Michael Shaw Archives
5,648 Posts
President Obama Photo October 9, 2013

Shabby Road: Obama on the Cover of the Shutdown Album

Perhaps the president just getting outdoors and foraging for a sandwich is as much coming together as we can expect.

Continue Reading
Photo October 8, 2013

Regarding Those Ridiculously Large FOX News Touchscreens

Everybody knows people at FOX don't read.

Continue Reading

On War's 12th Anniversary, Tim Hetherington's Soldiers Still Lusting, Lusty

If Mike's quote is technically true to Tim's intent, it does not account for the homo-eroticism of Bobby's kiss or the aggressive grip on Cortez's hand at the edge of the frame or the exhibitionist intensity of the eye drawing Tim himself into the play.

Continue Reading
President Obama Photo October 6, 2013

New Esquire Obama Cover: What's in a Background?

I'm not prepared to say the background has anything to do with the Philippines, or the President's race, somehow, but the Esquire cover might suggest, at least, that the President doesn't let his true nature come through enough.

Continue Reading
Photo October 4, 2013

Anxiety's All the Fashion

Hollywood, Madison Avenue, 7th Avenue. They've all gotten pretty good at co-opting the anxieties and calamities of the times to move their wares, haven't they?

Continue Reading
Photo

On the Beautiful Instagram of the DC Car Chase, the Killing of the Runaway Dental Hygienist and the Hoepker 9/11 Photo

Coming on the heels of the rampage at the Naval Yard a couple weeks ago, this Instagram photo the media was instantly buzz-feeding over reminded me of the Thomas Hoepker photo from 9/11.

Continue Reading
Visual Practices & Ethics Photo October 2, 2013

Thoughts on Afghan Girl’s Third Cover Appearance as National Geographic Looks Back, Forward

Has the same portrait ever appeared on the cover of a major US magazine even twice, not to mention three times? Still, it's not exactly clear to me why she's on the anniversary cover.

Continue Reading
Photo

Playing from Behind, GOP Wins Day 1 Shut Down Optics Battle

Repubs and tabloid-style news organizations are using images of Clinton and Lewinsky to represent the last time the government shut down.

Continue Reading
Photo October 1, 2013

First Reflections on the Shut Down

Both images call on Americans to consider the day's events in terms of the county's larger legacies.

Continue Reading
International Focus Photo September 29, 2013

Andrea Bruce and the Paradox That's Damascus

Capturing the domestic anxiety of the civil war.

Continue Reading
Faith Focus Photo September 27, 2013

Rise of Ted Cruz Best Captured (Fleetingly, Anyway) by Medieval Christian Iconography

On the brink of a government shutdown, the next act of a fractured Congress, and the rise of a great right hope, it's not like these aren't perfect days for religious visual metaphors.

Continue Reading
Media Focus Photo September 24, 2013

Putting Those al-Shabab Terrorists to Shame

Now that the shooting phase is over, we enter the spin room.

Continue Reading
Photography/Photojournalism Photo September 23, 2013

Photo Requests from Solitary: S. Martin Luther King Drive and E. 63rd Street

First pass, I was not just struck by the emptiness – or, the quiet here, but I was concerned by it.

Continue Reading
Media Focus Photo September 22, 2013

Things to be Concerned About in the Mall Attack Photos from Nairobi (GRAPHIC)

Another way to understand the danger here has to do with infusing horrific news images with irony.

Continue Reading
Advertising Watch Photo September 20, 2013

Brand on Fire (Or: You're Not the Boss of Me!)

Consider why Brand chose to riff on the link between the Nazi's and "an irrelevant menswear supplier." And absorb his admonition to trust in yourself and those around you to try and get your feel back.

Continue Reading
Photo

The Pope With the Sound Off

Why is Francis "the coolest Pope ever?" Because, at least so far, the actions speak for themselves.

Continue Reading
Photography/Photojournalism Photo September 18, 2013

The Naval Yard Shooting Photo That Wasn't –Then Was

Because our goal is to promote visual and media literacy, The Atlantic's summary of these photos is something to take note of.

Continue Reading

Have You Ever Seen the Uncropped Version of the "Napalm Girl?"

So my question is: was this photo cropped entirely for effect? for simplicity sake? or, because the nonchalance of the soldiers would have been like a second napalm hit?

Continue Reading