October 2008 - Reading The Pictures

Campaign '08 Photo October 31, 2008

Your Turn: Miami

I haven't thought about McCain and his campaign exactly this way before, but what Times photographer Stephen Crowley seems to be going for here is how much Mac and his operation has been about kitsch.

Campaign '08 Photo

God, Obama

While raising anxieties about a President Obama's exercise of power, framing Obama as an aspiring deity also works like a red cape in the face of the Christian right by flaunting the notion Obama somehow sees himself as a God, God himself, or, the son of God.... But be...

Alan Chin Photo October 30, 2008

BagNewsSalon: Campaign 04 vs 08: Are We Seeing The End Of Identity Politics?

T his election edition of the BAGnewsSALON, an on-line discussion series, included moderator C ara Finnegan; producer Ida Benedetto; host Michael Shaw; professors Paul Lester; Nathan Stormer and John Lucaites; photographers Alan Chin, Nina Berman and Aric Mayer, as well as members of the BAGnewsNotes readership. ...Considering the images...

Campaign '08 Photo

Birth Of The Cool

Well, I've been working on a "What Next" post detailing how thoroughly excited I am about the post-election BAG. Because part of it speaks about bringing new content and fresh creativity to the site, I thought I might exemplify it with this. Remember "McCain's Heath Ledger Joker" you saw...

Alan Chin Photo

Our Man In Pennsylvania – Inside and Outside Two Rallies

Here's Alan Chin's finest, shot Tuesday at two different rallies, the McCain/Palin affair in Hershey and Palin's appearance in Shippensburg.

Campaign '08 Photo October 29, 2008

Enter the Matrix

My friend took one look at this photo stack fronting the NYT and saw Obama as Neo in the Matrix.

Alan Chin Photo

Our Man In Pennsylvania – At the Rally

Alan Chin has some really curious shots from the McCain/Palin rally in Hershey and also Palin's rally in Shippensburg. I'll let you start off with this one.

Campaign '08 Photo

Beyond Nov 4th: The Palin/Huckabee Card

Don't think, if/when Obama is elected, the elitist/anti-intellectual attack (with its adjunct racist "uppity" component) is going anywhere.

BAGannouncements Photo

Special Election Edition Of The BAGnewsSALON: Campaign 04 vs 08: Are We Seeing The End Of Identity Politics?

Join us Thursday night for a special election edition of the BAGnewsSALON -- an on-line discussion featuring Alan Chin, leading visual academics and photojournalist, as well as members of the BAGnewsNotes community -- from 5-6:30 pm PST, 8-9:30pm EST.

Campaign '08 Photo October 28, 2008

Pennsylvania Death Knell

The death knell of the McCain campaign? Larger and larger and larger American flags.

Alan Chin Photo

Our Man In Pennsylvania

I'm awed, but not an ounce surprised by the grand canyon-like gap between these personal reports and the experience of looking at similar images through the intensely-amped and all too controversy- or just poll-obsessed media sphere.... I what I also see -- although the white-corporate media isn't all that...

Photo

From McCain To The Skinheads In Four Easy Steps

I'm skeptical about drawing conclusion about Obama's near, middle or long-term safety based on the so-called plot by two crazy skin heads disclosed yesterday.

Campaign '08 Photo October 27, 2008

No Time For Cue Cards

In the case of McCain, as with Bush and Palin too, the candidate is largely about the script as opposed to the other way around.

Campaign '08 Photo October 26, 2008

Not Just Rogue Warrior But McCain Campaign’s Mutation

In this brilliant image from Sioux City on Saturday, a clever AP photographer captures what can best be described as the McCain campaign's worst nightmare -- a Sarah Palin having mutated into her own wild and muscular beast.

Campaign '08 Photo

Getting A Jump

Win or lose, Obama had no choice but to launch himself early and aggressively into a thorough and accelerated transition process.

Campaign '08 Photo

A Campaign’s Silhouette

A number of you have passed along this shot accompanying David Frum's WAPO article this morning, "Sorry, Senator. Let's Salvage What We Can."

Iraq and Afghanistan War Photo

Iraq Update: Who’s Holding Who?

Did anyone else appreciate the utter irony of this shot in the Saturday NYT print edition -- representing how American forces, in the middle of their otherwise sprawling Iraq military base, are suddenly the ones trapped or "fenced in" by the imminent prospect of shutting the place down?

Alan Chin Photo

The Latest From Alan Chin: Allentown, PA.

In spending part of the election's final days capturing the atmosphere, Alan passed on this single photo of a campaign volunteer.