Saturday November 27, 2004, Gelibolu, Turkey

Three dervishes waiting to whirl

Three dervishes wait before a public performance of a sema, the traditional whirling ceremony accompanied by music, which is practiced by followers of Mevlana Celaleddin-i Rumi, the 13th-century Sufi preacher and poet who lived in Konya, Turkey and who was known for his religious tolerance.

Credit: Sara Terry / Polaris

Saturday November 27, 2004, Gelibolu, Turkey

Whirling dervish

A dervish dressed in religious clothes prepares to perform a sema, the traditional whirling ceremony accompanied by music, of the dervishes who are followers of Mevlana Celaleddin-i Rumi, the 13th-century Sufi preacher and poet who lived in Konya, Turkey and who was known for his religious tolerance.

Credit: Sara Terry / Polaris

Wednesday December 1, 2004, Istanbul, Turkey

Street portrait of Ataturk, founder of the Turkish Republic

A pedestrian passes by one of the many portraits of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk which can be found all over Turkey, from offices and schools, to theatres and museums. Although he died in 1938, Turks still revere the man who led them in their war of independence from 1920 to 1922 and became the founder of the Turkish Republic in 1923. Turkish nationalism -- along with its growing Islamic conservatism -- concern many Europeans who worry that such attitudes will be at odds with the European Union's efforts to create a united body of nations. In Decmeber, 2004, the EU agreed that accession talks for Turkey's entry into the union will begin in October 2005 and could last as long as a decade.

Credit: Sara Terry / Polaris

Tuesday April 16, 2002, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Hercegovina

Sarajevo wheelchair basketball team

Members of the 3K Sarajevo wheelchair basketball team at practice. Almost all of the members of the team were wounded as civilians during the siege of Sarajevo or on the frontlines of the 1992-95 war. There are now eight wheelchair basketball teams in Bosnia.

Credit: Sara Terry / Polaris

Sunday August 22, 1999, Cambridge, Massachussetts, USA

Portfolio_Images

Three generations

Credit: Sara Terry / Polaris

Sanski Most, Bosnia and Herceogovina

Bosnian widow examines body bags

A Muslim widow examines the remains of recently exhumed victims of the 1992 ethnic cleansing campaign waged by Serbs against their Muslim neighbors. The exhumation of mass graves from the 1992-95 war is expected to continue for years to come. July, 2001.

Credit: Sara Terry / Polaris

Hue, Vietnam

Street scene, Hue, Vietnam

A girl runs past one of the brightly-colored homes that line the streets of Hue, Vietnam. February 1999.

Credit: Sara Terry / Polaris

Siena, Tuscany, Italy

Waiting for the Palio to begin, Siena, Italy

As temperatures rose to 42 C, crowds waiting for the beginning of Siena's famous Palio horse race were hosed down by city workers hoping to prevent heat exhaustion among the thousands of people crowded into Siena's ancient town square. August 1997.

Credit: Sara Terry / Polaris

Bali, Indonesia

Rice farmers in Bali

At the end of a stormy day, women plant young rice shoots in a paddy on the island of Bali. Indonesia has become one of the world's largest importers of rice -- driving down prices for local crops and angering local farmers. January, 1996.

Credit: Sara Terry / Polaris

Los Angeles, California, USA

Latino flower seller heads to work in Los Angeles

A Latino flower seller rides the bus from his home in East Los Angeles, along a more than twenty-mile route which will take him to a busy intersection on the affluent west side of the city. Many Latinos make the crosstown bus trek every day to their jobs as maids, gardeners and street vendors. 1999

Credit: Sara Terry / Polaris

Duckspool, England, United Kingdom

Genna eats a peach

Nine-year-old Genna crosses her lawn, eating a peach, leaving a doll's torso in the young tree behind her. June 1999.

Credit: Sara Terry / Polaris

Leonforte, Sicily, Italy

Easter procession in Sicily

Women precede the cross during an Easter week procession in the town of Leonforte. Processions are held all over Sicily, as part of a centuries-old tradition. March 2002.

Credit: Sara Terry / Polaris

Siena, Tuscany, Italy

Flag bearers at the Palio, Siena, Italy

Flag bearers bearing the colors of one of Siena's fourteen neighborhoods perform as part of the cermonies that precede the Palio, a fiercely contested horse race that has been run for centuries as a competition among the city's neighborhoods. Every year, the city's old town square is covered with dirt and turned into a race track. August 1997.

Credit: Sara Terry / Polaris

Hoi An, Vietnam

Children at play in Hoi An, Vietnam

At sunset, children play in the streets of Hoi An, Vietnam, with its pastel-colored buildings. Hoi An was a scene of major fighting during the Vietnam War. February, 1999.

Credit: Sara Terry / Polaris

Vang Vieng, Laos

Boys playing in rural Laos

Young boys play with makeshift toys -- plastic cans and a tire intertube -- in the rural town of Vang Vieng in Laos. January 1999.

Credit: Sara Terry / Polaris

Boston, Massachussetts, USA

Beating the heat during record highs in Boston

During a string of record-breaking high temperatures in Boston, local children cool off in the Frog Pond at the Boston Common. August 1999.

