As photographers, we are often in the unfortunate position of taking from subjects less fortunate than ourselves without giving anything back.

Highlights from the Collective Lens Flickr group.

Mercy Corp recently posted a slideshow of powerful images of the earthquake, the survivors, and efforts to rebuild.

Thousands of children are being sold or trafficked within and across national borders in South Asia. According to United Nations, more than one million children are subject to sexual exploitation in Asia alone.

Horrible as all this may sound, it is important to understand that for many children, earning a living or supplementing their family’s income is a matter of survival. Slogans like “Stop Child Labor” embody romantic and ultimately impractical notions when it comes to places like Bangladesh.

CAFOD hopes to bring attention to the poor and poverty stricken gold miners who labor in dangerous situations, ultimately receiving none of the final value of the gold they mine.

Julien Harneis’ photos from the Democratic Republic of the Congo tell us a story of hardship and hope. He is in Eastern DRC, near the Rwandan border, as UNICEF Chief of Field Operations working to alieve the problems of displaced populations, including child soldiers, sexual violence, poor education, unclean drinking water, and health and sanitation issues.

Almost half of the world lives on just $2 per day, and rice prices have increased almost threefold since the beginning of 2008. In modern countries we may complain about having to dig deeper into our wallets to pay a few dollars more for food and fuel, but in the rest of the world, these price increases are deadly.

“When two homeless people pass each other on the street, they may share a look, and in that moment, without speaking, they have knowledge of each others’ lives.”