I thought this would be a good time to highlight some of the work of 25-year-old Mark J. Davis; I love it when you can get story ideas by looking at someone's pictures-- Here are two groups of photos, one from Chile, one from Romania (and a single from Bolivia), that tell quite a narrative.
Fishermen set out from the bay of Caleta El Soldado, Chile. Seaweed washes ashore together with garbage, such as this lounge chair.
Luis Espinoza carries in nets of shellfish after a morning of work, Caleta El Soldado, Chile. The fishermen set out in groups of three to the open sea in small motor boats to gather the shellfish from the sea floor. Typically two divers collect the shellfish while an assistant mans the boat, regulating the air compressor and sorting the product before it is taken to the streets to be sold hours later.
Evelyn Montecino, left, works with JosÈ Aravena and Angelica Parraguez near their house in Caleta El Soldado. They are part of an eight member group contracted by the Chilean government to beautify their community. The initiative is an attempt to keep unemployment down. They are paid minimum wage, which is slightly above a dollar an hour.
Click on that link below to see images from Romania! And a toucan eating from a plate.
Preparation for gelding in Lunca Ilvei, Romania. The process of gelding, which normally takes place one day each year in the town, is performed to calm the typically aggressive behavior of the stallions.
A horse lies motionless, temporarily sedated, after being gelded by the town veterinarian and his helpers in Lunca Ilvei, Romania. In the foreground are the instruments used in the procedure.
Friends of a woman who has passed away play horns to announce the death to the town of Vama, Romania.
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A toucan nibbles at leftovers in a hostel in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.
yum!

Thanks for the heads up on Mark's work. Very inspiring set of photos. It's always nice to see us younger photographers highlighted on the blog.
Mark was on Team Purple at the '07 EAW. Damn fine shooter and very professional.
I'd highly recommend him to anyone looking for a good shooter.
"The Martin Parr article made me think of young photojournalists who are out on their own gathering stories that interest them first, and pitching them second."
That's exactly what Tyler Hicks (fellow BU Photojournalism grad) did when he set off for Iraq. Now he's got the New York Times under his belt. Pretty awesome and intrepid.