"the big picture...outside your front door"

A few friends in our community have a website dedicated to sharing truth and experiences from around the world. This video, taken from the site, is of a friend Dan Baumann speaking about his recent trip to Nigeria.

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featured blog: George Hsia Photography

My friend George Hsia is one of the most amazing photojournalists that I know! We seem to only hang out in really interesting places...Afghanistan, Haiti...check out his new website!

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Photo Giveaway Winner!

and the winner is....
Hannah Chinworth!
Thanks to everyone for participating and keep checking back for daily posts and more giveaways in the future! Also, be on the lookout for the online store where you can order prints coming soon!

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newark's murder free month.

Wow, April is the first month that Newark, NJ has gone without a homicide since May 1966! I am continuing to pray for the motherland ; )



"blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God."

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long day.

today's photo of the day is the first one that has been posted on the day that i took it.
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one day on earth.

I LOVE story-telling and I love it when story tellers connect with one another to tell a much BIGGER story. So, I was really excited when I saw this from One Day on Earth.



Join us on 10.10.10 for an unprecedented event. Every Nation, 24 hours and You.

Across the planet, documentary filmmakers, students, and inspired citizens will record the human experience over a 24-hour period. By participating in this historic event, you will help capture the diversity of life and culture on this planet. Together we will create a document that is a gift to the world.

One Day on Earth is a documentary and new media project about the amazing diversity, conflict, tragedy, and triumph that occurs in one 24-hour period on Earth. More than a film, One Day on Earth is a multi-platform participatory media project. The flagship of this project is a 120-minute documentary to be released theatrically. Through the One Day on Earth platform we will establish a community that not only watches, but participates.
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Also, it's not too late to win the Photo Giveaway!  
Just visit the link and leave a comment for a chance to win on Friday, April 23rd.

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Print Giveaway!

This photo is making a reappearance as today's photo of the day giveaway
All you have to do for a chance to win is  
leave a comment below 
before Friday, April 23rd. 
Winner will be chosen at random and announced on Friday's blog post. 
If you are the winner I will get in touch with you for your mailing address.
You will receive an 8x10 print.


A young boy overlooks the trash filled shore in Saint Marc Haiti just one month after the devastating earthquake.

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Sex + Money: The National Search for Human Worth Goes to the Garden State

In 2007, a group of PhotogenX students embarked on a journey through 20+ nations on every inhabitable continent, motivated by their love for photography and their passion for justice. At the outset, their experiences seemed diverse, even random.  However, a common thread of human suffering would soon emerge as their travels exposed them to a dark, seldom discussed side of humanity-- children being bought and sold to satisfy the sexual pleasures of other humans.
As they returned to the United States in 2008, the students were surprised to find that the same injustice was happening on the soil of their own country.  Unfortunately, a large percentage of Americans are still unaware that such a grotesque crime could ever be taking place in their midst.

SEX + MONEY: A National Search for Human Worth is a feature length film that documents a group of students as they travel in an RV across the United States, seeking to understand how the sexual exploitation of children has become the nation's fasting growing form of organized crime. As the students encounter the brave men and women who are fighting on the front lines of the modern abolitionist movement, they begin to consider what further action can be taken to bring an end to such obscene forms of injustice.

The final movement of  Sex + Money portrays the students quest to help make America the first slave-free nation in the world and to inspire others to do the same.

This is the third "webisode" that has been released in anticipation for the final documentary. It just so happens to be filmed where I grew up, in New Jersey.







Click to view Sex + Money Webisode #1 and Webisode # 2. 

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joe's pick.

[i let my brother joe pick today's photo of the day. would you like to pick a photo of the day? if there is one you have seen elsewhere (on facebook, in a gallery, on my camera lcd,...) let me know!
basilica in prague]

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walking backwards down the stairs.

     The point right before the breaking point. When your heart is at it’s most fragile state, your physical body is falling apart and your weary soul is feeling worn out. I have been there. And at times lately, I have felt like I could add a postal code to the end of that place and take permanent residency. After a day of being almost pain-free and remembering what it’s like to feel energized and alive, the words of my wise mother are ringing in my head, “don’t overdo it, don’t push yourself, keep resting, be patient”. Growing up I have never been good at heeding this advice, and just when I thought I was getting better at it, I am awake, writing this, in the early morning hours mainly to get my mind off the repercussions of a day spent out of bed.

    Although it contradicts so much of what I have learned about the nature and character of God, it is amazing to me that at my most vulnerable points, when I am feeling particularly weighed down or like I can’t stand to be sick or in pain for one more day, I half expect a miraculous hand to part the clouds and to zap me, instantly healing me so that I could go on with life as usual (don’t think that I have not imagined this on several occasions as I lay in bed for the past 30 days). I am not discounting the fact that God could indeed perform such a task, but I truly believe that He is a God who knows me, and the way to my heart has never really been with grandstand acts such as (with the exception of that whole Saul/Paul thing and ...). I feel like what I have experienced has been far more extravagant.

