We're excited to partner with BOSTON+acumen on the Dignity Boston Photography Sale & Auction benefiting Acumen Fund on Saturday, March 3rd. More information is available here and tickets are available here. 

This post is the second of five weekly installments previewing prints that will be for sale at the event. 

Unable to attend? You can buy all these prints on our website!

Espen Rasmussen. Balakot, Pakistan. 2005.

"It was my last day in Balakot, Pakistan, covering the aftermath of the massive earthquake that killed tens of thousands and left large areas in ruins. I went to the main mosque to view the Friday prayer. The place was turned into a pile of rubble, but still people attended in large numbers. As the prayer started, the mosque was covered with worshippers. This represented hope for me. No matter the size of a tragedy, no matter how hopeless it seems, people will cope, come together and search for strength in their faith."

JB Reed. Nairobi, Kenya. 2005.

"I spent a year in Kenya from 2004-2005 photographing the everyday life of young men living in Nairobi's Mathare Valley slums. One of the most charismatic people I met was Charles. He was tall and muscular with an easy smile and a bottomless sense of humor.  If Charles's hands were idle, they would automatically start twisting the baby dreads he was growing at the time. When I met him, he was trying to become the first from Mathare Valley to play for the National Team. It was a long shot though. His semi-professional soccer salary couldn't even cover his bus fare to games. In the end, he didn't make it. After I left Kenya, he got engaged to a Canadian woman from the U.N. named Victoria  who I had introduced him to. They asked me to photograph their wedding in Toronto. Looking at the wedding photos, I marveled at how long his dreads had grown. They live in Ottawa now. I saw on Facebook recently that Charles shaved his dreads. Maybe be did it to better fit into his new environment. Or maybe he just felt he'd outgrown them. Either way, I know deep down he's still the same old Charles."

Laura El-Tantawy. Delhi, India. 2008.

"I grew up in a moderate Muslim household in Cairo. My parents practiced Islam with an open mind and raised my sisters and I with a liberal mindset. This used to be typical of middle-class Egyptian families. My particular experience with Islam has fueled an interest in other Muslim cultures and a curiosity about religion and spirituality in general. I took this photograph of Muslim celebrations of Eid in India. It's the festival following the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. This was my first trip to India. This morning in New Delhi was different than other Eid prayers I'd experienced. Whereas I'd always spent Eid celebrating and eating with family, on this day I was alone - an observer. What struck me most about Indian Eid was the color as hundreds of worshippers bowed together in prayer at the break of dawn. I will never forget that morning."

Palani Mohan. Kohlapur, India.

"Kushti wrestlers throw clay all over themselves to improve their grip before fights.  Since India’s wrestlers took home medals from the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing, the spotlight has been turned on the 3,000-year-old martial art that is arguably the antecedent of the Greco-roman style. Bouts take place in a pit lined with red river soil. Each morning Hindu prayers are said in the pit, which wrestlers treat as a temple. Kushti is a demanding sport. Wrestlers cook, eat and sleep together. Many have been away from home for much of their lives and consider fellow fighters family. One wrestler told me, "We cannot drink, smoke or have sex. We cannot even think of girls. Even in our dreams it’s forbidden. If we want to be good wrestlers we must live a pure life."