2009 Best of Lens-NY Times Photojournalism Blog

Lens is the photojournalism blog of The New York Times, presenting a world of inspiration thorough visual and multimedia reporting, including photographs, videos and slide shows. Launched this year, it is a showcase for Times photographers, but also seeks to highlight the best work of other outlets, whether presented in print, books, galleries, in museums or on the Web. Showcase: A Global Album is a compilation of the photos that best capture the diversity of the places and people visited by the Time’s Travel Section in 2009. From an infinity pool bar in Thailand to a couple kissing in the Saxon Gardens of Warsaw, the images are enough to momentarily pull you away from your desk and transport you to a distant, perhaps unfamiliar place. Yes, they’re that good.

Sit in on a drum corps rehearsal in Salvador, Brazil.

Meditate while covered in mud on a Mexican beach.

Define relaxation on the Gulf of Thailand off of Cambodia’s southern coast.

Or, go volcano boarding on the ash slopes of Cerro Negro in western Nicaragua. Choose your adventure and check out the rest of the showcase on Lens.