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Pictures of the Year 2012

35 images Created 25 Dec 2012

These are some of my favorite photos from 2012. There are a number of political photos in this collection - I enjoy photographing the political process. There are also photos from Vietnam, the Navajo Nation in northern Arizona and a lot of photos from Thailand, where I am now.

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  • 09 JANUARY 2012 - PHOENIX, AZ:    Dianne Irvin (CQ) from Glendale, prays in the state senate  during the Prayer Walk sponsored by the Center for Arizona Policy at the Arizona State Capitol in Phoenix Monday. The Arizona legislature started its 2012 session and Gov. Jan Brewer delivered her State of the State Monday, Jan 9.                   PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
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  • 22 FEBRUARY 2012 - MESA, AZ:  Congressman RON PAUL (left) Senator RICK SANTORUM, Governor MITT ROMNEY and Congressman NEWT GINGRICH at the Arizona Republican Presidential Debate in the Mesa Arts Center in Mesa, AZ, Wednesday. It is the last debate before the Michigan and Arizona Republican primaries on Feb. 28 and "Super Tuesday" on March 6. PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
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  • 28 AUGUST 2012 - PHOENIX, AZ:    BRANDY BARON, a David Schweikert volunteer, greets Rep DAVID SCHWEIKERT (R-AZ), right, at Schweikert's victory party Tuesday. Schweikert faced Congressman Ben Quayle in what was the most contested Republican primary election in Arizona in 2012. Both were incumbent Republican freshmen elected to Congress from neighboring districts in 2010. They ended up in the same district at the end of the redistricting process and faced off against each other in the primary to represent Arizona's 6th Congressional District, which is made up of Scottsdale, Paradise Valley and parts of Phoenix. The district is solidly Republican and the winner of the primary is widely expected to win November's general election. Both are conservative Republicans with Tea Party backing.   PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
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  • 26 MAY 2012 - PHOENIX, AZ:  A Cub Scout carries American flags through the National Memorial Cemetery in Phoenix, AZ, Saturday. Hundreds of Boy and Girl Scouts along with the Young Marines, a Scout like organization, place American flags on veterans' graves in the National Memorial Cemetery in Phoenix every year on the Saturday before Memorial Day.    PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    PHXNationalCemeteryFlags023.jpg
  • 20 JUNE 2012, PHOENIX, AZ:   A homeless woman provides water over her head in Phoenix, AZ, Wednesday. June 20 is the first day of summer in the northern hemisphere. The high temperature in Phoenix Wednesday soared to over 110 (F), well above the normal of 105. The hot weather is especially stressful on the homeless, who don't have the opportunity to get into air conditioning or access to cold water. "I Will Listen," an outreach organization that assists the homeless and community of street people in Phoenix, AZ, provides free food and cold drinks to the homeless in central Phoenix. They ran out of drinks and food in about one hour during Wednesday's outreach.      PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    PHXHomelessHeat016.jpg
  • 10 AUGUST 2012 - PHOENIX, AZ:  A boy dressed as the Lord Krishna during the celebration of Janmashtami at Ekta Mandir, a Hindu temple in central Phoenix. Janmashtami is the Hindu holy day that celebrates the birth of Lord Krishna. Hindu communities around the world celebrate the holy day. In Arizona, most of the Hindu temples in the Phoenix area have special celebrations of the day.  PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    Janmashtami035.jpg
  • 14 JULY 2012 - OAK SPRINGS, AZ: A bull riding student works out a mechanical bucking machine during a bull riding class in Oak Springs, AZ. The bull riding class was offered by the Crooked Horn Cattle Co. in the community of Oak Springs on the Navajo Nation, about 15 miles south of Window Rock, AZ. Eleven cowboys signed up for bull riding classes and one signed up for bull fighting classes. The bull riding class started with lessons on a mechanical bucking machine before the cowboys rode bulls.    PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
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  • 12 JULY 2012 - FT DEFIANCE, AZ: A man prays during alter call at the 23rd annual Navajo Nation Camp Meeting in Ft. Defiance, north of Window Rock, AZ, on the Navajo reservation. Preachers from across the Navajo Nation, and the western US, come to Navajo Nation Camp Meeting to preach an evangelical form of Christianity. Evangelical Christians make up a growing part of the reservation - there are now more than a hundred camp meetings and tent revivals on the reservation every year. The camp meeting in Ft. Defiance draws nearly 200 people each night of its six day run. Many of the attendees convert to evangelical Christianity from traditional Navajo beliefs, Catholicism or Mormonism. "Camp meetings" are a form of Protestant Christian religious services originating in Britain and once common in rural parts of the United States. People would travel a great distance to a particular site to camp out, listen to itinerant preachers, and pray. This suited the rural life, before cars and highways were common, because rural areas often lacked traditional churches.   PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    FtDefianceCampMeeting055.jpg
