life

Travelling north from California to Oregon on the Coast Starlight rail line, the traveller observes the fade of Los Angeles’ pressing population until the forests part for a moment’s glimpse of smalltown USA.

At the KidZania labour-themed fun park in Singapore, children earn pretend money working pretend jobs as insurance agents or pharmacists, while their parents stand in depressingly familiar queues.

In north-eastern Spain, an ancient tradition combines daredevil skill with strength and teamwork – all amid a festival atmosphere. But just viewing these human castles in the air is not for the faint-hearted.

The Ponte City apartment tower in Johannesburg was built for high-flyers before becoming a violent slum ruled by gangsters. Its rebirth as respectable, affordable housing is a model of community renewal.

High above Capri’s busy Marina Grande, ornithologists use the spectacular vantage of the ruins of Castello Barbarossa to catch and observe migratory birds

Within Borneo’s Gomantong Caves – slippery with teeming insects, bird droppings and guano from two million bats – fine dining is likely far from the mind. But overhead a perilous harvest ensues for the key ingredient of Chinese bird’s nest soup.

In Los Angeles, everyone has a story and they’re eager to share it, but the enthusiasm to divulge personal details can have a traumatic side.

On a journey around the Great Lakes to honour his mother, the author takes his cue from Anishinaabe artist Rebecca Belmore and turns his ear to the water to listen to his surrounds.

On a journey around the Great Lakes to honour his mother the author takes his cue from Anishinaabe artist Rebecca Belmore and turns his ear to the water to listen to his surrounds.