"I don't believe in the chupacabra, " Ayer said, adding that he's been in the midst of a "media blitz" -- receiving 50 phone calls from media outlets and citizens, as well as death threats late at night -- since word got out about the strange beast.

CNN: Texas mystery: 'Defective coyote' or chupacabra?

Others capture a sense of the sacred in the middle of Australia's Outback, where Ayer's Rock -- or Uluru, as it's known to the Aborigines -- stands.

CNN: Spiritual destinations

"We say we want to share generously during really good times, rather than lock in really high wages all the time, " says Mr. Ayer.

WSJ: The Weekend Interview with Bill Ayer: An Airline That Makes Money. Really.

Catching things on the fly, Ayer uses a handheld camera, spinning down alleys, up stairways, in and out of apartments.

NEWYORKER: End of Watch

Jessica Rodriguez, who owns Cuba de Ayer restaurant in Burtonsville, Maryland, is part of that younger generation looking to change the views of her community.

CNN: Analysis: United States-Cuba relations begin the long thaw

In dramatizing the human price of warfare and of the drug wars at home and its hypocrisies Ayer takes a street-smart view of class-based anxieties: his characters are one break away from a toehold on respectability, from jail, or from death.

NEWYORKER: Harsh Times