Photojournalism of the Month: August 2014

An Afghan refugee child chases bubbles released by other children, while playing on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, Aug. 8, 2014. For more than three decades, Pakistan has been home to one of the world's largest refugee communities: hundreds of thousands of Afghans who have fled the repeated wars and fighting in their country. Muhammed Muheisen has been shooting for the Associated Press since 2001 and is currently the Chief Photographer in Pakistan. More of his work can be seen here. A local woman stands on her damaged balcony after morning shelling in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, Saturday, Aug. 9, 2014. Several shells fell this morning in a northern Donetsk neighborhood, near the airport. No human casualties were registered. More of Sergei Grit's work can be seen here. A Palestinian boy who was wounded in an Israeli strike on a house in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, sits on the floor as he waits to be treated at the emergency room of the Kamal Adwan hospital, in Beit Lahiya, Sunday, Aug. 3, 2014. Lefteris Pitarakis has been with the Associated Press since 1998 covering the Balkans and the Middle East. More of his work can be seen here. An elephant immerses behind a window in the elephants' indoor pool at the Zoo in Leipzig, Germany, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2014. Jens Meyer is an Associated Press photographer based in Germany. More work can be seen here. A protester takes shelter from smoke billowing around him Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2014, in Freguson, Mo. Protests in the St. Louis suburb rocked by racial unrest since a white police officer shot an unarmed black teenager to death turned violent Wednesday night, with some people lobbing Molotov cocktails and other objects at police who responded with smoke bombs and tear gas to disperse the crowd. David Carson is a Staff Photographer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. More of his work can be seen here. The Rev. Al Sharpton raises his hands with the crowd during a service for the Michael Brown family at the Greater Grace Church in Ferguson, Mo. on Sunday, Aug. 17, 2014. On Saturday, Aug. 9, 2014, a white police officer fatally shot Brown, an unarmed black teenager, in the St. Louis suburb. Christian Gooden is a Staff Photographer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. People defy a curfew Sunday, Aug. 17, 2014, before smoke and tear gas was fired to disperse a crowd protesting the shooting of teenager Michael Brown last Saturday in Ferguson, Mo. Brown's shooting in the middle of a street following a suspected robbery of a box of cigars from a nearby market has sparked a week of protests, riots and looting in the St. Louis suburb. Charlie Riedel is an Associated Press Staff Photographer based in Kansas and Missouri. More of his work can be seen here. A woman talks on her phone as she walks past a poster of Prime Minister and presidential candidate in Turkey's Aug. 10 presidential election, Recep Tayyip Erdogan in downtown Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, Aug. 8, 2014. Turks vote Sunday in the country's first direct presidential election. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is widely seen as the front-runner in the race to replace Abdullah Gul. Other candidates include Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the former chief of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas. Emilio Morenatti has been an Associated Press photographer since 2004. More of his work can be seen here. A mourner reacts as members of the Orthodox Jewish community gather around the casket of Orthodox Rabbi Joseph Raksin, who was fatally shot Saturday while in Florida visiting relatives, Monday, Aug. 11, 2014, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. Police have said the death appeared to result from a robbery and not a hate crime, but they're still investigating. John Minchillo is based in New York City. More of his work can be seen here. Flowers are placed in memory of actor/comedian Robin Williams on his Walk of Fame star in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles Monday, Aug. 11, 2014. Williams, the Academy Award winner and comic supernova whose explosions of pop culture riffs and impressions dazzled audiences for decades died Monday in an apparent suicide at his San Francisco Bay area home. He was 63. More of Kevork Djansezian's work can be seen here. In this Aug. 15, 2014 photo, Maria Torero's son Fabian, 7, plays with the hospice's cats. Maria Torero, cares for 175 cats with leukemia at her home in Lima, Peru. The home is permeated with the stench of urine, which cannot be eliminated with even the strongest air fresheners. Martin Mejia is an Associated Press Staff Photographer based in Peru. See more work here. A Guardiola Fantoni ranch fighting bull runs while a spectator uses a Spanish fan to cover herself from the harsh sun during a bullfight at Las Ventas bullring, in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Aug. 10, 2014. Bullfighting is an ancient tradition in Spain. Daniel Ochoa de Olza has been an Associated Press Staff Photographer since 2009 and is based in Spain. More of his work can be seen here. Our Photojournalism of the Month gallery highlights moments of exceptional documentary photography, curated from the daily output of wire photographers from around the world. Want more photojournalism? Check out our round-ups from May, June and July, as well as The Best Photojournalism of 2013.