved their heads recently because Sihanouk was revered as the father of the nation. Norodom Sihanouk (31 October 1922 - 15 October 2012) was the King of Cambodia from 1941 to 1955 and again from 1993 to 2004. He was the effective ruler of Cambodia from 1953 to 1970. After his second abdication in 2004, he was given the honorific of "The King-Father of Cambodia." Sihanouk served two terms as king, two as sovereign prince, one as president, two as prime minister, as well as numerous positions as leader of various governments-in-exile. He served as puppet head of state for the Khmer Rouge government in 1975-1976. Most of these positions were only honorific, including the last position as constitutional king of Cambodia. Sihanouk's actual period of effective rule over Cambodia was from 9 November 1953, when Cambodia gained its independence from France, until 18 March 1970, when General Lon Nol and the National Assembly deposed him. Upon his final abdication, the Cambodian throne council appointed Norodom Sihamoni, one of Sihanouk's sons, as the new king. Sihanouk died in Beijing, China, where he was receiving medical care, on Oct. 15, 2012. His funeral procession, which will wind through Phnom Penh is Friday, Feb.1 and his cremation is on Feb. 4, 2013. Over a million people are expected to attend the service.    PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    MourningSihanouk0131003.jpg
  • 01 FEBRUARY 2013 - PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA:  A Cambodian Aspara dancer prepares to walk in the funeral procession of former Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk. Norodom Sihanouk (31 October 1922 - 15 October 2012) was the King of Cambodia from 1941 to 1955 and again from 1993 to 2004. He was the effective ruler of Cambodia from 1953 to 1970. After his second abdication in 2004, he was given the honorific of "The King-Father of Cambodia." Sihanouk died in Beijing, China, where he was receiving medical care, on Oct. 15, 2012. His cremation is will be on Feb. 4, 2013. Over a million people are expected to attend the service.   PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    SihanoukFuneralProcession007.jpg
  • 01 FEBRUARY 2013 - PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA: A man cries in grief as the funeral procession of former Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk passes him in Phnom Penh. Norodom Sihanouk (31 October 1922 - 15 October 2012) was the King of Cambodia from 1941 to 1955 and again from 1993 to 2004. He was the effective ruler of Cambodia from 1953 to 1970. After his second abdication in 2004, he was given the honorific of "The King-Father of Cambodia." Sihanouk died in Beijing, China, where he was receiving medical care, on Oct. 15, 2012. His cremation is will be on Feb. 4, 2013. Over a million people are expected to attend the service.    PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    SihanoukFuneralProcession061.jpg
  • 02 FEBRUARY 2013 - PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA: Boys chase pigeons down an empty Sisowath Quay, Phnom Penh's riverfront boulevard that is normally choked with cars and motorcycles. Much of Phnom Penh has been shut down to honor former King Norodom Sihanouk, who ruled Cambodia from independence in 1953 until he was overthrown by a military coup in 1970. Only bars, restaurants and hotels that cater to foreign tourists are supposed to be open. The only music being played publicly is classical Khmer music. Sihanouk died in Beijing, China, in October 2012 and will be cremated during a state funeral royal ceremony on Monday, Feb. 4.     PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    MourningSihanouk0202002.jpg
  • 02 FEBRUARY 2013 - PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA:  Buddhist monks walk along Sisowath Quay, Phnom Penh's riverfront boulevard which is normally choked with cars and motorcycles. The Royal Palace (left) and crematorium for former King Norodom Sihanouk (right) are lit up in the background. Much of Phnom Penh has been shut down to honor former King Norodom Sihanouk, who ruled Cambodia from independence in 1953 until he was overthrown by a military coup in 1970. Only bars, restaurants and hotels that cater to foreign tourists are supposed to be open. The only music being played publicly is classical Khmer music. Sihanouk died in Beijing, China, in October 2012 and will be cremated during a state funeral royal ceremony on Monday, Feb. 4.    PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    MourningSihanouk0202008.jpg
