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It is said that Torajans are people who “live to die”. For this Indonesian ethnic group, funerals are such extravagant events that they sometimes attract tourists. Families can postpone burials years (and the deceased are considered sick and hosted at home until the funeral) until the family can raise enough money and gather as many relatives as possible. And then it’s a jubilant multiday social event with a parade, dances and animal sacrifices. Agung Parameswara photographed these funerary practices when he traveled to South Sulawesi province, where the Torajans live. But often, their funeral isn’t the last time the dead are seen. In August, crypts are opened, coffins are slid back out and bodies delicately unsheathed. This tender ritual is known as Ma’Nene, which is customarily performed every few years. (Photo by Agung Parameswara/The Washington Post)

It is said that Torajans are people who “live to die”. For this Indonesian ethnic group, funerals are such extravagant events that they sometimes attract tourists. Families can postpone burials years (and the deceased are considered sick and hosted at home until the funeral) until the family can raise enough money and gather as many relatives as possible. And then it’s a jubilant multiday social event with a parade, dances and animal sacrifices. Agung Parameswara photographed these funerary practices when he traveled to South Sulawesi province, where the Torajans live. (Photo by Agung Parameswara/The Washington Post)
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06 Oct 2016 09:15:00
Aerial view of the “Viracocha III”, a boat made only from the totora reed, as it is being prepared to cross the Pacific from Chile to Australia on an expected six-month journey, La Paz, Bolivia, October 19, 2016. An expedition in a boat made only of reeds crafted by indigenous Bolivians is getting ready to cross the Pacific from South America to Australia, in a fresh attempt to prove that ancient mariners were capable of making the journey. Phil Buck, a 51-year-old explorer from the United States, already has led two similar expeditions and will captain the “Viracocha III” set to depart from northern Chile in February on an expected six-month journey. (Photo by David Mercado/Reuters)

Aerial view of the “Viracocha III”, a boat made only from the totora reed, as it is being prepared to cross the Pacific from Chile to Australia on an expected six-month journey, La Paz, Bolivia, October 19, 2016. An expedition in a boat made only of reeds crafted by indigenous Bolivians is getting ready to cross the Pacific from South America to Australia, in a fresh attempt to prove that ancient mariners were capable of making the journey. (Photo by David Mercado/Reuters)
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20 Oct 2016 10:53:00
Bodie, Mono County, California. Gold was discovered at Bodie in 1859 (just after the initial California gold rush) and it went from mining camp to boomtown. Its decline began in 1880, when word spread of new boomtowns elsewhere. The Standard Consolidated Mine closed in 1913, and four years later the Bodie Railway was abandoned. By 1940 the population was down to 40. Today, Bodie is maintained in a state of arrested decay as a visitor attraction. (Photo by Alamy Stock Photo)

Kieron Connolly’s new book of photographs of more than 100 once-busy and often elegant buildings gives an idea of how the world might look if humankind disappeared. Here: Bodie, Mono County, California. Gold was discovered at Bodie in 1859 (just after the initial California gold rush) and it went from mining camp to boomtown. Its decline began in 1880, when word spread of new boomtowns elsewhere. The Standard Consolidated Mine closed in 1913, and four years later the Bodie Railway was abandoned. By 1940 the population was down to 40. Today, Bodie is maintained in a state of arrested decay as a visitor attraction. (Photo by Alamy Stock Photo)
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07 Sep 2016 09:50:00
A woman gets ready for her performance at the backstage of the Heart restaurant in Ibiza on June 29, 2015. Take the Spanish chefs Ferran and Albert Adria, the Cirque du Soleil founder French Guy Laliberte and contemporary artists such as Japanese Takashi Murakami. Put them together on the luxurious Mediterranean island of Ibiza and shake well to get “Heart” an innovative multi-sensory experience. (Photo by Jaime Reina/AFP Photo)

A woman gets ready for her performance at the backstage of the Heart restaurant in Ibiza on June 29, 2015. Take the Spanish chefs Ferran and Albert Adria, the Cirque du Soleil founder French Guy Laliberte and contemporary artists such as Japanese Takashi Murakami. Put them together on the luxurious Mediterranean island of Ibiza and shake well to get “Heart” an innovative multi-sensory experience. The idea of provoking emotions through a collision of avant-garde creativities appeared two years ago from Adria brothers and Laliberte's passion about art and cuisine. They met a decade ago at the famous restaurant El Bulli, closed in 2011. (Photo by Jaime Reina/AFP Photo)
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01 Jul 2015 13:50:00
Michal Navratil of the Czech Republic performs after the men's 27 meter high dive final at the Swimming World Championships in Kazan, Russia, Wednesday, August 5, 2015. (Photo by Denis Tyrin/AP Photo)

Michal Navratil of the Czech Republic performs after the men's 27 meter high dive final at the Swimming World Championships in Kazan, Russia, Wednesday, August 5, 2015. (Photo by Denis Tyrin/AP Photo)
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06 Aug 2015 12:13:00


Colonel Roscoe Turner, the pilot of an American Boeing plane, showing his wife a model of the plane, at the airfield in Mildenhall. (Photo by R. Wesley/Fox Photos/Getty Images). 19th October 1934
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21 Mar 2011 10:37:00
An employee of a bakery talks on his mobile while balancing on his head a tray of freshly baked bread from a local bakery in a street in Cairo, Egypt, January 12, 2016. (Photo by Asmaa Waguih/Reuters)

An employee of a bakery talks on his mobile while balancing on his head a tray of freshly baked bread from a local bakery in a street in Cairo, Egypt, January 12, 2016. (Photo by Asmaa Waguih/Reuters)
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13 Jan 2016 11:31:00
A veterinarian kisses an 8-month-old cat, wearing a prosthetic two-wheel device, at a veterinary hospital in Chongqing municipality, March 16, 2015. (Photo by Reuters/China Daily)

A veterinarian kisses an 8-month-old cat, wearing a prosthetic two-wheel device, at a veterinary hospital in Chongqing municipality, March 16, 2015. The cat's rear legs lost the abilty to walk after falling from the ninth to fifth floor of a building last November, its since undergone four major surgeries which included removing parts of its organs, local media reported. (Photo by Reuters/China Daily)
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19 Mar 2015 13:27:00