Sabar Bano, 45, walks through a destroyed section of Dahan-e-Seli in Baghlan, Afghanistan on November 6, 2024. Her husband died while he prayed for everyone’s survival during a flash flood that swept through the village, killing thirteen. A neighbor managed to help her and her children escape. At this moment, all of the men in the village were away at a wedding so the women could not leave the community. Women need a mahram, or a male chaperone, with them when they leave the village. With her husband gone, she must have her ten-year-old son chaperone her outside of her home. Three years after their takeover of Afghanistan, the Taliban has implemented dozens of new laws and restrictions against women. Requiring women to have a male chaperone whenever they leave their home, banning them from public spaces, limiting access to education, preventing them from holding jobs, and silencing their voices. This has left women with little hope for the future. This story, done in part despite a ban on photographing living beings, is a rare look at some of the issues Afghan women face under these new Taliban laws.

HERAT, AFGHANISTAN-MAY 11:A Taliban police officer drives an American humvee to a flood zone as other Taliban officers watch from the bed of a truck through his windshield in Chesht-e-Sharif, Herat, Afghanistan on May 11, 2024. Flash floods hit the area damaging homes and destroying crops. Many American military supplies were left behind and taken over by the Taliban after the United States pulled out of the country. Without proper emergency response equipment, this Taliban police unit has resorted to using the humvee left behind to help them in emergency situations, like the floods. (Photo by Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN-MAY 7:Refugees who said they first fled the war in Afghanistan and then fled climate challenges in Pakistan to return to Afghanistan stand in a refugee camp in Kandahar province in Afghanistan on May 7, 2024. This area used to grow opium poppy plants, but have been converted to other crops.For decades, Afghanistan was the top exporter of opium in the world, accounting for more than 80 percent of the global supply prior to last year. Two-thirds of the country’s opium poppies were grown in southern Afghanistan, where temperatures in the last fifty years increased by up to 4.3 degrees Fahrenheit. The hardy plants thrived despite the harsh, salty desert landscape. Farmers relied on the crop to make their living through droughts and heat. Two years ago, after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan, they banned opium on religious grounds. Afghan farmers turning to alternative crops are finding that many no longer grow well because of the impact of climate change. This is forcing some farmers to abandon their fields, while others are weighing whether they should continue to comply with the ban on poppy cultivation. (Photo by Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)

“If these people don’t ever release me from prison, if I exhaust all my remedies in court, I’m gonna make these people kill me,” Daniel Taylor said to his brother, David Taylor during the third time that David purposefully got himself incarcerated in order to spend time with Daniel.

When Daniel Taylor was 17, he was wrongly convicted of a double murder that he physically could not have committed.  Police investigators beat him into the false confession that sealed his fate, but there was paperwork to prove he had been in police custody for disorderly conduct at the time the murders occurred.  Daniel spent two decades of his life sentence looking out from behind bars knowing that he had every right to be free.  On June 28th, 2013, the charges against Daniel were dropped and he was released from maximum-security prison in Menard, IL.  According to the National Registry of Exonerations, Daniel was the 90th to be exonerated in Cook County since 1989 and the 34th to be wrongfully convicted based on a faulty confession.

This portrait is a part of a larger story, Exonerated: Am I Really Free?, which was done for the Chicago Tribune. 

Reggie Parfait, left, Juliette Brunet, and Howard Brunet stand for a portrait behind their uncle Chris Brunet's house on Isle de Jean Charles, Louisiana, USA on April 21, 2016. "We have to be careful with the .22; we need those shells for food," Chris, who is raising Juliette and Howard, said. Because they do not have a car and Chris is in a wheelchair, they cannot always get off of the island to get groceries. Instead, they make do with the limited resources the island can still provide. On this night, they made rabbit stew. Chris Brunet is the eighth generation in his family to live on the island as a member of the tribe. In one generation, "this island has gone from being self-sufficient and fertile to relying on grocery stores," he says. "What you see now is a skeleton of the island it once was." Since 1955, the Isle de Jean Charles Band of Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Tribe has lost 98 percent of its land to the encroaching Gulf waters. The Tribe's identity, food, and culture have slowly eroded with the land. In response, the Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded the Tribe $48 million to relocate through the National Disaster Resilience Competition. As the effects of climate change transform coastal communities around the world, the people of Isle de Jean Charles will be only 60 of the estimated 200 million people in coastal communities globally who could be displaced by 2050 because of climate change.

This image was a part of The First Official Climate Refugees in the U.S. Race Against Time story I wrote and photographed for National Geographic.

