January 2011 - Reading The Pictures

Middle East Watch Photo January 31, 2011

Egypt: The Fear Factor

In contrast to the hopeful "liberation" photos coming out of the Square, this one frames the potential downfall of the government as more of a downfall overall.

David Degner Photo

David Degner in Cairo: The End of the Show?

As photographer David Degner explains, his photo in Cairo on Wednesday possibly represents the last instance of the Egyptian government and the police tightly controlling protests, and protest photos, for show.

International Focus Photo January 30, 2011

Egypt: The Kiss – Part 2

The "chemistry" between the military and civilian protesters flooding out of Cairo right now is very interesting. After this "first kiss," or attempt at one, only a few days ago, we see quite a twist above.

Culture Focus Photo

Arizona: More Whaaaaaaa!

Given how the Tea Party likes to dress up, I'm wondering if Jorge's mockery is "going there" too.

Photo January 29, 2011

Obama: Flashback to Cairo

If the situation in the Middle East represents a complex challenge for Obama right now, the crisis, from a visual perspective, also involves a confrontation between the hopes he raised (and the WH photos amplified) between the President's dramatic speech at Cairo University in June of 2009 and the...

International Focus Photo January 28, 2011

Egypt Photo of the Day: On the Kasr Al Nile Bridge

The photo -- in contrast to many variants on the newswire -- is so powerful because of the visceral sense of the government pissing on its citizenry.

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First Senate Tea Party Caucus, Such As It Was

Well, the election is over, so thanks for the revolution?

Photo January 27, 2011

Michelle Bachmann’s Iwo Jima

The perilous battle that was fought during World War II in the Pacific at Iwo Jima was a battle against all odds, and yet this picture immortalizes the victory of young GIs over the incursion against the Japanese. These six young men raising the flag came to symbolize all...

International Focus Photo

Eye on Tunisia, Egypt

This photo of the events in Tunisia is one of the more suggestive I've seen, a poignant contrast when it comes to corruption, elitism, the bubble around the despot -- and the ultimate fragility of that paradise.

International Focus Photo January 26, 2011

Tiger Hostility (Or: A Swipe at the Read Chinese)

I can't help wondering if this cover is less about "tough love meets Dr. Spock" than it is about immigrant bashing and a back-handed swipe at China.

Photo January 25, 2011

SOTU '11: Pics of the Night

The Giffords shooting, sensitively as well as artfully handled by a President hell-bent on achieving consensus and fostering bipartisanship since he was elected (better, since he was a teenager), is starting to look like a game changer. If the empty chair left open for Giffords during the SOTU was...

Business Focus Photo

Obama Electric (Or: Sputnik Moment)

As Obama simultaneously hits the field for the term's second half, kicks off the campaign and also morphs into a Chamber of Commerce man, I'm loving these shots from his GE photo-op (in which, while in Schenectady, he cut Paul Volker in exchange for Chairman Immelt).

Photo January 24, 2011

Congressional Characters

What I'm trying to figure out is how much these portraits reflect and suffer from a general cheap opinion of the Congress and the Representative versus how much the institution, particularly in this anti-incumbent and "Tea Party" year, is attracting some real characters.

President Obama Photo

Team Obama Pumped

Is it just me, or is this Administration projecting all kinds of confidence right now?

Photo January 22, 2011

Giffords on the Move

The scene is quite sensual, Commander Kelly in this loving gaze illuminated by the sun and married to the beauty of the vista and the striking clarity of the day from the hospital rooftop.

Photo January 21, 2011

Deployed At the Gun Show

While the businessman fixes his gaze up and away from the poster, we're all familiar with how a photograph-inside-a-photograph like this also suggests a fantasy inside a man's mind.

Media Focus Photo January 20, 2011

NYT Mag Puts an Eye on American Workers. What's with the Sterilization?

An insight into the American worker? An illustration of the human dimension of the economy? These images convey a troubling uniformity in their Stepford-like lack of affect. Far from the condition of insecurity, a condition we'd be able to tell through some form of fresh expressiveness, the only emotion...

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Who's Who at Hu's Dinner? (Hint: You Can Bank On It.)

As part of Team Obama's new love affair with Wall Street, the bankers are now on the inside.