Michael Shaw Archives
5,648 Posts
Gun Violence Photo December 17, 2013

Arapahoe and Sandy Hook School Shootings: That Was Then, This is … Still Then?

We were horrified to hear of a school shooting at Arapahoe High School in Colorado, just one day before the one year mark of the Sandy Hook shootings.

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Media Focus Photo December 16, 2013

The BagNews Top 10 News Photos of 2013

BagNews offers its top 10 news photos of the year. Featuring the work of Todd Heisler, Charles Dharapak, Paul Hansen, Chip Somodevilla, Charles Dharapak, Thomas Rassloff, Jonathan Ernst, Pete Souza and Jason Reed.

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International Focus Photo December 14, 2013

Portraits of the Year

Some girls can rise to international fame and brand status while, for others....

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Media Focus Photo December 13, 2013

As Press Battles WH Over Photo Access, Did Media Cross its Own Line Publishing Obama/Bush Mandela Trip Pictures?

What's the point of major media companies challenging the release of exclusive photos by the White House when many of these companies, not three weeks later, just turn around and publish those photos?

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Media Focus Photo December 11, 2013

A TIME Person of the Year We Were Never Going to See

How much is it about person vs. personality?

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Alongside the Grace and Poetry of the Mandela Memorial Tribute, a Mirror of Our Lesser Selves

If a profound delineation would have ever emerged between tabloid culture and our highest nature, yesterday would have been that day.

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International Focus Photo December 10, 2013

The Politics of Nostalgia: The Mandela Fist

It's interesting how the flood of memorial portraits in the West marginalize or soft-peddle, but also get stuck on Mandela's ferocity and engagement with the tool of violence.

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Advertising Watch Photo December 8, 2013

Holiday Inc: From Louis Vuitton's Red Square to Amex's Obama-Powered Small Business Saturday

Maybe Amex's use of the Obama newswire image is fair game because the company birthed a quasi-official shopping holiday that stealthily interweaves its interests with the patriotic credo to go shopping?

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Photo December 6, 2013

Reading the Tribute Photos: Mandela's Masterful Body Language

How effective was Mandela as a craftsman in social space? Well, let's take a look.

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Photo December 5, 2013

The Most Important Michelle Obama Photo Ever, Clarified

I understand the formula involves an ultra-superlative in every post title, but in this case, "Most Important" is less having, or even making fun of Michelle Obama than writing her off as a fool.

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Sports Focus Photo December 4, 2013

An (Extreme) Meditation on our Virtual Times

To the extent we live so vicariously today, I couldn't imagine a more ingenious photographic parody of modern times.

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International Focus Photo December 2, 2013

Those "Upside Down" Pictures from Kiev: Citizens Cracking the Whip in Ukraine?

With mass protest and iron fisted crackdowns sadly common newswire fare, there was something curiously different about the images from Kiev's Independence Square.

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Media Focus Photo December 1, 2013

Relative Vantages (and Advantages): Souza and the Photo Media Go to the Bookstore

In light of ongoing tension between the White House and the press over visual access to the President, I was interested in Saturday's post-Thanksgiving photo op from the D.C. bookstore, Politics and Prose.

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Culture Focus Photo November 30, 2013

I'm Thankful … I Didn't have to Photo Edit That

Once upon a time, picture quality had everything to do with you fiddling skills with the rabbit ears.

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Photo November 28, 2013

I'm Thankful … For the Pepper

Beyond the funky Thanksgiving morning amuse bouche, I think it's wonderful how subtly this pivots us into the holiday season.

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Culture Focus Photo November 26, 2013

I'm Thankful — from Dealey Plaza

Over the next four days, I'm sure there'll be six or eight things I'm thankful for.

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Culture Focus Photo November 25, 2013

One More Commentary on the Cell Phone

Of course, anything could be happening here. Still....

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Militarism Focus Photo November 22, 2013

Your Turn: Riot Cop Fantasies

How odd is it that these two pics, one from Bulgaria, the other from Italy, surfaced within the same week. More significantly, what are we to make of them? For thoughts, we're turning things over to you.

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