  • 12 JULY 2012 - FT DEFIANCE, AZ:  People pray during the alter call at the 23rd annual Navajo Nation Camp Meeting in Ft. Defiance, north of Window Rock, AZ, on the Navajo reservation. Preachers from across the Navajo Nation, and the western US, come to Navajo Nation Camp Meeting to preach an evangelical form of Christianity. Evangelical Christians make up a growing part of the reservation - there are now more than a hundred camp meetings and tent revivals on the reservation every year. The camp meeting in Ft. Defiance draws nearly 200 people each night of its six day run. Many of the attendees convert to evangelical Christianity from traditional Navajo beliefs, Catholicism or Mormonism. "Camp meetings" are a form of Protestant Christian religious services originating in Britain and once common in rural parts of the United States. People would travel a great distance to a particular site to camp out, listen to itinerant preachers, and pray. This suited the rural life, before cars and highways were common, because rural areas often lacked traditional churches.    PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    FtDefianceCampMeeting048.jpg
  • 08 APRIL 2012 - HANOI, VIETNAM:    A Vietnamese policeman on duty in front Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum in Hanoi. The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, in Vietnamese: Lng Ch tch H Chí Minh, is a large memorial in Hanoi, Vietnam dedicated to Ho Chi Minh, the late leader of North Vietnam. It is located in the centre of Ba Dinh Square, which is the place where Ho read the Declaration of Independence on September 2, 1945, establishing the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. The mausoleum is 21.6 metres high and 41.2 metres wide.     PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    HanoiVietnam11001.jpg
  • 02 APRIL 2012 - HANOI, VIETNAM:  Couples gather for photos in a park in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. Their photographers bring several sets of clothes, from formal wear to traditional Vietnamese attire, and the couples have their pictures made in different poses in parks in the neighborhood.     PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    HanoiVietnam4029.jpg
  • 04 NOVEMBER 2012 - KAO SENG, SONGKHLA, THAILAND:  A girl makes her family's lunch on a living room set on the beach in Kao Seng. Kao Seng is a traditional Muslim fishing village on the Gulf of Siam near the town of Songkhla, in the province of Songkhla. In general, their boats go about 4AM and come back in about 9AM. Sometimes the small boats are kept in port because of heavy seas or bad storms.    PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    KaoSeng041.jpg
  • 31 OCTOBER 2012 - YARANG, PATTANI, THAILAND:  A Thai soldier on security detail for the villagers from Wat Kohwai on their Ok Phanso procession to Yala. Ok Phansa marks the end of the Buddhist 'Lent' and falls on the full moon of the eleventh lunar month (October). It's a day of joyful celebration and merit-making. For the members of Wat Kohwai, in Yarang District of Pattani, it was a even more special because it was the first time in eight years they've been able to celebrate Ok Phansa. The Buddhist community is surrounded by Muslim villages and it's been too dangerous to hold the boisterous celebration because of the Muslim insurgency that is very active in this area. This the year the Thai army sent a special group of soldiers to secure the village and accompany the villagers on their procession to Yala, a city  about 20 miles away.  PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    OkPhansaYalaYarang026.jpg
  • 25 OCTOBER 2012 - TAK BAI, NARATHIWAT, THAILAND: A Muslim boy watches a Thai soldier search his father in Tak Bai, Thailand. The "Tak Bai Incident" took place on Oct. 25 in Tak Bai, Narathiwat, Thailand during the Muslim insurgency in southern Thailand. On that day, a crowd gathered to protest the arrest of local residents. Police made hundreds of arrests during the protest and transported the arrested to Pattani, about two hours away, in another province. They were transported in locked trucks and more than 80 people suffocated en route. This enraged local Muslims and shocked people across Thailand. No one in the Thai army accepted responsibility for the deaths and no one was ever charged. In the past, the anniversary of the incident was marked by protests and bombings. This year it was quiet. More than 5,000 people have been killed and over 9,000 hurt in more than 11,000 incidents, or about 3.5 a day, in Thailand's three southernmost provinces and four districts of Songkhla since the insurgent violence erupted in January 2004, according to Deep South Watch, an independent research organization that monitors violence in Thailand's deep south region that borders Malaysia.   PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    TakBaiAnniversary2012014.jpg