Credit: Sara Terry / Polaris

Sunday April 16, 2000, Washington DC, USA

Police arrest World Bank protesters

As police in Washington DC arrest protesters angry about globalization and World Bank policies, a girl wearing goggles to protect her eyes from mace sprayed by police, runs away. Thousands of protesters descended on the capitol to stage city-wide protests as the World Bank met in Washington on its 60th anniversary.

Credit: Sara Terry / Polaris

Wednesday July 11, 2001, Potocari, Serb Republic, Bosnia and Hercegovina

Prayer for Srebrenica massacre victims at new memorial site

Muslim widows participate in the prayer for the dead offered at the groundbreaking of land for a memorial to the 7,000 to 8,000 Muslim men and boys killed by Serb forces in July 1995, in what has been called the worst genocide in Europe since the end of World War II.

Credit: Sara Terry / Polaris

Sunday March 24, 2002, Leonforte, Sicily, Italy

Palm Sunday procession in Sicily

A young boy dressed as an angel runs across a field to take his position in a re-enactment of the events of Palm Sunday. Towns and villages all over Sicily hold Easter ceremonies and processions starting on Palm Sunday and ending on Easter.

Credit: Sara Terry / Polaris

Sunday March 23, 2003, Hollywood, California, USA

Singer Michelle Shocked leads Code Pink anit-war protest

Wrapped in a burka made from an American flag, and backed by members of the women's peace movement Code Pink, folksinger and activist Michelle Shocked sings to a crowd gathered near the site of the 2003 Oscar ceremonies to protest the US-led invasion of Iraq. Protesters were kept in a designated area a few blocks from the Kodak Theatre, where the ceremony was held.

Credit: Sara Terry / Polaris

Sunday May 25, 2003, Visegrad, Serb Republic, Bosnia and Hercegovina

Remembering the dead, Visegrad, Bosnia

A Muslim widow prepares to throw roses into the Drina River as part of a commemoration ceremony to honor the 2,000 Muslim men and boys who were killed by Serbs and thrown into the river in May 1992. The bridge the widow is standing on is the same bridge written about by novelist Ivo Andric in his Nobel Prize-winning novel, "Bridge on the River Drina."

Credit: Sara Terry / Polaris

Sunday March 23, 2003, Hollywood, California, USA

Code Pink anti-war protest

Members of the women's anti-war group Code Pink hold their trademark pink umbrellas at a demonstration against the US-led invasion of Iraq, held near the site where the 2003 Oscar ceremonies were taking place.

Credit: Sara Terry / Polaris

Saturday July 31, 2004, Mostar, Bosnia and Hercegovina

Mostar's 448th annual bridge diving competition

One week after the dedication of the rebuilt famed Mostar Bridge, divers line the bridge in the opening ceremony of what locals said was the 448th annual jumping and diving competition. The nearly five-hundred-year-old bridge, long a symbol of Bosnia's cultural heritage, was destroyed by Croat, or Catholic, forces during the 1992-95 war, and was rebuilt with international assistance.

Credit: Sara Terry / Polaris

Saturday August 7, 2004, West New York, New Jersey, USA

Flower girl at a New Jersey wedding

The young flower girl at a New Jersey wedding throws herself on the floor before the ceremony begins.

Credit: Sara Terry / Polaris

Friday November 19, 2004, Istanbul, Turkey

Coffeehouse window reflection, Istanbul

As the sun sets over Istanbul's Istiklal Square, a coffeehouse window captures the reflection of a pedestrian passing on the street while inside, a customer drinks coffee and watch the world outside.

Credit: Sara Terry / Polaris

Tuesday November 23, 2004, Istanbul, Turkey

Whirling dervish class

A dervish practices whirling in a class with other members of his faith. Dervishes belong to the mystical Sufi branch of Islam; in Turkey, one of the largest brotherhoods is the Mevlevi Whirling Dervishes, who follow the tolerant teachings of the 13th-century preacher and poet Mevlana Celaleddin-i Rumi, who is known as Rumi in the West and has become popular in recent years as interest in other spiritual traditions has grown.

Credit: Sara Terry / Polaris

Friday November 26, 2004, Gelibolu, Turkey

Turkish bride

A Turkish bride, in a western-style dress, prepares to enter her wedding reception.

Credit: Sara Terry / Polaris

Saturday November 27, 2004, Gelibolu, Turkey

Whirling dervish ceremony

Members of the Mevlevi Whirling Dervishes brotherhood spin as they perform a sema, the traditional whirling form of worship accompanied by music and practiced by followers of Mevlana Celaleddin-i Rumi, the 13th century Sufi poet and preacher who lived in Konya, Turkey. Although dervishes perform in public, they prefer to perform sema in private, without flash cameras or onlookers to disturb them as they whirl in a form of trance. Dervishes believe that whirling is part of a greater universal pattern -- and that their whirling mirrors the spinning of everything from planets to atoms. "Whirling is the best prayer I know," says one dervish from Istanbul. "It's like a big thank you to God, thanking Him for all of His creation."

Credit: Sara Terry / Polaris

Saturday November 27, 2004, Gelibolu (Gallipoli), Turkey

Cat on a window sill

In the town of Gelibolu, Turkey, a prowls on a window sill. Gelibolu -- known as Gallipoli in the West -- is on the peninsula which was the site of the infamous World War I battle, which claimed the lives of thousands of soldiers from Australia, New Zealand and what was to become the Turkish Republic.

Credit: Sara Terry / Polaris

Sara Terry