  • 02 FEBRUARY 2013 - PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA:  A snack vendor and other Cambodians watch a fireworks display to honor former King Norodom Sihanouk over the Mekong River. Much of Phnom Penh has been shut down to honor former King Norodom Sihanouk, who ruled Cambodia from independence in 1953 until he was overthrown by a military coup in 1970. Only bars, restaurants and hotels that cater to foreign tourists are supposed to be open. The only music being played publicly is classical Khmer music. Sihanouk died in Beijing, China, in October 2012 and will be cremated during a state funeral royal ceremony on Monday, Feb. 4.    PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    MourningSihanouk0202027.jpg
  • 04 FEBRUARY 2013 - PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA: Cambodians cry out at the cremation of their former King Norodom Sihanouk during the King-Father's cremation service in Phnom Penh. Norodom Sihanouk (31 October 1922 - 15 October 2012) was the King of Cambodia from 1941 to 1955 and again from 1993 to 2004. He was the effective ruler of Cambodia from 1953 to 1970. After his second abdication in 2004, he was given the honorific of "The King-Father of Cambodia." Sihanouk died in Beijing, China, where he was receiving medical care, on Oct. 15, 2012.    PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    SihanoukCremation083.jpg
  • 08 FEBRUARY 2013 - BANGKOK, THAILAND:  Chinese opera performers wait to go on stage for a Chinese New Year performance at Seacon Square in Bangkok. Chinese opera is popular in Thailand and is usually performed in the Teochew language. The weeks surrounding Chinese New Year are important for retailers in Thailand and many malls put on special promotions and events honoring Chinese culture, like Lion Dances or Chinese Opera. Thailand has a large Thai-Chinese population. Millions of Chinese emigrated to Thailand (then Siam) in the 18th and 19th centuries and brought their cultural practices with them.   PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    ChineseNewYear026.jpg
  • 08 FEBRUARY 2013 - BANGKOK, THAILAND:  The character of the Judge (or Magistrate) during a Chinese opera performance for Chinese New Year at Seacon Square in Bangkok. Chinese opera is popular in Thailand and is usually performed in the Teochew language. The weeks surrounding Chinese New Year are important for retailers in Thailand and many malls put on special promotions and events honoring Chinese culture, like Lion Dances or Chinese Opera. Thailand has a large Thai-Chinese population. Millions of Chinese emigrated to Thailand (then Siam) in the 18th and 19th centuries and brought their cultural practices with them.   PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    ChineseNewYear034.jpg
  • 10 FEBRUARY 2013 - BANGKOK, THAILAND: Chinese Lion dance being performed on Chinese New Year on Yaowarat Road in the Chinatown section of Bangkok. Bangkok has a large Chinese emigrant population, most of whom settled in Thailand in the 18th and 19th centuries. Chinese, or Lunar, New Year is celebrated with fireworks and parades in Chinese communities throughout Thailand. The coming year will be the "Year of the Snake" in the Chinese zodiac.    PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    BKKChineseNewYear0210016.jpg
  • 17 FEBRUARY 2013 - BANGKOK, THAILAND:  Thai Prime Minister YINGLUCK SHINAWATRA performs a "wai" (traditional Thai greeting) while campaigning for Pongsapat Pongchareon in Bangkok Sunday. Pol General Pongsapat Pongcharoen, a former deputy national police chief who also served as secretary-general of the Narcotics Control Board is the Pheu Thai Party candidate in the upcoming Bangkok governor's election. (He resigned from the police force to run for Governor.) Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra reportedly recruited Pongsapat. Most of Thailand's reputable polls have reported that Pongsapat is leading in the race and likely to defeat Sukhumbhand Paribatra, the Thai Democrats' candidate and incumbent. The loss of Bangkok would be a serious blow to the Democrats, whose base is the Bangkok area.     PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    PongsapatCampaign039.jpg
