A note on Technical Details
It should be apparent that many of these images are somewhat surreal. This is, of course, intentional. I have tried to capture and recreate the emotional intensity of the scenes I observed. There are never any objects added to or removed from a frame: everything in the images is authentic. The intensity of the photos come from a process often referred to as "HDR" - high dynamic range imagery. In short, it involves taking multiple exposures of the same scene using a tripod so the camera doesn't move. At least one exposure for detail in the shadows, one "correct" exposure, and one for the highlights. Photographers are not limited to only 3 exposures, but that is generally the minimum for a high quality HDR. These are then merged into one frame, allowing more creativity in the use of the scene's full dynamic range. Colors can be made more intense without loss of detail. The process allows for a dynamic range higher than that offered even by the highest quality film.
Interested readers might find Sean McHugh's (very good) information and tutorial over at Cambridge in Colour enlightening. Sean takes a far more conservative approach, but it is essentially the same process and theory as I use in my images.