Humpback whales swim through Cierva Cove along the Western Antarctic Peninsula on March 21, 2016. As climate change slowly raises temperatures in Antarctica, the longer summers mean that humpback whales stay in the area feeding much longer than they historically have.  This delays their migration and breeding as well as increasing their body size.  This photo is from the Searching for Whales in Antarctica story done for National Geographic on how climate change is affecting whale populations in Antarctica. 

Serenity Bamberger floats in the Little Blanco River along her family's property on August 18, 2015 in Blanco, Texas. Three months prior, over Memorial Day, the same river flooded their home and business destroying the majority of the family's belongings and source of income. The Memorial Day weekend flooding, which affected Texas and Oklahoma, killed 24 people according to The Associated Press. Three of those deaths occurred along the Blanco River of which the Little Blanco River is a direct tributary. Despite the toll the river has taken, Bertha Rivera, Serenity's grandmother, said, "The river bed was dry for years, so now that the water is here I tell the girls to take advantage of it all that they can."

David Elliott looks on as Susan Elliott kisses one of their rescue dogs on their bed in their home in Wharton, Texas on June 29, 2018. When the flood from Hurricane Harvey came into their home they had to stay on top of their bed, which was surrounded by water, to stay dry and safe. The bedroom was the first room that they started repairing. Although still not finished, the bedroom remains one of the only rooms that is able to be lived in safely a year after the hurricane. They call it their "command center" because they do everything in this room, including eating their meals. "Our bedroom is still the only place where we can live," Susan said. "For months I didn't want to come out of the bedroom." Susan said that during the flood, her dog "Little Baby stayed on the bed with me the whole time. The dogs kept us calm. Baby kept me from collapsing."

Erin O'Loughlin embraces her son Brendan O'Loughlin after his brother Marcus O'Loughlin, who has autism, attacked him while they were playing on the trampoline outside the family's home in Cary, NC on October 6, 2014. As Marcus has aged, the frustrations that result from his autism have turned him violent towards his family. Shortly after this incident Erin and her husband Colm O'Loughlin decided to permanently move Marcus, at age 11, to an assisted living facility for their other children's safety as well as their own. "We know in our hearts that Marcus is going to need assistance for the rest of his life," Erin said. "As far as Marcus living a regular normal life with everybody else in the world, that might not be right for him and he might not be happy with that, so why should I push that on him? We just want Marcus to be happy. We want him to reach his full potential, whatever that might be."

Whole Woman's Health, plaintiffs in the Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt case, and women's reproductive and abortion rights advocates react to the Supreme Court of the United States' 5-3 ruling in a closed Whole Woman's Health clinic, in Austin, Texas, USA on June 27, 2016. The plaintiffs argued that Texas House Bill 2, which closed dozens of abortion clinics across Texas including this one, was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court agreed and ruled that Texas cannot place restrictions on abortion providers that pose an undue burden on women trying to access abortions. Upon hearing what is being considered the nation's most significant abortion ruling in a generation, those gathered hoped that closed clinics, such as this one, will be able to someday reopen because of this ruling. On the wall of a procedure room in the closed clinic, there is a Sojourner Truth quote that reads, "The truth is powerful and it prevails." The clinic reopened nearly a year later.

William Rafael Carranza Martinez laughs after running away from the waves with Jessica Carolina Dominguez Martinez, 1, and Elda Hidalia Martinez, 9, near the border wall before marrying his partner at the beginning of the March Without Borders at Friendship Park on April 29, 2018 in Tijuana, Mexico. Hundreds of migrants from Central America traveled for about a month across Mexico to reach the United States border. In the afternoon, the group, including the Martinez family, plans to go to the San Ysidro border crossing south of San Diego, California, where many of the migrants will seek asylum.

Police officers stand guard at the scene of a shooting while the Comandos de Salvamento attend to the shooter, who was also shot, on a street in San Salvador, El Salvador on September 29, 2018. Earlier that day there had been another shooting in the same area. The Comandos de Salvamento are a first responder volunteer group that aids in stabilizing and transporting people who have been victims of violence, accidents or need emergency medical care. Many volunteers became members of the group as a way to stay out of gangs.

Cindy Romero, 24, from Honduras, holds her son Jason Velasquez, 2, and shields him from the cold winds coming off of the Pacific ocean as they wait with friends at the beach on November 29, 2018 in Tijuana, Mexico. They were weighing their options and deciding whether they should cross the border illegally at the beach to ask for asylum.

