A girl smiles inside a makeshift tent in Cite Soleil, Port-au-Prince February 28, 2010. Seasonal rains and hurricanes spell trouble for Haiti in the best of times, but with hundreds of thousands of people living in flimsy makeshift shelters after last month's earthquake, this year the dangers are much greater. (REUTERS/Carlos Barria)

Another installment of photographs covering the situation in Haiti.  I hope the media will keep this story under everybody’s attention, as Haiti still has a long way to go…

Haiti, 70 days later – The Big Picture

An Afghan man buys plastic jugs in a market in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Monday, Jan. 25, 2010. (AP Photo/Farzana Wahidy)

Another collection of photographs posted by the Big Picture, depicting the complex issue of Afghanistan.  My hope is that we’ll find a way other than violence to deal with the problems facing this nation.  To help them help themselves without resorting to try and kill the problem away.  I don’t think we can just pull out and leave them fend for themselves.  We bare a historical responsibility to provide aid, but not through the barrel of a gun.

Afghanistan, January, 2010 (The Big Picture)

A photo released on January 14, 2010 from the UN Minustah mission of an aerial view of a flattened shanty town in Port-au-Prince following a devastating earthquake on January 12, 2010. (LOGAN ABASSI/AFP/Getty Images)

Gripping images of the devastation 48 hours after the 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti.

Haiti 48 hours later (The Big Picture)

Three days in Iran (The Big Picture)

Fireworks illuminate the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin November 9, 2009, during celebrations to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. (REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay)

More amazing images collected for a photographic retrospective of 2009 by The Big Picture.  The contrast between all the photos, shot all over the world and depicting such a wide range of situations, is striking.

The Big Picture – 2009 in Photos (Part 2 of 3)
The Big Picture – 2009 in Photos (Part 3 of 3)

A Dog belonging to Rhonda O'Hearn of Sandown, New Hampshire waits before the start of a 60-mile race at the Can-Am Crown sled dog races in Fort Kent, Maine on Saturday, February 28, 2009. (Yoon S. Byun/Globe Staff)

The  Big Picture is showing the past year in photos.

The Big Picture

Here’s the quote that struck me the most, besides his gripping images;

It’s really the luck of the draw. I visited a child in one of the hospitals who was 11; who’d been shot by the U.P.D.F., the Ugandan army, because he had a machine gun. Here’s a child who’s my son’s age. The horror this kid has gone through. And the life that my son has. It’s just hard to get my head around. Just the difference in the circumstances. My kids have almost a ‘Leave It to Beaver’ life. And this other child has killed people.

Showcase: Shining a Light (NYT Lens Blog)

Pic of the Day: The Retirement Home (Flavorwire)

Muslim pilgrims pray inside the Grand mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Some great photography of the yearly pilgrimage.

Via Eid al-Adha and the Hajj, 2009 – The Big Picture – Boston.com.