Recently I was going through the latest posts on the New York Times’ Lens Blog (http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/), and found this picture:

Released rom a prison of Sollicciano, Italy, 20 Jan 2009

In one picture (above), Paolo Woods caught my eye. His website showcases a wide range of the work he has done over his career as editorial photographer and photoreporter in 1998. He has published several books on more than actual topics: oil, war in Iraq and Afghanistan, Iran, or the Chinese Presence in Africa.

Congo, Imboulou dam, 2007

Nigeria, Lagos, 2007

Hajji (Iran)

Milad Tower (Iran)

Azerbaidjan, Baku, 2003

Irak, Kirkuk, 2003

Undeniably Paolo has a preference for the square format. I am also a fan of this format and Paolo shows how well it is suited for portraits. I am curious about his material and gear but was not successful in finding this information, I suspect some of the above pictures were taken with a medium format camera (or highly-packed pixels on a dSLR).

Dora Akunyili, Abuja, Nigeria, 2004

I sense he is very human in his contact with the people he photographs and only regret the little sweat of anti-imperialism (regardless if it comes from the U.S.A. or China) in his works.