June 2005 - Page 2 of 2 - Reading The Pictures

Alan Chin Photo June 9, 2005

As Simple As That

As much as I’ve read about and seen images of car bombs and suicide attacks, I realize it’s actually next-to-impossible for me to relate to such a thing. On the other hand, the destruction of an awning at a roadside cafe? In that case, I more than understand the...

BAGannouncements Photo

Looking Out for the BAG

I wanted my readers to know that I’m a little off my usual pace this week. This is partly due to some “field work” I was doing for the “Punching up the Orange” post below. If you’ve been following the thread, the photographer who took the NYTimes photo I...

Culture Focus Photo June 8, 2005

Loaded Image

If you’ve been following the BAG, you know that I’m not one to follow the internecine struggles of the blogosphere. That said, I sort of got caught up in the initial buzz involving the Huffington Post, and the fact it was positioning itself as the anti-Drudge. Because I keep...

Alan Chin Photo June 6, 2005

Punching Up The Orange

This Sunday’s latest perfunctory Iraq story in the NYT seems to sum up what’s wildly wrong with the coverage of the war — as well as, perhaps, what’s wrong with the overall American military strategy. Simply put, there is no context to it. Take this image, for example. The...

Photo June 3, 2005

Bushman of Africa

So, how did this picture come about this week? And why did it go by so fast? And why all the groping? Could it be because Tony Blair is coming to Washington next week … and Blair has thrown his personal prestige behind raising an additional $25 billion for...

Business Focus Photo June 2, 2005

Ford Pride

In Europe, car companies have tailored advertising to gays for years now. With the practice fairly new to the States, however, the American Family Association — led by the grossly over entitled Donald Wildmon — has been motivated to launch boycottFord.com. The AFA is inflamed over the fact Ford...

Spin Focus Photo

Cell, Sell, Sell

Typically, the BAG tends to looks at one picture at a time. However, I thought it might be interesting to consider the visual politics surrounding one issue, thinking about how the White House is used to stringing a series of strategic photo ops into a campaign. Obviously, in putting...

Photo June 1, 2005

Showing Some Ruffles Around The Edges

It’s surprising how many people wrote me about the controversial commercial Arnold Schwarzenegger just released. If you haven’t heard about it, the acting Gov is being slammed for an ad he did filled with product placements on behalf of his largest financial backers. As someone who earned his earliest...