Isla de Lobos

"The Island of Seals" (La Isla de Lobos) off the shores of Uruguay, is the biggest seal colony in South America. It’s the habitat to 300,000 seals, sea lions and sea elephants on its shores and waters. A factory was built on the island for processing the seals for use of their fat, skin, teeth etc. It was shut down 15 years ago and became a natural reserve, closed to all visitors. It is believed to be over populating now and opinions are heard to resume controlled killing of the seals. The old factory still stands with seals living around it. The island has the tallest lighthouse in South America, the strong currents coming from the "La Plata" river and the rocky ground caused more then 1500 ships to sink around it throughout History from pirate ships (Francis Drake visited there in 1577) to modern yachts. I gained special access to the island and spent 2 days there with the Uruguayan army and Natural resources division to take these photos.

Chicken Buses

Public buses in Guatemala and in other parts of Central America are in fact old North American school buses. These ‘Chicken Buses’ are privately owned by the drivers who customise and decorate their vehicles to show their pride in their profession, considered to be one of the most stable and profitable in the region.

Israeli Car Culture

A private look into Israel's car culture

Reggae

A look into London's Reggae culture

Israel & Palestine

Conflict and war, photos from my years as a military photographer

Turkey Earthquake 1999

Two devastating earthquakes hit Turkey within the space of less than three months during 1999. The first - with its centre at Izmit in Turkey's heavily populated northwest, left some 17,000 people dead and thousands more homeless. The second struck just 100km away on 12 November, killing hundreds more.