Michael Shaw Archives
5,618 Posts
Biden Presidency Photo June 29, 2024

The Most Cringeworthy Media Visuals After Biden’s Nightmare Debate

Nobody wants to revisit what happened on stage, so we focus on the media fallout and the visual framing of the first 2024 presidential debate.

Continue Reading
Environment Photo June 12, 2024

If This Summer is Anything Like the Last

If this summer is anything like the last, the climate crisis will destroy more norms, we will gasp, then forget, and photographers will continue to skewer our denial. By Michael Shaw Last summer, scorching temperatures shattered heat records in the Southwest and Europe. Lahaina, the historic Hawaiian resort, was...

Continue Reading
Environment Photo May 17, 2024

Blind to the Apocalypse: The Climate Emergency has Fallen Off the Radar

If the climate this summer is anything like the last, we will gasp, then forget, and photographers will continue to skewer our denial.

Continue Reading
Protest Focus Photo May 9, 2024

Racism, Symbolism, Story: More Notable Images from the Campus “Free Palestine” Movement

In our second "free Palestine" campus protest post, we focus on the institutional divide and more scenes that challenge the media narrative.

Continue Reading
Activism & Protest Photo May 2, 2024

Crucial Elements of the Pro-Palestinian Campus Protests Overlooked by the Mainstream

Education, negotiation, militarism, human rights. Free Palestine campus protests have stood for much more than they have been credited for.

Continue Reading
Middle East Watch Photo April 1, 2024

Israeli Military in Gaza: Are You Going to Believe Us, Or Your Own Eyes?

Despite the Israeli military's attempts to control and censor the coverage of Gaza, photojournalists continue to see through the propaganda.

Continue Reading
Biden Presidency Photo March 18, 2024

Visual Blindspots and Media Bias: The “Disappearing” of Kamala Harris

While framed as “missing-in-action,” Kamala Harris tackles the hardest jobs and is everywhere fighting for social justice.

Continue Reading
Environment Photo March 3, 2024

Pictures Worth Noting: Extreme Symbolism and Arresting Juxtapositions

We're thrilled to introduce a new newsletter feature: "Pictures Worth Noting." Today's focus ranges from climate, to politics, to the border.

Continue Reading
Trump Photo February 27, 2024

Fading Force: Has Trump Lost His Edge in His Court-Defying Visual Strategy?

Recent court losses are eroding Trump's ability to dominate the photo coverage of his legal troubles. Expect his control of the narrative to weaken as the damage sets in.

Continue Reading
Biden Presidency Photo February 22, 2024

Throwing Shade: The Disturbing Visual Fallout From the Special Counsel’s Attack on Biden’s Competency

The Special Counsel’s questioning of Biden's cognitive abilities has unleashed a raft of negative imagery. The media's use of undermining photos risks biasing public perceptions and spreading ageist stereotypes. It's crucial to present more balanced visuals.

Continue Reading
Politics Photo September 5, 2023

Disrupting Trump’s Mug Shot and His “Singular Genius”

The treatment of Trump's mug shot is vital to consider, given the potential of the George conspiracy case to reshape his public identity.

Continue Reading
Media & Culture Photo June 21, 2022

David Hume Kennerly: Because He Was There

This photo of David Hume Kennerly, taken in Vietnam, makes a basic yet essential point about media integrity and the reportage from Ukraine.

Continue Reading
Environment Photo December 21, 2021

At the Tipping Point: So Much for the Pioneer Spirit

2021 represented a climate change tipping point. In recounting key visual markers, we call out two images from the Dixie Fire.

Continue Reading
Environment Photo November 21, 2021

Doubled Over By Ida

2021 was a climate tipping point. And among the catastrophes, this blow from Hurricane Ida seemed to speak to a larger fate.

Continue Reading
Photo

At the Tipping Point: Wildfire Threatens Tahoe

Summer 2021 was a tipping point. Fires, floods, heat waves and hurricanes scaled up, as did the mass recognition of climate change as an existential crisis. As part of that recognition, many brilliant, symbolically-laden pictures crystallized the moment.

Continue Reading
Disaster Focus Photo June 1, 2021

Haunting for the Beauty, or the Stalking?

Beauty and subtlety distracts from the reality of asylum seekers in this news photos from the US/Mexico border.

Continue Reading
International Focus Photo May 11, 2021

Figure and Ground

We rarely discuss it this formally, but our analysis of important news photos always considers the relationship between figure and ground.

Continue Reading
Photo March 31, 2021

Notable Faces from the Start of the George Floyd Murder Trial

At the start of jury selection in the George Floyd murder trial, seeing solidarity, and visualizing accountability.

Continue Reading