The police scanner says there was a shooting in Zone 7, very close. We arrive right behind the firemen. Two men on a motorcycle had been shot with the same bullet. Neighbors start to gather as I make a few pictures of the rescue crew loading the victims into the ambulances and rushing off to Roosevelt Hospital in Guatemala City. The neighbors are angry and start taunting the police, accusing them of incompetence.

Out of the corner of my eye I see family members arriving. You can tell who they are by their faces. Their confusion and disbelief stands out even through the dozens of people scuttling around. They are not crying yet…They still don’t know exactly what is going on. Eight-year-old Erica Estrada, dressed in shades of pink and burgundy, follows her grandmother. She draws my attention. Her hands are in her pockets and her face is twisted, but her eyes are still dry. Her grandmother screams as she realizes that her grown son, Erica’s father, was wounded badly and her husband, who was sitting on the back of the motorcycle, wasn’t expected to live.

Erica is half everyone’s size. Dropping the camera from my eye, I lower it to my waist, to her level. She is surrounded by strangers who have formed groups around her and her grandmother and who in their own horror seem to completely forget the young girl. Erica finds my eyes and stares at me in pain.

Still shooting with the camera at my waist, I have nothing to hide behind. Erica covers her face and begins to cry. Her grandmother calls to her from somewhere inside a separate group of bystanders. As she removes her hands Erica’s stare locks onto me again. She’s pulled by the arm and rushed back to their car just as my partner finds me and pulls me back to his car. We are off to the hospital.

We are already there when Erica and her grandmother arrive. They have gone from crying to screaming and each moment a new relative shows up in another taxi. Once again Erica seems lost and alone among a sea of adults, all in their own pain. Poor girl. I look around for someone to help her, anyone. Someone to hold her and tell her she’ll be alright, that the pain will go away.

She asks different people about her father and her grandfather but gets no answer from them. “Is my grandfather dead? Is it my father?” Everyone is on cell phones. She turns to another. I keep working but with the camera still down low there is no way to hide the tears swelling in my own eyes.

Erica bends over in emotional pain, crying aloud. I can’t take any more. I let go of the camera and touch her shoulder, and she looks up. “It’s gonna be okay” I tell her. She looks right into me. I find a relative of Erica and ask him to please look after her.

As I leave, I give up trying to hold back the tears. I cry aloud as I drive home, and as I sit on my bed. I can’t get Erica out of my mind. I lie there crying for three hours. I cry when I re-tell the story to others, and as I write it just now.

Guatemala’s National Police reports an average of 17 murders per day in the country of some 12.5 million inhabitants, giving it one of the highest murder rates among countries formally at peace.

The Reuters trophy case got a little more crowded on Tuesday, with a raft of awards from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, and the Best of Photojournalism Awards from the National Press Photographers Association.

And the winners are:

SABEW Award for real-time news organizations

David Baily, correspondent; Kevin Krolicki, Detroit bureau chief; Jui Chakravorty, correspondent; Poornima Gupta, correspondent; Kim Soyoung, correspondent; and Nick Carey, correspondent: "GM/Chrysler deal hopes rise, then shattered"

From the judges' comments:

This package on the potential for a GM/Chrysler deal broke significant new ground with exclusive details of the negotiations between the two auto companies and the federal government. The stories were comprehensively reported and smoothly written, impressive given the many twists and turns of the story.  Besides landing scoops, the reporters were able to see all the angles, and put their exclusives in the larger context of the federal auto bailout and a troubled industry. Although the stories relied heavily on unattributed sources -  and the judges would have like to have seen more precise descriptions of those sources - the stories’ accuracy speaks to the quality of the information those sources provided.

Tiffany Wu, Editor in charge of Technology, Media & Telecoms, Anupreeta Das and Michele Gershberg, correspondents: “Microhoo: how the blockbuster deal blew up”

The judges:

This package of stories on the Microsoft/Yahoo tap dance was a terrific example of great execution on a breaking news story, offering not just high news value, but also great analysis. In addition, these pieces were so replete with intimate details of the negotiations that you sometimes felt the reporters had been in the room. By giving readers a sense of the people and personalities beyond the numbers, the writers were able to distinguish themselves by taking a narrative approach to what was otherwise a deadline-driven story.