  • 28 OCTOBER 2012 - SAI BURI, NARATHIWAT, THAILAND: A Muslim on deserted Wasukrit beach in Sai Buri, Thailand. Sai Buri, in Narathiwat province, Thailand, has been the scene of several bloody attacks in Thailand's long running Muslin insurgency. In September, 2012, a large car bomb was detonated in front of a Buddhist owned business in the village killing more than 9. In October, 2012, in a possible revenge attack, hand grenades were rolled into a crowd of Muslim diners, injuring nine. More than 5,000 people have been killed and over 9,000 hurt in more than 11,000 incidents, or about 3.5 a day, in Thailand's three southernmost provinces and four districts of Songkhla since the insurgent violence erupted in January 2004, according to Deep South Watch, an independent research organization that monitors violence in Thailand's deep south region that borders Malaysia.    PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    NarathiwatFeatures1028022.jpg
  • 29 OCTOBER 2012 - MAYO, PATTANI, THAILAND: A resident prays at the Bukit Kong home in Mayo, Pattani. He said he is a survivor of the Tak Bai incident in which the Thai army killed more than 80 people protesting against the government. He said he didn't remember his name or how he came to be at the home. The home opened 27 years ago as a ponoh school, or traditional Islamic school, in the Mayo district of Pattani. Shortly after it opened, people asked the headmaster to look after individuals with mental illness. The headmaster took them in and soon the school was a home for the mentally ill. Thailand has limited mental health facilities and most are in Bangkok, more than 1,100 kilometers (650 miles) away. The founder died suddenly in 2006 and now his widow, Nuriah Jeteh, struggles to keep the home open. Facilities are crude by western standards but the people who live here have nowhere else to go. Some were brought here by family, others dropped off by the military or police. The home relies on donations and gets no official government support, although soldiers occasionally drop off food. Now there are only six patients, three of whom are kept chained in their rooms.  Jeteh says she relies on traditional Muslim prayers, holy water and herbal medicines to treat the residents. Western style drugs are not available and they don't have a medic on staff.     PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    PattaniMentalHome024.jpg
  • 26 OCTOBER 2012 - PULASAIZ, NARATHIWAT, THAILAND:  A Thai Muslim teenager in her best Eid clothing in the villiage Pulasaiz, in the province of Narathiwat, Thailand. Eid al-Adha, also called Feast of the Sacrifice, is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide to honor the willingness of the prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his firstborn son Ishmael as an act of submission to God, and his son's acceptance of the sacrifice before God intervened to provide Abraham with a ram to sacrifice instead. In 2012 Eid al-Adha was celebrated Oct 25 - 26. People frequently wear the best clothing or buy special outfits for the day.    PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
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  • 26 OCTOBER 2012 - PULASAIZ, NARATHIWAT, THAILAND:  Men leave the mosque after Eid al-Adha services in the villiage Pulasaiz, in the province of Narathiwat, Thailand. Eid al-Adha, also called Feast of the Sacrifice, is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide to honor the willingness of the prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his firstborn son Ishmael as an act of submission to God, and his son's acceptance of the sacrifice before God intervened to provide Abraham with a ram to sacrifice instead. In 2012 Eid al-Adha was celebrated Oct 25 - 26.    PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    EidAlAdhaNarathiwat023.jpg
  • 06 OCTOBER 2012 - BANGKOK, THAILAND:  Women do Tai Chi exercises with fans in Lumphini Park in Bangkok. The Thai government promotes exercise classes as a way staying healthy. Lumphini Park is 142 acre (57.6-hectare) park in Bangkok, Thailand. This park offers rare open public space, trees and playgrounds in the congested Thai capital. It contains an artificial lake where visitors can rent boats. Exercise classes and exercise clubs meet in the park for early morning workouts and paths around the park totalling approximately 1.55 miles (2.5 km) in length are a popular area for joggers. Cycling is only permitted during the day between the times of 5am to 3pm. Smoking is banned throughout smoking ban the park. The park was created in the 1920's and named after Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha in Nepal.   PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    LumphiniParkExercises1007001.jpg