  • 25 FEBRUARY 2013 - BANGKOK, THAILAND:  Buddhist monks lead a candle light procession around Wat Benchamabophit Dusitvanaram (popularly known as either Wat Bencha or the Marble Temple) on Makha Bucha Day. Thais visit temples throughout the Kingdom on Makha Bucha Day to make merit and participate in candle light processions around the temples. Makha Bucha is a Buddhist holiday celebrated in Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Cambodia and Laos on the full moon day of the third lunar month (February 25 in 2013). The third lunar month is known in Thai is Makha. Bucha is a Thai word meaning "to venerate" or "to honor". Makha Bucha Day is for the veneration of Buddha and his teachings on the full moon day of the third lunar month. Makha Bucha Day marks the day that 1,250 Arahata spontaneously came to see the Buddha. The Buddha in turn laid down the principles his teachings. In Thailand, this teaching has been dubbed the 'Heart of Buddhism'.     PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    MakhaBuchaDay054.jpg
  • 03 MARCH 2013 - BANGKOK, THAILAND: .A Pheu Thai supporter attacks a television set with her shoes when it was announced on TV that MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra, the incumbent running on the Democrat ticket, had won the election for Bangkok governor. Pongsapat Pongchareon, running on the Pheu Thai ticket, lost the Bangkok's Governor's race to MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra, the incumbent running on the Democrat ticket. Sukhumbhand won the race after scoring a record number of votes, more than 1.2 million to Pongsapat's 1 million. The results were seen as an upset even though Sukhumbhand was the incumbent because all of the pre-election polls and the exit polls conducted on election day showed Patsapong winning.     PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    PongsapatLoses034.jpg
  • 10 MARCH 2013 - ALONG HIGHWAY 13, LAOS:  A woman harvests cabbages in a field along Highway 13 in rural Laos. The paving of Highway 13 from Vientiane to near the Chinese border has changed the way of life in rural Laos. Villagers near Luang Prabang used to have to take unreliable boats that took three hours round trip to get from the homes to the tourist center of Luang Prabang, now they take a 40 minute round trip bus ride. North of Luang Prabang, paving the highway has been an opportunity for China to use Laos as a transshipping point. Chinese merchandise now goes through Laos to Thailand where it's put on Thai trains and taken to the deep water port east of Bangkok. The Chinese have also expanded their economic empire into Laos. Chinese hotels and businesses are common in northern Laos and in some cities, like Oudomxay, are now up to 40% percent. As the roads are paved, more people move away from their traditional homes in the mountains of Laos and crowd the side of the road living off tourists' and truck drivers.    PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    LaoRoadProject020.jpg
  • 13 MARCH 2013 - ALONG HIGHWAY 13, LAOS: Chinese migrant workers in a bus near the end of Highway 13 in the Boten Special Economic Zone. The SEZ is in Laos immediately south of the Lao Chinese border. It has turned into a Chinese enclave but many of the businesses struggle because their goods are too expensive for local Lao to purchase. Some of the hotels and casinos in the area have been forced to close by the Chinese government after reports of rigged games. The paving of Highway 13 from Vientiane to near the Chinese border has changed the way of life in rural Laos. Villagers near Luang Prabang used to have to take unreliable boats that took three hours round trip to get from the homes to the tourist center of Luang Prabang, now they take a 40 minute round trip bus ride. North of Luang Prabang, paving the highway has been an opportunity for China to use Laos as a transshipping point. Chinese merchandise now goes through Laos to Thailand where it's put on Thai trains and taken to the deep water port east of Bangkok. The Chinese have also expanded their economic empire into Laos. Chinese hotels and businesses are common in northern Laos and in some cities, like Oudomxay, are now up to 40% percent. As the roads are paved, more people move away from their traditional homes in the mountains of Laos and crowd the side of the road living off tourists' and truck drivers.    PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    LaoRoadProject096.jpg
