Fotovision is now selling Sahel: The End of the Road, by Sebastião Salgado as a fundraiser. For $100 you get a book that has been signed by Salgado and carries some of his early documentary work

“Working with the humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders, Salgado documented the enormous suffering and the great dignity of the refugees in the Sahel region of Africa (Chad, Ethiopia, Mali, and the Sudan), where approximately one million people died from extreme malnutrition and related causes.”

Yes, you can get the same book at Amazon.com for $28.35 but look at it this way – you will have a priceless work of art that has been signed by the artist AND will have helped a great organization that is dedictated to documentary photography achieve its financial goals.

Go ahead and give yourself a gift this Christmas. Trust me, you'll feel good about it. And, yes, my copy is in the mail.

On December 16, 2004 The Hindu Group of Publications launched an online image library.

Pictures can be downloaded from the website by making payments through credit cards. Prices of pictures start from Rs. 500.

The website, I gather, holds 40,000 images from The Hindu's archive. The images are available for commercial use.

At about $10 an image, though, I have to wonder how much the photographers who shot these images will make. Or, is it a venture by The Hindu, for The Hindu?

From Aaron Huey

The mother and wife of every soldier who dies in Iraq gets a Purple Heart. Sgt. David Mitts and SSG. Salamo Tiualuuluu's wives were both pregnant. Nathan Wood was 19. Kyle Eggers had 3 little boys who never knew him. At the memorial for PFC Andrew Ward the priest said “War is the ultimate failure of man.”

These photos tell the story of five Purple Hearts.

CAPTION: At the funeral of Nathan Wood, Marine LCpl age 19, at Christ Church Kirkland, WA. Nathan was killed Nov 9 in Fallujah. His best friend, Garrett Ware, also a marine fighting in Falluja, was injured and sent home with a purple heart. In this image Garrett hugs Rex Wood, Nathan's father. Photography © Aaron Huey

See the rest of this very special project on Aaron's web site.

Minnesota Public Radio‘s Greta Cunningham speaks with Larry Millett, author of Strange Days, Dangerous Nights. Click on the audio link and turn up your speakers.

The University of Mysore has conferred a honorary doctorate degree (Honoris Causa) on Mr. T. S. Satyan, a well known and well-respected photojournalist based in Karnataka.

I would like to take this oopportunity to salute his legendary work in India and wish him a very happy 81st birthday. From a recent email exchange with him, I know he has an autobiography being published. Perhaps an exhibit of his work is also underway. I'll keep you posted.

By sheer coincidence, Mr. Satyan is related, albeit distantly, to my wife.