  • 12 DECEMBER 2012 - BANGKOK, THAILAND:  Demolition workers relax and share a bottle while they drink at the end of their shift in "Washington Square" a notorious entertainment district off Sukhumvit Soi 22 in Bangkok. Demolition workers on many projects in Thailand live on their job site tearing down the building and recycling what can recycled as they do so until the site is no longer inhabitable. They sleep on the floors in the buildings or sometimes in tents, cooking on gas or charcoal stoves working from morning till dark. Sometimes families live and work together, other times just men. Washington Square was one of Bangkok's oldest red light districts. It was closed early 2012 and is being torn down to make way for redevelopment.    PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    BangkokDemolitionWorkers054.jpg
  • 30 NOVEMBER 2012 - BANGKOK, THAILAND: A man injured in a motorcycle accident is taken to a hospital by volunteer medics with the Ruamkatanyu Foundation during a Friday night shift. The Ruamkatanyu Foundation was started more than 60 years ago as a charitable organisation that collected the dead and transported them to the nearest facility. Crews sometimes found that the person they had been called to collect wasn't dead, and they were called upon to provide emergency medical care. That's how the foundation medical and rescue service was started. The foundation has 7,000 volunteers nationwide and along with the larger Poh Teck Tung Foundation, is one of the two largest rescue services in the country. The volunteer crews were once dubbed Bangkok's "Body Snatchers" but they do much more than that now.    PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
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  • 10 NOVEMBER 2012 - BANGKOK, THAILAND: A Ruamkatanyu Foundation medical team tries to save the life of a boy hit by a vehicle near the Klong Toey slum in Bangkok. The child had severe head injuries and died at the scene. The Ruamkatanyu Foundation was started more than 60 years ago as a charitable organisation that collected the dead and transported them to the nearest facility. Crews sometimes found that the person they had been called to collect wasn't dead, and they were called upon to provide emergency medical care. That's how the foundation medical and rescue service was started. The foundation has 7,000 volunteers nationwide and along with the larger Poh Teck Tung Foundation, is one of the two largest rescue services in the country. The volunteer crews were once dubbed Bangkok's "Body Snatchers" but they do much more than that now.    PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    BangkokEmergencyMedics1110013.jpg
  • 28 NOVEMBER 2012 - BANGKOK, THAILAND:  A woman prays at a small pool after floating her krathong at Wat Yannawa in Bangkok. Loy Krathong takes place on the evening of the full moon of the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar. In the western calendar this usually falls in November. Loy means 'to float', while krathong refers to the usually lotus-shaped container which floats on the water. Traditional krathongs are made of the layers of the trunk of a banana tree or a spider lily plant. Now, many people use krathongs of baked bread which disintegrate in the water and feed the fish. A krathong is decorated with elaborately folded banana leaves, incense sticks, and a candle. A small coin is sometimes included as an offering to the river spirits. On the night of the full moon, Thais launch their krathong on a river, canal or a pond, making a wish as they do so.   PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    LoyKrathongBangkok046.jpg
  • 28 NOVEMBER 2012 - BANGKOK, THAILAND: Novice monks during Loy Krathong ceremonies at Wat Yannawa in Bangkok. Loy Krathong takes place on the evening of the full moon of the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar. In the western calendar this usually falls in November. Loy means 'to float', while krathong refers to the usually lotus-shaped container which floats on the water. Traditional krathongs are made of the layers of the trunk of a banana tree or a spider lily plant. Now, many people use krathongs of baked bread which disintegrate in the water and feed the fish. A krathong is decorated with elaborately folded banana leaves, incense sticks, and a candle. A small coin is sometimes included as an offering to the river spirits. On the night of the full moon, Thais launch their krathong on a river, canal or a pond, making a wish as they do so.    PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    LoyKrathongBangkok042.jpg
  • 24 NOVEMBER 2012 - BANGKOK, THAILAND: A woman professes her love of the monarchy and Bhumibol Adulyadej, the King of Thailand, in front of riot police during a large anti government, pro-monarchy, protest  on November 24, 2012 in Bangkok, Thailand. The Siam Pitak group, which sponsored the protest, cited alleged government corruption and anti-monarchist elements within the ruling party as grounds for the protest. Police used tear gas and baton charges againt protesters.       PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
    AntiGovernmentProtests1124060.jpg
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Jack Kurtz, Photojournalist & Travel Photographer

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