Children play along the 12th Street Beach in Chicago on August 13, 2013.  Lifeguards had told them to get out of Lake Michigan because of rip tides and high levels of e. coli.  

Joshua Seitter, 12, and Whiskey Lullaby stand for a portrait at the North Carolina State Fair on October 25, 2013.

Caiden Contreras, who has autism, stands for a portrait in the room he shares with three of his brothers at his home in San Antonio, Texas on May 27, 2015. His parents are both unemployed and living off of his and some of his siblings' disability checks, as well as several other forms of financial assistance from the government. His mother Sandra Contreras homeschools Caiden and four of his seven siblings at their home.

Charros try to lasso a loose horse as a part of the Anniversary of the Mexican Revolution Charreada at the San Antonio Charros Association in San Antonio, Texas, USA on November 20, 2016. These charreadas are seen as a way for Mexican-Americans to hold onto and honor their heritage. Teams are often comprised of several generations of family members. The modern style of charreada developed after the Mexican Revolution, when the traditional charros began to disappear.

Casey attended her final high school prom with her mother Janice at Forest Park High School on April 26, 2014.  Although many people with autism are overwhelmed by loud noise and wild lights, Casey loved to dance with her mother to the music and watch her classmates interact.  Her brother Emerson, who attends Forest Park, was also there with a group of his friends.  Janice said, "I honestly think she felt like Cinderella or Belle that day and if it takes me going with her to make that happen, it is worth it to me." 

At nearly midnight on June 2, 2015, Alondra Aragon, center, led a chant in City Hall in San Franciso, Calif. immediately after the Mission Moratorium was voted on. The final vote was 7-4 in favor of the moratorium, but the measure needed nine votes to be passed as an "interim emergency ordinance." Aragon and dozens of other Mission Moratorium supporters had filled the room for over eight hours that day. Of the supporters, San Francisco Board of Supervisors Member John Avalos said, "The rich fabric of the Mission is what is here today." Katy Tang, the supervisor from District 4, said, "This was incredibly moving for me, although at times emotional, very inspirational."

Reid Howard of Ferdinand, 8, walked a bat back to the dugout during the Class 2A sectional game in Tell City, IN on May 30, 2014.  Forest Park was defeated by South Spencer 9-2.

Southridge senior Ethan Schwoeppe, bottom, Luke Stetter, junior, Drew Dearing, freshman, and Braden Harding, freshman, stacked on top of each other and cheered for the Raiders during halftime of their game against Washington in the IHSAA Class 3A sectional tournament in Huntingburg, IN on Wednesday.  The Raiders lost 41-35.

A victim of a rape holds her hands to her face after recalling what happened during the attack in Hazel Crest, Ill. on Wednesday, August 7, 2013.  The Robbins Police Department failed to investigate the rape, which is now outside the statute of limitations.  However, investigators are working on 52 other rape cases that remain within the statute of limitations.  

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN-MAY 7:Ataullah Noorzai, 30, who used to grow opium poppies and now has resorted to wheat, stands for a portrait in a shelter by his field in Kandahar province in Afghanistan on May 7, 2024. He said that his soil has become very salty and the revenue from wheat and barley is so meager that he has had to start borrowing from neighbors to make ends meet.For decades, Afghanistan was the top exporter of opium in the world, accounting for more than 80 percent of the global supply prior to last year. Two-thirds of the country’s opium poppies were grown in southern Afghanistan, where temperatures in the last fifty years increased by up to 4.3 degrees Fahrenheit. The hardy plants thrived despite the harsh, salty desert landscape. Farmers relied on the crop to make their living through droughts and heat. Two years ago, after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan, they banned opium on religious grounds. Afghan farmers turning to alternative crops are finding that many no longer grow well because of the impact of climate change. This is forcing some farmers to abandon their fields, while others are weighing whether they should continue to comply with the ban on poppy cultivation. (Photo by Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)

ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, ALASKA - JUNE 28:Caribou gather in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which is about the size of South Carolina, in Alaska on June 28, 2024. The fate of the refuge, its wildlife, and the oil reserves within it have been fought over for half-a-century. The Porcupine caribou herd, one of the world’s longest land migrations of mammals, passes through the refuge every year. Some opponents say that oil drilling will impede their migration. (Photo by Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)

KAKTOVIK, ALASKA - JUNE 28:Marie Rexford, Inũpiat resident, embraces the sunlight during a whaling feast in Kaktovik, Alaska on June 28, 2024. The fate of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, its wildlife, and the oil reserves within it have been fought over for half-a-century. (Photo by Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)

JAMESTOWN, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 18:on September 18, 2024 in Jamestown, NY. (Photo by Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)