    As I have cried out to Jesus Christ in desperation, I have felt His presence and a peace that smashes my paradigm. It’s been as if He has crouched down next to me, as I lay in bed, as I keeled over in pain, as I sprawled out on the bathroom floor, too weak to stand up after vomiting for hours...and as He met me at my level, He didn’t shout “be healed woman!”, there were no flashes of lighting from heaven or talking animals or burning bushes. Because He knows me and He usually cuts right to the chase. And as He gently wiped the tears from my eyes and He said, Hey. I’m here. And I’m not going anywhere.

        He ravishes me with love in the way that I can receive it. And today, something clicked for me. As I realized that it has been exactly one month since I first got sick, my initial reaction was to feel really bad for myself and then get really frustrated (and sometimes when I get really frustrated, I think in “New Jersian” and catch my thoughts spinning wildly out of control, “C’mon already! Enough of this.” like a habituated commuter in a Lincoln Tunnel traffic jam). But when I quieted my thoughts and my heart, all that I was left with was the last thing that I expected. I was left with thankfulness. I felt overwhelming gratitude to be in a place where I was completely out of control. On a good day, it is so easy for me to pray, “refine me, give me endurance, teach me patience” and to question in my heart, what does it mean to “know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings”? Today, these prayers became a little bit more real as I am feeling more tested, tried, proved and refined than ever.

    My God walks with me. And that means we are walking together, very slowly. And sometimes we walk backwards down the stairs. Because it hurts less.



The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures; 
he leads me beside still waters;
he restores my soul.  
leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; 
for you are with me; your rod and your staff — they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; 
you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, 
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.
Psalm 23

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friday.

[this girl was using the town's water pump as a sprinkler until some women came to fill up their water jugs. st. marc, haiti]

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spotlight: afghanistan.

i think at some stage these photos have made it into a slide show and you may have seen them floating around in a few other places as well, but i feel they deserve a moment in the spotlight because they are some of the most beautiful souls i have ever encountered.i know i post about afghanistan a lot, but i think that is because it just might be my most favorite place in the world. i wanted to post 15 photos, but narrowed it down to these few. i know it's "photo of the day" but, it's my blog. and there aren't really any rules.

[triplets! the third sister ducked out at the last minute. i think about her every time i see this photo]

["behind the burqa" project. ]

[prison babies]

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saints for sale [casco viejo, panama city]

Casco Viejo, or "Old City" is a vibrant, bustling metropolis. Steve , Kristin and myself had fun exploring and wandering into a "no go" area until local police would not let us in because they were afraid we would get shot.



[saints for sale]

[barber shop]

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gone fishin'.

[fishing in the mediterranean sea | alexandria, egypt]

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'round and 'round.

[My friend Jeanette and I met together with girls from a shanty town each week to study the Bible, talk about life and have lots of fun! It was never a boring time and the girls taught me so much. | Capricorn Park, South Africa]

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Sex + Money A Global Search for Human Worth Webisode #2

Currently a team from PhotogenX is making a documentary about modern day slavery in the United States. They have been posting weekly "webisodes" and this is the second one that has been released so far. For more information or to watch the other webisode, visit  their website here.

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a language made of film.

My attempt to post every day has been at the mercy of busy life and trying desperately to not be sick anymore. What started out as a photo of the day might find a better suited title such as a photo every few days, a few photos on some day or no photos for a couple of days, so I apologize if there does exist even one faithful reader who waits on bated breath for each day's post (misie? mom? anyone?).

I contemplated picking out photos for each days post before hand so that I could just click "publish blog" and be done with it, but the truth is, photo of the day is not just about posting photos for everyone to see. I am not even certain anyone cares to see them, it is more about forcing myself to go back through all of my photos and LOOK. It is about remembering each face and place and moment. So, if a photo ever seems random (much like today's), is slightly out of focus and doesn't have an amazing story to go along with it, know that something about it struck a chord in my heart as I clicked through files upon files.

[green eyed guy | afghanistan 2008]

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one day at a time.

[cruising around in the grocery store. steve really wanted me to try out the electric wheelchair but I kept having flashbacks of when I ran my family's riding lawnmower into a tree when I was ten and the time when I forgot to use my hands while riding a go-cart...]

for me yesterday felt surreal. if life were a reality TV show, yesterday would have been the day where i overcame pain and struggle to meet all of my favorite movie stars and be first in line to ride all of the rides at Disney World. it's amazing what great friends, a little fresh air and a trip to the grocery store can do.

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blogging from bed.

as you may have heard by now, i am still recovering from salmonella and have been bedridden for the past twenty days. it has been a really trying time for me and sometimes we all need a little reminder. i think i would like to dedicate this blog to myself.

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when the balance is clearly defined.

[cameron arriba, tribal panama. the girls wear vibrant traditional dresses like this one.]

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© 2010 unless otherwise stated all photos are copyright diane schallert and may not be used without permission. thanks.

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