Search - Reading The Pictures

Terror Focus Photo March 10, 2015

ISIS Art Attack: Less than Meets the Eye?

If the amount of authentic art in the ISIS video truly is nominal, the question is how much (more) we are being manipulated?

Philip Perdue Photo March 8, 2015

Milestone Optics: Obama’s Pettus Bridge Vs. Bush’s Mission Accomplished

We are looking at a strategic decision to visually frame the president's 50th anniversary Selma speech as a mile marker on a long road toward racial justice.

Race Focus Photo March 7, 2015

A Different View of the Edmund Pettus Bridge -- Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein

The way this photo is situated has a lot to say about how much race continues to represent one of America's greatest obstacles.

Militarism Focus Photo March 6, 2015

The Problem With War is Not That it's Eternal, but That it's Persistent

There always has been war, there always will be war, and only fools think otherwise. Thus, the full honor due to those in battle today can be paid only by placing their memorial within the unbroken continuity and epic scale of myth.

International Focus Photo March 5, 2015

Character Moments Versus Political Ones: Netanyahu's State of Disunion

If the general public failed to grasp the audacity of Tuesday's imagery, it's only because commentators, activists and partisans were so overwhelming focused on the politics and ideology.

Photography/Photojournalism Photo March 3, 2015

A First Place Photo in Light of the Damning Justice Report on Ferguson

If Philip Montgomery's First Place "Picture of the Year, International" Feature photo was good before, it's even better today in light of the newly released DOJ report.

Culture Focus Photo

Belgian Distress Over World Press Winning Pictures: Considering News Photos in a Larger Atmosphere

The fact that city representatives or the public-at-large would take issue with such depictions has been primarily characterized by the publishing world and the photo establishment as misplaced, as a misunderstanding of press photography rather than some misunderstanding or insensitivity on the part of the industry toward the public.

Photography/Photojournalism Photo March 1, 2015

An "Eye Flying" Photo: News Pics Playing With Perception

If most people who saw this in various "photo of the week" galleries simply thought, "that’s cool," I think there’s more to it than that.

Philip Perdue Photo

Through CPAC-Colored Glasses

Real patriotism doesn't mean just loving your country; rather, we true patriots embody the country.

Robert Hariman Photo February 27, 2015

The Face of Battle in the Ukraine

War is far more than battle, from the extensive organization that is required to project power and hold territory, to the thousand ways that it disrupts, distorts, corrupts, and shatters entire worlds.

Culture Focus Photo February 26, 2015

Poor Kanye: Cell Phones, Martyrdom and Celebrity Culture

I am partly posting Kanye’s shaming of the celebrity-crazed public and his indictment of mobile photography as an example of how much pictures can take on a life of their own.

Culture Focus Photo February 25, 2015

On Texas Muslim Capitol Day: Photos by Nina Berman from Austin

The hostility of anti-Muslim protesters on the seventh annual Texas Muslim Capitol Day pales in comparison to the recognition and appreciation of the different cultural and religious communities among us.