SOUFRIERE, DOMINICA - AUGUST 28:Jayden Bruce, 12, swims with friends in Soufriere, Dominica on August 28, 2024. In Dominica, which was destroyed by Hurricane Maria, the Citizenship By Investment program allows foreign nationals to get citizenship by investing money into real estate projects or contributing funds to pay for climate resilience projects. The projects include resilient infrastructure, shelters, medical centers, and housing for people who lost their homes to natural disasters.(Photo by Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)

KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN-MAY 7:Asana, 9, holds Zaid Ahmad, 2, while walking with her sister Hafiza by their home in La'al Khan Qala in Kandahar province, Afghanistan on May 7, 2024. Their father Bashir Ahmad Durrani, 38, said prices for opium in Kandahar were lower because smuggling routes were limited in the area. According to Durban, some people left the village because of issues with the drought.For decades, Afghanistan was the top exporter of opium in the world, accounting for more than 80 percent of the global supply prior to last year. Two-thirds of the country’s opium poppies were grown in southern Afghanistan, where temperatures in the last fifty years increased by up to 4.3 degrees Fahrenheit. The hardy plants thrived despite the harsh, salty desert landscape. Farmers relied on the crop to make their living through droughts and heat. Two years ago, after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan, they banned opium on religious grounds. Afghan farmers turning to alternative crops are finding that many no longer grow well because of the impact of climate change. This is forcing some farmers to abandon their fields, while others are weighing whether they should continue to comply with the ban on poppy cultivation. (Photo by Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)

NEW ORLEANS, LA - May 4:Nicole collapses in a chair after attending a birthday dinner for her mother at her home in New Orleans, LA on May 4, 2023. Nicole was 14 when Officer Rodney Vicknair, then 53, of the New Orleans Police Department took her to the hospital for a rape examination after she said her 17-year-old friend forced himself on her. Four months later, Vicknair was instead arrested for also sexually assaulting Nicole. A Washington Post investigation found that at least 1,800 state and local police officers were charged with crimes involving child abuse from 2005 through 2022. Abusive officers most frequently targeted girls between 13 and 15 years old and regularly met them while on the job. The victim is being identified by her middle name only, to protect her identity. (Photo by Carolyn Van Houten/TWP)

Malik Stanikzai’s horse, left, rears as men groom and prepare horses ahead of a buzkashi tournament in Baghlan, Afghanistan on November 7, 2024. Horses are often imported from neighboring countries, costing tens of thousands of dollars. Owners have men whose sole job is to care for them.

Rather than watching the violent clashes on horseback, hundreds of men stare at the only woman in attendance during a buzkashi tournament in Baghlan, Afghanistan on November 7, 2024. Often threatened with arrest for trying, women are banned from attending many public events and spaces.

Matt Boyle tosses a small crab back as Luke McFadden, a crabber who has 1.6 million followers on TikTok, checks about 500 of his crab pots from his boat F.V. Southern Girl in the Chesapeake Bay on June 16, 2023 near Pasadena, MD. “I didn’t do this to get famous, I just want to crab,” he said. “There’s not a next generation of fishermen. All my peers are twice my age. They don’t retire. They can’t. They just die. My main point of social media is to make people care about watermen. The industry is at a crossroads right now.” A first generation crabber, he is one of the only crabbers of color and one of the youngest working on the Chesapeake Bay.

Emma Thomson of the Coral Restoration Foundation works among dead coral at a reef site called Pickles off the coast of Key Largo, FL on November 27, 2023. A marine heatwave over the summer killed much of the world’s third largest reef so quickly that the coral did not have time to bleach first. Thomson sobbed when she saw the reef for the first time after the mass death event. Dead coral lack color and are often covered in a moss-like overgrowth. “Back when I was an intern in 2016, I was working and feeling everything so deeply,” Thomson said. “Then Hurricane Irma hit and it wiped everything clear. Everything was just gone. It looked like someone had poured concrete over it and now, once again, another massive event comes through and decimates the corals. Seeing the skeletons is the worst part.”

Thousands of asylum-seeking migrants gathered on the US/Mexico border in the final hours of the Trump-era immigration policy, Title 42. When Title 42 expired at midnight on May 11th and Title 8 went into effect, the repercussions for crossing the border illegally became more severe. The flow of migrants crossing the Rio Grande River slowed significantly. However, the conditions at the encampment are squalid and the migrants, especially those seeking asylum legally via the CBP One app, say they have nowhere to turn. Alexander Nova holds Santiago Quintero, 6, as migrants seeking asylum traverse the Rio Grande River in order to cross the United States border before Title 42 expires on May 11, 2023 in Matamoros, Mexico.