SABEW Award for Projects, mid-sized websites

Frank Tantillo, Emily Church, Laura Ramirez, Roberta Rampton, Russ Blinch, Corinne Perkins, "Agflation"

The judges:

Thomson Reuters mobilized its global staff to offer a comprehensive look, through stories, Internet videos, and interactive features, at the impact of rising food prices around the world. The stories were compelling, the videos professionally produced, and the judges particularly liked the heat map that directed viewers to stories, videos, and facts about the fallout in different countries.

The Best of Photojournalism Awards, Still Photo - Enterprise

Sigit Pamungkas

,

"Muslims attend prayers on the eve of the first day of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan at a mosque in Surabaya, East Java August 31, 2008. Muslims around the world congregate for special evening prayers called “Tarawih” during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan."

The Best of Photojournalism Awards, Still Photo - Olympic Action (2nd Place)

Gary Hershorn

"Usain Bolt of Jamaica celebrates winning the men’s 200m final of the athletics competition in the National Stadium at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games August 20, 2008. Bolt set a new world record with a timing of 19.30 seconds. Brian Dzingai of Zimbabwe (L) and Shawn Crawford of the U.S. (R) are seen with Bolt."

The Best of Photojournalism Awards, Still Photo - The Road to Office (Honorable Mention)

Brian Snyder

"Democratic presidential nominee U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) waves to the crowd at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado August 28, 2008."

The Best of Photojournalism Awards, Still Photo - International News (2nd Place)

Gleb Garanich

"Georgian Zaza Rasmadze holds the body of his brother Zviadi, killed in a Russian bombardment in Gori, 80 km (50 miles) from the Georgian capital Tbilisi. 9 August 2008."

The Best of Photojournalism Awards, Still Photo - Environmental Picture Story

Jason Lee

"Residents and rescue workers evacuate from the centre of earthquake-hit Beichuan county,Sichuan province, May 17, 2008. Thousands fled amid fears a lake would burst its banks in Beichuan, near the epicentre of China’s earthquake in which a total 50,000 people may have died, a Reuters photographer said. It was not immediately clear if anyone was hurt. People were told to flee to the hillsides in a public announcement."

MEMORY OF THE PRESENT

I have just received the first copy of the new book Our World Now 2. The title page reads “Executive Picture Editor: Ayperi Karabuda Ecer”. But besides pleasing my parents (my teenage daughter does not care), what does that mean?

On the one hand, everyone at Reuters is an editor. News flows between photographers, regional chiefs, global editors, picture deskers, keyworders and specialist editors. All are absolutely vital to deliver a daily output of some 1,700 images for the international media. My efforts are only in addition to what has already been produced.

On the other hand, within such a rich, global production there is no such thing as one final edit. Working with Reuters imagery is, like the book’s title, opening a window to our world now – it is live and constantly changing.

One can have many perspectives on that vision. My view is that although our photographers work to shoot that one standalone impact image, the important factor is that the sum of this collection is a stunning testimony of our times.

The book presents 370 images by 188 photographers of 60 nationalities. To reach this point, my colleague Jassim Ahmad and I, together with Kate Slotover and Amanda Vinnicombe from our publisher Thames & Hudson would regularly ambush a meeting room at our London offices and plaster the walls with images and evolving layouts.

In a book like this, the pictures need to do more than just work together visually. They must go beyond familiarity to surprise, enlighten, question and draw different responses. Through this process some really good images are lost and others emerge.

As you look through the book you will find many of our best news pictures. But it’s not always the most obvious ones that will succeed in achieving posterity. Through 12 years working as Editor in Chief at Magnum Paris, I learned how time changes perception of imagery and how new “winners” emerge.

