A Tale of Cities: Khartoum, Sudan and Juba, South Sudan (PHOTOS)

These photographs were taken over the course of a year and a half on trips to my home country of Sudan and its newest neighbor, South Sudan. A large part of the purpose behind this undertaking was to show the sides of the countries that do not deal directly with war and conflict and famine. While those are indeed important news items to pay attention to, they tend to overshadow the everyday life of Sudanese people. I won't waste more words here except to say that I hope I've captured some of that ordinary life in a way that paints a broader picture of the two countries beyond the strife.

Because this photoessay is rather long, it has been separated into two slideshows. Take note of the captions, where I at times editorialize well beyond the content of the photograph. And, of course, leave your opinions and questions in the comments section!