Boys of Summer, a short documentary from NPR, will have its world premiere at the 2026 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in Missoula, MT! Against the backdrop of the male loneliness epidemic, Boys of Summer follows a group of teenage boys at a remote summer camp in Vermont. Free from screens and societal expectations, they learn to open up, support one another, and redefine what it means to be a boy. It’s a tender vérité portrait of vulnerability, friendship, and the quiet rebellion of feeling deeply in a world that often tells boys not to. If you’re in Missoula, join the NPR team for one of three in-person screenings this week. And come celebrate with NPR and MTPR for a public radio gathering on Feb. 16th, from 7-9pm at Montgomery’s Distillery. For more information, click the link in our bio.

Photographing rats while shadowing Sanitation Department workers late at night as they collect trash. Hanging out with NYC’s appointed “Rat Czar” and going on one of her Rat Walks. Learning about the vicious cycle between rats, trash and New York City by chasing garbage trucks in Harlem with @jeongyoonhan and being delightfully edited by @grace.widyatmadja Kind of a dream assignment for @npr if I’m honest. The New York City Department of Sanitation has been piloting a program to put garbage in bins instead of on the sidewalk and streets to see if they can eliminate food sources for rats as well as benefit the workers. The goal is to containerize 70% of the 44 million pounds of trash that New Yorkers produce every day by this November. Collecting in this way means there’s seemingly a lot less contact with the actual trash for the Sanitation Department workers, who say that they frequently get cut and leaked on by the contents of the bags when hauling them from the sidewalk to the trucks. And if you’re in the city, sign up for a Rat Walk with Kathy Corradi, the first citywide director of rodent mitigation. You’ll learn a lot and probably see some rats. She knows where to find em.

Scenes from the Republican National Convention for @npr

Last week I photographed Salman Rushdie during his visit for an interview with All Things Considered host, Mary Louise Kelly. They spoke about his new memoir “Knife,” in which Rushdie writes about an attempt on his life in 2022 where he was stabbed multiple times. “I saw this man rise out of the audience,” Rushdie said. “He sprinted up the steps and came at me. I immediately thought, ‘Oh. It’s actually happening.’” The threat of such an incident has been present in Rushdie’s life since February 1989. This attack left him scarred and without the use of his right eye. You can watch and listen to the conversation on NPR today. @npr

📷 @tseringbista

Dimi tattooed me a while back and we became fast friends. I was extremely flattered when he asked if I’d come take pictures while he and Vido tattooed both of Dimi’s hands. He’s a weird and wonderful person if you’re looking for a talented artist to put a needle to your skin.

Got to film and snap a few photos of Jonathan Majors speaking with Ayesha Rascoe for @npr

August 9, 2022 • Election Day in Nairobi. 1. Minutes before voting commences, voters in the Kibera slum of Nairobi peer into one of the many polling centers at Olympic Primary. The crowd seemed uneasy as the minutes passed beyond the official time to start voting. Some residents said they saw fellow voters begin lining up as early as 3:30. 2. Sam Papa, a 27-year-old resident of Mathare, didn't leave his coal store all day, not even to vote. He says every election period, politicians drop off money and promises. But after elections, nothing changes. At the moment, he says, his neighbors can't afford the basics. They vote, he says, because the constitution demands it. But, in the end, he knows that Kenyans are on their own. 3. A paramilitary wing of the Kenyan Security Services, which is usually deployed to quell unrest, patrols the streets of Nairobi’s Kibera slum. 4. A large crowd runs ahead of a motorcade shuttling presidential candidate, Raila Odinga, after he cast his votes in the Kibera slum in Nairobi. 5. A voter casts their ballot as an election official watches in a polling center in the Mathare neighborhood of Nairobi. Despite excitement around parts of the city, voter turnout was unexpectedly low. 6. During much of the day, stores stayed closed and people largely stayed indoors, waiting to see what Election Day had would bring. As tensions waned and calmness held, the streets came back to life in Mathare. 7. As the streets of Mathare filled back up after a quiet morning and afternoon, people open their shops children jump rope, the hens take a walk with their chicks.

Green River Part II: Gray Canyon. Less shade. More nudity. 1. Ben swims for his life as Corey meets his maker. 2. Making the ascent to a cliff diving perch. 3. An unnamed rude, nude dude. 4. Tim snoozing in full sun after a sleepless night on the boat, under a tarp, in a thunderstorm. 5. A pit stop for a splish and a splash. 6. Boat 4 coming through Gray Canyon. 7. All five boats tied together in the ultimate flotilla, shortly before coming across some unexpected rapids. 8. Corey looking nice as pie. 9. Gary looking handsome as hell. 10. A brief reprieve from getting absolutely roasted at camp.

Spent 8 days on the Green River with 12 strangers. Love each and every one of em. This series of photos is from the first canyon we passed through, Desolation Canyon. Thanks for organizing the trip Burton. 1. Burton powering Russ and I through some rapids. 2. Self-portrait on the groover — our toilet system for the trip. 3. Water splashing over the front of the boat through some rapids. 4. Hunter snoozing on the boat he scarcely ever left. 5. Tim and Gary taking in the view from camp. 6. Camp kitchen for the night. 7. Corey and Burton scoping out a chossy climbing route. 8. Gary and Andy on a hike through a side canyon. 9. Grant exploring some pasture from a long abandoned ranch in the base of the canyon. 10. Watching an amazing storm roll through the canyon.

Oh yes, ping And of course, pong 📷: @_sebastian_lehner_

April 22, 2022 • We accompanied a few members of the Ukrainian military to the remains of a former Russian position in Mala Rohan, Ukraine. The Russian soldiers had commandeered several buildings in the village and used them ask barracks and field hospitals. The Ukrainian military pushed them out. While the area had been liberated at the end of March, we saw a Russian military tank and helicopter which had been destroyed and shot down just a few days prior. 1. Capt. Daniil, a public affairs officer in the Ukrainian military, walks through a field in Mala Rohan, on the outskirts of Ukraine's northeastern city of Kharkiv. He is recording the aftermath of fighting between occupying Russian soldiers and Ukrainian forces. 2. A downed Russian helicopter. The aircraft was shot down by Ukrainian forces just a few days prior to the visit. 3. A destroyed Russian military tank sits charred, marked with the military's "Z." 4. A second lieutenant in the Ukrainian military, Dimitriy, is part of the force that helped liberate the village Mala Rohan. 5. Food and various other supplies left by occupying Russian soldiers in a damaged building. 6. Capt. Daniil explores the remains of a building in Mala Rohan that Russian soldiers used as a temporary base while occupying the area. Ukrainian forces drove them out. 7. Capt. Daniil lifts a Russian military ration left behind in the destroyed warehouse, formerly used as barracks and field hospital by Russian soldiers. 8. Capt. Daniil flips through pages of a Russian military log book detailing activities of a mortar battalion and a mechanized infantry battalion. 9. A Ukrainian military public affairs officer searches the basement, combing through rubber boots and other supplies left by Russian soldiers. 10. The casing of a Ukrainian Grad missile stands upright in the basement. Listen to our exploration of these sites and Eyder's interview with Dimitriy on NPR. Hanna Palamarenko also contributed reporting to the story.