Dallas, United States. 20 February 2008. Jessica Rinaldi

Today, Reuters distributes pictures of details that would never have been included in the past. In Jessica Rinaldi’s photograph of supporters reaching out to touch Obama’s hand, we perceive race, grace and hope. John Kolesidis’ image of the bleeding hand of a demonstrator perfectly sets the scene in Athens by reflecting tension, violence and social class. Small details can bring broad insight.

Athens, Greece. 9 December 2008. John Kolesidis

As photographers you are lucky to be able to document the world. My advice is to treat your yearly production just as we have done in the book. Look back at your work and do your own “my world now” edit. Put aside what you like, keep sequences where they make sense, search for detail, even go through your very best family pictures. Over time they will crystallise and carry new value.

As an editor I am fortunate to be able to access such an incredible source of photography. I was recently a member of the World Press Photo awards jury. Whereas my fellow jurors were excited by the opportunity of looking at 30,000 images of international production, I thought this wasn’t far from what we have on our desks every day at Reuters.

Photography cannot explain the world, but it can do something extraordinary to inform you whilst appealing to your emotions.

Thomson Reuters is the world’s largest source of intelligent information. We seek to provide “knowledge to act”. One can argue that no significant decision can be made without emotion, and that emotion is key for a story to reach out to its audience.

Some days you, as photographers, don’t feel appreciated enough. Well, remember you are documenting history every day through every frame. This collector’s series, which builds year upon year, is your testimony for a memory of the present.

View images and spreads from the book Our World Now 2
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Click here or on the image above to view an audio slideshow from the Namo Monastery.

Here's Sports Pictures editor Greg Bos's view: Photographer Phil Brown captured a superb action moment from the cricket match between England and the West Indies. He's got the ball in the frame, the player with both feet off the ground and a clean dark background to make the image standout.

ORIGINAL CAPTION: West Indies' Lendl Simmons reacts to an Amjad Khan bouncer during their cricket test match against England at Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain March 8, 2009. REUTERS/Philip Brown

Larry Downing is a Reuters senior staff photographer assigned to the White House. He shares that duty with three other staff photographers. He has lived in Washington since 1977 and has been assigned to cover the White House , including flying aboard Air Force One, since 1978. President Barack Obama is the sixth president Larry has photographed.

Only two identical aircraft exist in the world which both share the same high-level function. They mirror one another precisely except for the numeric identifier on the tail. One reads 28000, the other 29000.
They’re as sleek as they are majestic. Anticipation runs high when either travels and both are red carpet worthy. They are concealed around-the-clock in a protective cocoon while being constantly pampered at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.

“Use of Deadly Force is Authorized” inside the security perimeter ringing around the outermost tips of their wings, and absolutely no one is allowed to enter without permission.

However, the moment the President of the United States, or POTUS, steps aboard, the aircraft immediately transforms from a mild-mannered Boeing 747 passenger jet into an aviation ambassador for the might of the United States, carrying one of the most powerful men in the world to any destination he chooses; all the while in complete luxury.

Welcome aboard Air Force One.

It’s America’s magic carpet and it floats freely through the clouds under a veil of secrecy while transporting essential elements of the White House inside a secure “bubble” to any corner of the world. Surprisingly, there’s an operating room with a doctor in case of a medical emergency and a protective armada of U.S. warplanes shadows its every movement.

Air Force One is the ultimate military jet transport with a simple, yet singular mission; to serve the needs of the President of the United States. Only the president, his family, invited guests, select White House staff, armed Secret Service agents and members of a small press pool are allowed as passengers during flight.

Even the president’s pets are treated as royalty. President George W. Bush used to ferry his dogs and cat back and forth on every trip to his central Texas ranch in Crawford. One of his dogs, Barney, gained a local following after the much publicized biting of a Reuters’ reporter at the White House.

Bush also liked to use a special mountain bike when riding, so it was necessary for an aide to load it onto the back of the aircraft for his use on arrival, just in case. An “Air Force One Travel Pool” always accompanies the president when he’s on the jet.

