Your Turn: "What Dean Means"
Here’s the photo that accompanied Matt Bai’s piece in last Sunday’s NYT Magazine (“What Dean Means” — link) on the new chairman of the Democratic party. With profile pieces, the tendency is to “read” the image in terms of the article. In the profile, Bai sketches a more important...
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Slowed To A Trickle
Sometimes, the absence of news is newsworthy. In recent days, the number of photos coming out of Ramadi has slowed to a trickle. …Which is one of the few indications that a major military offensive is getting underway. If you recall, the Administration couldn’t stop talking about the Fallujah...
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Following Through With The Engagement
One of the best photo sites dealing with the war is called Iraq Uncensored (link). This shot was taken by Kael Alford, one of the few non-embedded photographers in Baghdad at the beginning of the conflict. Last year, she was in Najaf documenting the confrontation between the U.S. and...
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Schwarzenegger From Below
Is the Gov slipping? If you’ve been following the BAG, you know I’ve been keeping tabs on the Arnold show. From the latest visual coverage, however, I sense something is wrong. Until recently, the press had been happy to follow the director. Lately though, it seems a revolt is ...
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The Party Line
George Bush is supposed to sit down with his good pal Vladimir today. So, what’s on the agenda? Russia’s appropriation of the media? The roll back of constitutional rights? If you read yesterday’s NYT preview of the meeting (“Bush May Feel Chilly Blast From The Russians” – link), apparently...
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Bush Snakes Through Europe (Or: Art of Darkness)
I have been looking at photo coverage of W’s trip to Europe, but the most interesting image I found was this illustration on the cover of The Economist. (Larger version here.) I’d be happy for your comments, because the jungle analogy seems to “miss the boat.” If anything, it...
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Surrounded
I had the chance on Thursday to actually listen to Bush’s press conference. When you just read the transcript, you don’t get the flavor of how condescending he is to reporters. This recent photo on the White House website suggests how Bush sees and distorts the role of the...
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What Brit Hume Said
A few of you have written asking why I’m not featuring as many “Worthy Links.” During the campaign, I was keeping pretty close track of sites that I thought did a good job of presenting the case in visual form. With the time I’ve been spending looking at photos,...
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Laura's New Curtains
In Michael Kimmelman’s front page NYT review of “The Gates,” he talks about the operating philosophy of Olmsted and Christo. Specifically, he mentions Olmsted’s idea of Central Park as a place of “dignity for the masses,” and Christo’s utopian vision of “art for Everyman.” With this spirit clearly in...
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If You've Seen One Face
Sometimes photo analysis involves some detective work. I was interested in this wire service image a few days ago, but I was hesitant to comment on it without knowing the origin of the graphic. In cases like this, the caption usually provides adequate context. This one read: The head...
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Seethers of Lebanon
While I recover from my Carly Fiorina fixation (a story which I still don’t think I’ve got straight), I thought I would take a look at the visual coverage of the dramatic Rafiq Hariri assassination. Arafat’s death may have produced a far greater number and variety of posters, but...
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Fallujah: Something of an Update
Looking at pictures from Fallujah, it seems there’s no “there” there. Rather than images of people situated to place, you see people trying to get someplace, or looking anxious and out of sorts because the right place does not feel right anymore. From the news pictures — an always...
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Parting (Head) Shots
The firing of Carly Fiorina might not suggest gender was a factor, but it seems to be playing a substantial role in it’s aftermath. I may have missed the mark with my previous Carly post, suggesting a sexual innuendo in the image Salon ran. However, the coverage (and the...
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Getting The Business
Is spin coming unspun? In other words, is spin starting to draw more attention to itself than to what it’s spinning? What suggests this possibility are lead articles in two different sections of Sunday’s NYT. On the front page of the Business section (maybe I am focusing a little...
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The Rise And Fall Of A Working Girl
According to Lawrence Fisher’s piece in Salon (link), the demise of Hewlett-Packard’s CEO Carly Fiorina had nothing to do with gender and everything to do with hubris. He writes: To those who will inevitably say that Carly has been singled out for harsh treatment because she is a woman,...
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I've Looked At (Pro-) Life From Both Sides Now
Three day after setting off political tremors by appealing for “common ground” on the issue of abortion, the AP published this photo of Hillary Clinton. In a speech to 1,000 “pro choice” supporters in New York on January 24th, Clinton described abortion as a “tragic” choice, and said she...
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Sugar and Spice and Everything Rice
In spite of her reputation as George Bush’s closest advisor and confidant, Condi Rice seemed a minor player in W’s first term. To the extent she distinguished herself at all, it was in helping over-dramatize the threat of Iraq’s WMD, and failing to heed the advice of her staff,...
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The Selling of the Apocalypse
For years now, the Administration has been playing on fear to sell its agenda. Through intimidation, manipulation and clever marketing, this tactic has successfully scared off the media and the Democrats from attacking their message or confronting their methods. For a good while, they squeezed the juice out of...
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