  • 15 MARCH 2013 - ALONG HIGHWAY 13, LAOS:  A family walks up Highway 13, leading their water buffalo to new fields. The paving of Highway 13 from Vientiane to near the Chinese border has changed the way of life in rural Laos. Villagers near Luang Prabang used to have to take unreliable boats that took three hours round trip to get from the homes to the tourist center of Luang Prabang, now they take a 40 minute round trip bus ride. North of Luang Prabang, paving the highway has been an opportunity for China to use Laos as a transshipping point. Chinese merchandise now goes through Laos to Thailand where it's put on Thai trains and taken to the deep water port east of Bangkok. The Chinese have also expanded their economic empire into Laos. Chinese hotels and businesses are common in northern Laos and in some cities, like Oudomxay, are now up to 40% percent. As the roads are paved, more people move away from their traditional homes in the mountains of Laos and crowd the side of the road living off tourists' and truck drivers.   PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    LaoRoadProject135.jpg
  • 05 APRIL 2013 - CHIANG MAI, THAILAND:  Boys who will be ordained as Buddhist novices at the Poi Sang Long Festival in the prayer hall at Wat Pa Pao in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The Poi Sang Long Festival at Wat Pa Pao in Chiang Mai, Thailand, is an annual festival that marks the ordination of boys in the temple as novice monks. Hundreds of people attend the festival, which is marked by the boys wearing garish makeup and being carried through the temple grounds on the shoulders of older men while musicians play drums and cymbals.         PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    WatPaPaoFestival021.jpg
  • 13 APRIL 2013 - BANGKOK, THAILAND:  A Thai woman squirts a foreign tourist with water on Khao San Road, which is Bangkok's "backpacker" district, during Songkran celebrations in the Thai capital. Songkran is celebrated in Thailand as the traditional New Year's Day from 13 to 16 April. The date of the festival was originally set by astrological calculation, but it is now fixed. If the days fall on a weekend, the missed days are taken on the weekdays immediately following. Songkran is in the hottest time of the year in Thailand, at the end of the dry season and provides an excuse for people to cool off in friendly water fights that take place throughout the country. Songkran has been a national holiday since 1940, when Thailand moved the first day of the year to January 1.   PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    Songkran072.jpg
  • 24 APRIL 2013 - SAMUT SONGKHRAM, SAMUT SONGKHRAM, THAILAND: Migrant workers rake salt in a field that is ready to be harvested in Samut Songkhram, Thailand. The 2013 salt harvest in Thailand and Cambodia has been impacted by unseasonably heavy rains. Normally, the salt fields are prepped for in December, January and February, when they're leveled and flooded with sea water. Salt is harvested from the fields from late February through May, as the water evaporates leaving salt behind. This year rains in December and January limited access to the fields and rain again in March and April has reduced the amount of salt available in the fields. Thai salt farmers are finishing the harvest as best they can, but the harvest in neighboring Cambodia ended 6 weeks early because of rain. Salt has traditionally been harvested in tidal basins along the coast southwest of Bangkok but industrial development in the area has reduced the amount of land available for commercial salt production and now salt is mainly harvested in a small part of Samut Songkhram province.      PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    ThaiSaltHarvest024.jpg
  • 27 APRIL 2013 - BANGKOK, THAILAND: A portrait of a Chinese opera performer backstage at a Chinese opera in the Talat Noi neighborhood of Bangkok's Chinatown. Chinese opera was once very popular in Thailand and is usually performed in the Teochew language. Millions of Chinese emigrated to Thailand (then Siam) in the 18th and 19th centuries and brought their cultural practices with them. Recently its popularity has faded as people turn to performances of opera on DVD or movies. There are as many 30 Chinese opera troupes left in Bangkok. They travel from Chinese temple to Chinese temple performing on stages they put up in streets near the temple, sometimes sleeping on hammocks they sling under their stage. The opera troupes are paid by the temple, usually $700 to $1000 a night.   PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    ChineseOperaBangkok0427026.jpg
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Jack Kurtz, Photojournalist & Travel Photographer

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