It’s the tightest and most prestigious of all White House press pools, just 13members total with rotating representatives from each of the disciplines of journalism. These “poolers” are present in all presidential motorcades, on all helicopter movements (but never aboard Marine One), and are housed overnight in the president’s 5-star hotel when his travels take him out of town or country. Reuters assigns a wire service correspondent and a news photographer to travel on board during all presidential travel.

Armed military police and trained dogs make sure no one goes near Air Force One without a complete security vetting process. All personnel assigned to the squadron have a top secret clearance and, in Air Force-speak, “a need to know” before working on the aircraft. All press and their equipment are thoroughly sniffed, scanned and searched before being issued an additional U.S. Secret Service credential which allows him or her to walk on the tarmac towards the jet. That pass is changed by a Secret Service agent on every travel segment of a trip.

Wearing different press credentials is a daily part of White House travel.

The “security sweep” at Andrews Air Force Base involves no less than ten different challenges to each member of the press pool at the beginning of travel. Starting with manifesting by the White House, security continues through elements of the U.S. Air Force, TSA, U.S. Secret Service (both Uniformed Division and Presidential Protective Division), explosive ordinance experts, bomb-sniffing dogs, and finally, Air Force One’s own armed bouncers, their exclusive security force.

Only then are you allowed to board the aircraft using the rear stairs. The front steps belong only the president. That tradition was lost somehow on Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich when he complained to the press of having to use the rear steps after flying as the president’s guest.

Air Force One offers much more than your father’s military transport ever could… Most veterans’ memories of military travel aren’t fond ones. Circumstances made military travel reminiscent of the migratory adventures discovered inside a John Steinbeck novel; tired vagabonds hitching rides inside the wooden boxcars of the steel freight trains while chasing their tumbleweed dreams across the flats of west Texas. GI’s have always been exposed to conditions like those dust bowl hobos of the early 1900’s.

Even by today’s standards military travel is less than glamorous.

Last summer, while former first lady Laura Bush rode in comfort inside her luxury trailer strapped to the floor of a C-17 transport jet, White House staff, Secret Service and press members were left outside in the cold…literally. Frostbite awaits anyone who falls asleep on the steel floor of that particular aircraft without making sensible precautions. It’s a biting cold at 37,000 feet.

This picture was taken during that 2008 secret visit to Afghanistan after seven frigid hours of flight.

Guests on Air Force One are treated in comforting fashion. Service is reminiscent of the attention passengers received during the dawn of commercial airline travel. The seats are large and recline far enough back to sleep comfortably on long flights. No meals are pre-packaged or sealed in plastic bags and nothing is served from an airline cart; instead meals are cooked fresh by Air Force cooks in the jet’s large flight kitchen and then served on Air Force One’s own china. Full meals and desserts are cooked and created by hand in-flight. The press cabin also offers a large library of movies with comfortable headsets.

Before returning to Andrews Air Force Base the stewards pass out the most prized of all White House travel souvenirs…The Presidential M&M’s. They are exclusive to Air Force One and are limited edition. Each box has the Presidential Seal on its front and the autograph of the current president embossed below it. President Barack Obama’s M&M’s are eagerly anticipated and are due out in late March 2009.

Each passenger later receives a large flight certificate from the White House, signed by the presidential pilot, indicating that they flew as a “Guest of the President” aboard Air Force One. It resembles an undergraduate degree from an American university. Air Force One’s on-time record is perfect and no one has ever filed a claim for lost luggage. The aircraft commander prides himself on one simple fact… you can set your watch to his scheduled arrival time. He’s right!

Only once in recent history has Air Force One been delayed beyond the commander’s control. That incident occurred in the 1990’s when President Bill Clinton insisted on bringing a Beverly Hills stylist out to the readied aircraft before take-off while it sat on the airport’s tarmac in Los Angeles. He wanted to experience a $200 “Christophe” hair treatment. Commercial aircraft waited patiently to take off during the airport’s mandatory Air Force One ramp-freeze while Clinton received the cut.

The nickname “Hair Force One” grew out of that exclusive appointment.

