In this Thursday, May 8, 2014 photo, Iranian coal miners push metal carts to be loaded with coal at a mine near the city of Zirab 212 kilometers (132 miles) northeast of the capital Tehran, on a mountain in Mazandaran province, Iran. International sanctions linked to the decade-long dispute over Iran's nuclear program have hindered the import of heavy machinery and modern technology in all sectors, and coal mining is no exception. (Photo by Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo)

Organizers of an exhibition of ancient instruments of torture in Huai'an, Jiangsu province, have suggested that children, heart disease patients and people with high blood pressure stay away because of the vivid depictions of shocking cruelty. The exhibition has more than 200 instruments of torture on display in the 50,000-square-meter exhibition halls of a restored ancient building. Wax figures, along with sound and light techniques, are incorporated for scary effect. The local government said the exhibition is for tourists and historians to research ancient torture practices. (Photo by ChinaFotoPress)

People look at home-made armoured vehicle look-alikes on a street in Shenyang, Liaoning province, November 12, 2014. A man surnamed Zhang and his friends converted two cars into these two vehicles, for his son, and will be displaying them on show at a local park. The cannons on the vehicles can fire paintballs and smoke shells, local media cited Zhang as saying. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Attendants arrive at an inauguration ceremony of a Hello Kitty amusement park in Anji, Zhejiang province November 28, 2014. With an investment of $325 million, Hello Kitty Park will be China's first large scale amusement park scheduled to open to the public on New Year's day. According to state media, there are nearly 60 theme parks being built across China at the moment. (Photo by Carlos Barria/Reuters)

Chinese aids activists hand out condoms in a subway train in Wuhan, central China's Hubei province on December 1, 2014. The World Health Organization issued a call to action to China on December 1, 2014 over HIV/AIDS as government figures said nearly half a million people are living with the disease or its precursor, with hundreds of thousands more thought to be undiagnosed. (Photo by AFP Photo)

View of colourful rock formations at the Zhangye Danxia Landform Geological Park in Gansu Province, China. The Zhangye Danxia Landform Geological Park is 40km from Zhangye city. The park spans more than 400 square kilometers in Gansu. The unusual terrain is the result of red sandstone and mineral deposits carved over the years by natural forces. (Photo by ImagineChina/The Grosby Group)

David Guttenfelder was born in Iowa and graduated from the University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Arts in cultural anthropology. He has worked for the AP since 1994 based in Kenya, the Ivory Coast, India and Japan. He is currently AP’s chief Asia photographer and his feature work has been used prominently in editorial publications throughout the world including Time and National Geographic. Photo: U.S. soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, fire mortars at known enemy firing positions from a base in the Pech River Valley in Afghanistan's Kunar province, Saturday, October 24, 2009. (Photo by David Guttenfelder/AP Photo)

Employees conduct a final check to fix any cavities in the seams of balls inside the soccer ball factory that produces official match balls for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, in Sialkot, Punjab province May 16, 2014. It was when he felt the roar of the crowd at the 2006 World Cup in Germany that Pakistani factory owner Khawaja Akhtar first dreamt up a goal of his own: to manufacture the ball for the biggest soccer tournament on the planet. Last year he finally got his chance – but only 33 days to make it happen. (Photo by Sara Farid/Reuters)