amanda rivkin photo journal

www.amandarivkin.com
What began as a legislative debate over Ukraine’s official language policy escalated into a fist-swinging, clothes-ripping brawl.  Photograph by Maks Levin/Associated Press.  More, “Push Comes to Shove, and Punch, in Ukraine Parliament,” by Andrew Roth and J. David Goodman in The New York Times (May 25, 2012).

What began as a legislative debate over Ukraine’s official language policy escalated into a fist-swinging, clothes-ripping brawl.  Photograph by Maks Levin/Associated Press.  More, “Push Comes to Shove, and Punch, in Ukraine Parliament,” by Andrew Roth and J. David Goodman in The New York Times (May 25, 2012).

The bleeding heart of Baku on the facade of an artist’s studio in the old city on May 24, 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

The bleeding heart of Baku on the facade of an artist’s studio in the old city on May 24, 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Detail from the facade of an artists studio in the old city on May 24, 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Detail from the facade of an artists studio in the old city on May 24, 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Actual visa categories to Azerbaijan include “Eurovision” on May 23, 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Actual visa categories to Azerbaijan include “Eurovision” on May 23, 2012 in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Vintage bus station sign on May 21, 2012 in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Vintage bus station sign on May 21, 2012 in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Fingernails that match an advertisement in Cosmo on May 20, 2012 in Chicago, Illinois.

Fingernails that match an advertisement in Cosmo on May 20, 2012 in Chicago, Illinois.

(L-r) Eurovision Song Contest winners Ell and Nikki, Eldar Gasimov and Nigar Jamal, sing in the Heydar Aliyev Park during a concert for Nizami Ganjavi days in Ganja, Azerbaijan on October 15, 2011. Nizami Ganjavi days coincided with the World Youth Festival is a government effort to bring young people from around the world to Azerbaijan as part of a week-long tour sponsored by the pro-government youth group Ireli, translation “Forward,” to showcase Azerbaijan and extol the virtues of the country and the culture to foreigners.

(L-r) Eurovision Song Contest winners Ell and Nikki, Eldar Gasimov and Nigar Jamal, sing in the Heydar Aliyev Park during a concert for Nizami Ganjavi days in Ganja, Azerbaijan on October 15, 2011. Nizami Ganjavi days coincided with the World Youth Festival is a government effort to bring young people from around the world to Azerbaijan as part of a week-long tour sponsored by the pro-government youth group Ireli, translation “Forward,” to showcase Azerbaijan and extol the virtues of the country and the culture to foreigners.

People are seen in the entry courtyard of the Shirvanshah Palace in the Old City of Baku, Azerbaijan on November 16, 2011.

People are seen in the entry courtyard of the Shirvanshah Palace in the Old City of Baku, Azerbaijan on November 16, 2011.

A traditional hat seller is seen in the Old City of Baku, Azerbaijan on November 16, 2011.

A traditional hat seller is seen in the Old City of Baku, Azerbaijan on November 16, 2011.

Students dine in the cafeteria of Tigris University at lunch time in Diyarbakir, Turkey on February 23, 2012. Tigris University is the only university in Diyarbakir, a predominantly Kurdish city in Turkey’s restive east, where the majority of students, an estimated 70 percent, are also Kurdish and police are regularly present to stifle nascent displays of Kurdish nationalism among the students; classes are taught in Turkish and Kurdish culture and history are absent from the curriculum.

Students dine in the cafeteria of Tigris University at lunch time in Diyarbakir, Turkey on February 23, 2012. Tigris University is the only university in Diyarbakir, a predominantly Kurdish city in Turkey’s restive east, where the majority of students, an estimated 70 percent, are also Kurdish and police are regularly present to stifle nascent displays of Kurdish nationalism among the students; classes are taught in Turkish and Kurdish culture and history are absent from the curriculum.