News photographers are allowed to work “under the wing” for all arrivals and all departures of the president. (Photography from behind the main wing is discouraged. The trailing edge of the jet’s wing supports cutting-edge electronic gadgetry not found on commercial aircraft.)

Once aboard, the press pool is instructed to remain inside the designated press cabin at all times. No movement outside of the area is allowed without a White House staff escort and is monitored by the Secret Service agents sitting in the adjacent cabin. Photography is allowed only during “on camera” briefings inside that press cabin.

Air Force One is as much an official backdrop for news photography as is the White House. The exterior colors are visually hypnotic. Every angle is eye candy. First lady Jackie Kennedy chose it all when she resided at the White House.

One of my favorite pictures of President George W. Bush is his boarding the aircraft after a visit to New Orleans on a very hot, sweaty night following Hurricane Katrina. A simple picture…yet, it says a lot. It would be nothing without the majesty of the aircraft.

No news picture will ever top the one taken aboard by White House photographer Cecil Stoughton on the return flight from a bloody visit to Dallas in November 1963 shortly after President John F. Kennedy was pronounced dead. As LBJ was sworn in as the 36th President of the United States, the former first lady stood by his side with her dead husband’s blood still on her jacket. His body rode home quietly in the cabin of the plane. This picture is from the Johnson Presidential Library and is a huge part of White House history.

That aircraft was a Boeing 707 and its tail identifier was 26000. I flew on that exact Air Force One 15 years later. It would be more than a decade after that before the 707’s would be replaced with the new pair of 747’s. 26000 is now on display at the U.S. Air Force Museum in Ohio.

To fly aboard Air Force One is a continuing honor and even after 31 years of White House duty, the experience still gives me goose bumps. Every flight is monumental to me.

My first flight was with President Jimmy Carter when he flew to Denver to promote the use of solar energy in residential homes in 1978. Carter’s luck always seemed to sit under a dark cloud. He was handed an umbrella as soon as he stepped off Air Force One in Colorado to keep him dry. It poured rain during the event.

I remember flying with President George H.W. Bush to Somalia to lunch with U.S. military troops on a very quick visit. As we departed Mogadishu the temperature hovered right at 100 degrees. We took off, flew north to Moscow, and arrived before midnight. The temperature in Russia was 20 degrees below zero. 120 degrees difference in less than 12 hours.

I traveled with his son twice on secret missions to Iraq. On the second trip, after the Air Force issued armored vests to each member of the traveling press moments before touching down in Baghdad, we were instructed that President George W. Bush wanted us to leave them on the ground before we left Iraq. He wanted to be sure combat soldiers in harm’s way would have the newest body armor.

Another striking memory for me was President Bill Clinton’s visit to Vietnam after the U.S. elections in 2000. While Air Force One banked into its final turn towards Hanoi, I noticed dozens of brown bomb craters lining the green countryside on our approach. The closer we flew towards the runway, the more craters I counted. U.S. Air Force pilots are quite familiar with that flight pattern. American B-52 warplanes dropped thousands of bombs over the area during the Christmas Bombing of Hanoi in 1972; all during the peace negotiations to end the Vietnam War. The next morning Clinton stood in front of a large bust of Vietnam’s wartime hero, Ho Chi Minh.

An example of the ease of travel Air Force One enjoys was during the 2005 trip of President George W. Bush to Rome for the funeral of Pope John Paul II. After attending the somber Vatican funeral with two former U.S. President’s, Bush loaded his wife onto Air Force One and together they flew from Rome, Italy, to Waco, Texas. Imagine calling a travel agent and requesting that same non-stop service?

Air Force One earns its wings daily during the busy travel schedule of the last year of any president’s Administration. He schedules the entire year traveling to say goodbye to anyone who will join him for lunch.

I remember President Bill Clinton’s final journeys to India, Africa, Asia, Europe. Bush’s goodbye exodus was equally long. In 2008 White House travel took me to: Thailand, Korea, the Beijing Olympics, Israel (twice), the Palestinian Territory, Saudi Arabia (twice), Afghanistan (with the first lady), Slovenia, Italy, France, Germany and the United Kingdom.