Realizing the baby is drowning face-down in the water, migrants flip the baby over gasping for air in an attempt to save its life while trying not to drown themselves as they cross the Rio Grande River to the United States border on May 11, 2023 in Matamoros, Mexico. People waiting on the banks of the river could see the baby was drowning before the men in the water could, so they desperately shouted to the men. The thick vegetation in the river hid the reality of the deep water, making the crossing in hopes of asylum in the hours before Title 42 expired that night very dangerous.

Isabel Rizzo, 25, and Alejandro Torre Alva, 27, both migrants from Venezuela seeking asylum rest on a walkway near the United States border on May 12, 2023 in Matamoros, Mexico. Information about changes to immigration policy spreads through migrant camps quickly, but is often inaccurate or confusing by the time it reaches an asylum-seeker. Resting along the main walkway through the tent encampment increases their chances of hearing enough information that they can piece together something close to the facts about how changes will affect them, such as with Title 42.

Miley Vasquez, 9, waits with her family in hopes of getting a credible fear interview, a first step in the process of seeking asylum, at the United States border on May 12, 2023 in Matamoros, Mexico. When Title 42 expired, Title 8 went into effect. In Title 8, Mexicans can once again seek asylum in the United States. Vasquez’s family said that gang violence in Acapulco, Mexico was driving them from their home so as soon as Title 42 lifted, they wanted to try for asylum.

Nancy Kidd, right, who is involved in running the Democrat tent, enjoys the Door County Fair with her granddaughter in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin on August 10, 2023.

Isela May Alcocer, 29, watches Ángel Hernandez, 2, play in the moldy, rat-infested trailer they share with seven others on May 16, 2023 in Door County, WI. A demand for housing and large numbers of vacant rental properties for tourists have resulted in a housing crisis in the area. Low-income families, especially the families of the migrant workers on dairy farms and fruit orchards in the area, sometimes have to share trailers with other families in order to afford rent and food.

Michelle Henderson, owner, opens The Hen House Bar and Grill in Forestville, Door County, Wisconsin on October 12, 2023. The swing county, in the battleground state of Wisconsin, has backed every presidential election’s winning candidate since 2000. However, the county’s residents on both sides of the political aisle are tiring of politics altogether as the next election looms. Henderson, who often tends the bar, said she avoids political conversations with patrons because she is sick of politics.

Drug cartels are using the Galápagos Islands as a gas station for the boats they use to smuggle cocaine north to Mexico and the United States. The cartels extort local fishermen who have access to subsidized gas. The large swaths of undeveloped land and small ports and airports on the islands make it easy for drugs to be smuggled through. In 2023, the navy seized nearly 25 tons of cocaine around the Galápagos—a 150 percent increase over 2022. Weapons are now also being smuggled along routes near the islands as Ecuadorian gangs fight for control of drug routes and violence in Ecuador soars.People hang out in Puerto Villamil on Isabela Island, Galápagos on April 25, 2023. While there is some demand for cocaine locally in this tourist hotspot, the majority is passing through on routes from South America north to Mexico and the US. Mexican and Albanian cartels’ efforts to meet an increasing demand for cocaine have aided in a historic increase in violence in Ecuador.

Taking a break from playing video games, Brooke and Billy High toss Kendall as Olivia watches at home in Tampa, FL on June 25, 2023. Brooke says she is proud of the decisions they have made for their family. Billy is a mechanic for the Air Force, while Brooke cares for the girls full time. However, they both said that they miss the freedom they had before.

BAKHUIS MOUNTAINS, SURINAME - OCTOBER 8:Marcos Carello, left, and Ashvin Partapsing, guides with Unlock Nature, use headlamps and a thermal camera to look for jaguars and other wildlife on the road from Paramaribo to the Bakhuis Mountains in Suriname after standing for a portrait on October 8, 2024. Chinese criminal organizations traffic jaguar parts out of Suriname as a part of a larger criminal enterprise in Latin America. The jaguars are often poached by hunters, loggers, miners, or community members who happen upon them while working and kill them because poached jaguars fetch a high price. The jaguar fangs and pelt are sold, while the rest of the jaguar is sometimes turned into paste or wine for Chinese medicinal purposes. Suriname is the most forested country on earth, making these acts difficult to track. Organizations like Earth League International use intelligence assets to investigate animal trafficking crimes, such as jaguar poaching and trafficking. (Photo by Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)