My only complaint is that we DON’T get Air Force One frequent flyer miles…

For a portfolio of Larry’s work click here.

To be in the right place at the right moment - this is every photojournalist’s dream. To be on the scene to record the “decisive moment” with your camera.

Most photojournalists around the world consider Israel and the Palestinian Territories as "heaven" for great stories providing great pictures. Well they are wrong.

For a long time this place has produced some of the most memorable news photos ever but at a high cost, and not just to the millions of Israelis and Palestinians who have suffered in their daily lives through the conflict of the past two decades or so. A number of photographers and camera operators lost their lives or been badly injured while trying to convey the story and a great number of others have psychological scars from being exposed to scenes of death and destruction over long periods of time. 

Yes, Israel and the Palestinian territories are full of great images, but how easy is to find them and record them? 

Well - the 'finding' part is not too hard. Beepers are constantly beeping, SMS messages are constantly being sent keeping the large international press corps up to date on even the most obscure goings-on.  The Israeli Government Press Office, the Palestinian Authority, NGOs, the Israeli Defence Forces, settler groups, religious groups; all have very sophisticated media operations that fill your e-mail inbox, mobile phone and beeper with a constant stream of information.

The recording part is another story. It can seem as if everything is against you and everybody is trying to make your life difficult. Photographers here are  among the most competitive in the world ... and they are many. Security is a nightmare. Much of the time the authorities from both the Israeli and the Palestinian sides make things very difficult, except of course when they want you to shoot the picture/story that they want to get across. And do not forget, you are always subject to flying rocks, bullets, rockets, hate, blood and tears ... definitely not easy! 

On top of that - international agencies and newspapers take this story very seriously so they tend to send their best photographers here ... and thats in addition to the incredible local talent already here.  I'm lucky that two of the most talented, dedicated and sensitive photographers in the region are on my team; Ronen Zvulun, who is based in Jerusalem, and Mohammed Salem, based in Gaza, are fine examples of how - after finding the story - recording it becomes an art in itself. Click on their names above to enjoy samples of their work.

(Photo credits: (from top to bottom: REUTERS/Mohammed Salem, REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun, REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun, REUTERS/Mohammed Salem)

It’s 10 pm and there’s a cold wind blowing in the parking lot of a strip mall in Ciudad Juarez. This is our “base” of operations where two other photographers and I await news from a radio tuned to the police frequency. One of my colleagues reads a newspaper while the other describes to me his experiences covering the violence. His experiences are stories of terror.

Suddenly over the radio waves come the clear sounds of a “narcocorrido,” or Mexican folk music that glorifies the feats of drug bandits. One of the photographers jumps. “It’s going down,” he says. Baffled, I ask what he means. “The bandits interrupt the police frequency with that music as a signal that they’re about to deposit a package (victim’s remains).” It’s a sober warning and clear example of the power of narcos along much of Mexico’s northern border.

Forensic workers stand next to 11 of 16 slain bodies dumped in an abandoned lot in the border city of Tijuana September 29, 2008. Police found 16 bodies dumped in the seedy Mexican border city of Tijuana on Monday in what the state attorney general’s office said could be a revenge attack for the arrest of a local drug gang hit man. REUTERS/Stringer

Shadows come to life here. They move, threaten and make their presence felt. Silence is broken by the crack of bullets followed by sirens, the rumble of army and police patrols, sobbing, and finally more silence…It’s just another day on Mexico’s northern border. Two, three, ten…who counts them? The numbers make sense only to statisticians that keep tabs on the anonymous bodies that pile up in the city morgue.

Soldiers patrol a boulevard in the border city of Reynosa in the state of Tamaulipas December 8, 2007. REUTERS/Tomas Bravo

What happens here is no different from what goes on in other places like Reynosa, Nuevo Laredo, Tijuana, Culiacan, Guerrero, Michoacan, and even Monterrey. It’s more of a feat to name places that do not suffer from narco-violence. Covering it is like covering a war. We have to deal with the threats of narcos and with the pressure put on us by the police and army. The military convoys, the dark uniforms of the federales (federal police), the checkpoints and the yellow tape that marks crime scenes are all part of the new landscape. My friends tell me that this is the new Colombia. I don’t doubt it one bit.

A federal police searches a group of passengers for drugs and weapons as others stand guard at a check point in the border city of Rio Bravo in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas, Mexico January 10, 2008.  REUTERS/Tomas Bravo

The narco-culture has a long history in Mexico. The only thing new about it is the unprecedented level of violence. Residents of neighborhoods rich and poor receive undesirable visits in the form of hooded policemen investigating crime scenes, or assassins and soldiers in gunfights that often take innocent victims. Desperate parents listen to shots as they wait for their children to be evacuated from school.

A policeman carries a child away during a gun battle in Tijuana, in Mexico’s state of Baja California, January 17, 2008. A shootout on Thursday, after police agents moved in on a drug cartel group, left four people injured and forced the emergency evacuation of a school in Tijuana, according to the local media. REUTERS/Jorge Duenes

Friends of mine that live in cities like Tijuana almost never go out at night to drink or eat any more for fear of losing their lives in a shootout. And if a policeman appears in the same restaurant they will quickly ask for their food to take out, because so many policemen are publicly executed by narcos. The psychosis dominates daily life. Residents are hostages in their own homes, suspecting anything and anyone that is unfamiliar. The tourist areas dedicated to the permanent flow of Americans that cross the border to drink and dance are now all but deserted thanks to the U.S. government’s warnings. “Stay away from bloody Mexico.”

A woman reacts after arriving to a crime scene where a relative was gunned down in the border city of Ciudad Juarez August 22, 2008.  REUTERS/Tomas Bravo

Nobody knows for sure if the guy next to you is a narco soon to be executed or if he is the executioner. If you go to a dance hall and one of them wants your girl he will have her, by whatever means. It’s frightening to speak to police because you never know which side they work for. They take photos of us and arrest us for asking questions, as their way of finding out why we are there. Taxi drivers, gasoline pumpers and hotel employees are among the anonymous informants watching the movement of the police, the army and everyone else.

Forensic workers and soldiers carry the bodies of three soldiers found dead in the community of El Barro, some 20 km (14.9 miles) away from Monterrey, northern Mexico October 22, 2008. REUTERS/Tomas Bravo

One night a taxi driver that didn’t know who I was began to describe in detail the assassination of soldiers that happened here last November. The driver was a “hawk,” an informant for the Gulf Cartel, and admitted it openly.

A simple phone call to a journalist or a newsroom turns into orders about what they can and cannot publish. Assassins converted into editors return to the crime scene to “peruse” photographers’ pictures and decide what they want published. Sometimes we get a direct threat to leave the area. “There’s nothing for you here, a——-. Leave now or you will be next.” And then there are the fake checkpoints where the details give them away – sneakers instead of boots, AK-47 instead of R-15 (the AK-47 is the narco weapon of choice). This is the Old West, except that the victims are counted in the thousands.

Mexican soldiers inspect a vehicle at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Tijuana January 6, 2007.  REUTERS/Tomas Bravo

It’s difficult to write a level-headed account of what is happening here. I find it especially hard for me because apart from having experienced it personally, my colleagues suffer it daily. Impunity is rampant, and we’re all victims.

The widow of slain state prison guard Rodolfo Garcia holds his photograph after a memorial service outside the state government building in the border city of Tijuana April 20, 2007. REUTERS/Tomas Bravo

By many accounts this is just the beginning, with the worst yet to come. Meanwhile the state of the economy, ignorance and poverty continue to fuel the fire of this war that seems all but lost for now. All we photographers can do is remain on alert knowing that at any time a few more lives will be snatched in the endless dance of life and death. How many more? Only time will tell.

Forensic workers look at the slain body of police commander Mario Sanchez after being executed by unidentified gunmen in San Nicolas de los Garza, Monterrey May 19, 2007. REUTERS/Tomas Bravo