Transforming the Visual Trope of Totalitarianism
John Lucaites looks at the the photos of wheelchair-bound Palestinian photojournalist Osama Silwadi, and the tank as the symbol of the totalitarian state.
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Second Look: The Warrior Child
Lucaites: “The idealized world of youthful innocence” is a taken for granted assumption for western audiences.
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The Children’s Crusade
A poignant reminder that those who carry the weight of our military efforts too often go off to war as naïve and wide-eyed children.
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The New Oil
If oil gets most of the attention, the real lifeblood of any civilization is water -- however we look at it.
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A Moment’s Rest
War takes its toll in many ways, not least by how it deadens the human spirit by disrupting the ordinary routines of everyday life.
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Beneath the Las Vegas Strip
The photograph is of a couple who live in an underground flood channel beneath the Las Vegas strip.
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Remembering Apollo 11: Techno-Porn and Modernity’s Gamble
To many, the Apollo 11 moon landing is “the” moment of national triumph in the post-World War II era—marked by recent 40th anniversary slideshows of “remembrance" at major media websites. I am typically reluctant to concede the all-too-easy identification of a phallic symbol, but it is pretty hard to...
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The Third Crusade
What marks the photos and slide shows supposedly illuminating us about the war in Afghanistan is their almost singular banality.
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Learning For Life
Notice how the same toy guns that seem harmless in the photo alongside the bus appear threateningly dangerous in the bottom image.
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Your Turn: Barbie Celebrates Her Big Five-Oh
I leave it to you how to legend this image (taking off on Eddie Adams' photo of the execution of a Viet Cong prisoner in the middle of a Saigon street) as it marks the mass media celebration of Barbie’s fiftieth birthday.
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Saving The Women Of Afghanistan
What is troubling is the way in which we seem to have convinced ourselves that the reason we having been fighting the Afghan war, at least in part, has been to save its women.
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BagNewsSalon: Michelle O
Preceding the inauguration of Barack Obama, this edition of the BAGnewsSALON, an on-line discussion series, dealt with how Michelle Obama has presented herself, and been perceived by the media.
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The Visual Codes Of Racism
Racism is the American tragedy, and as the current political campaign reminds us, it comes in many shades and colors.
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BagNewsSalon: Campaign 04 vs 08: Are We Seeing The End Of Identity Politics?
T his election edition of the BAGnewsSALON, an on-line discussion series, included moderator C ara Finnegan; producer Ida Benedetto; host Michael Shaw; professors Paul Lester; Nathan Stormer and John Lucaites; photographers Alan Chin, Nina Berman and Aric Mayer, as well as members of the BAGnewsNotes readership. ...Considering the images...
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Olympic Notes: The More Things Change …
There has been something of a small controversy brewing here, as some such as U.S. basketball coach Anne Donovan, have accused her of being unpatriotic, but Hammon’s more numerous defenders have been quick to point out that there is nothing new about naturalized citizens playing in the Olympics, and...
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Serpentine Days
I found yesterday's "last visual word" on the Petraeus testimony a really telling image. It was paired with a headline dealing with the bleakness of the General's testimony. In the dead-tree version, you can see all the shoes on the the floor, prompting John Lucaites, a BAG contributer to...
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BagNewsSalon: The Korengal Valley View
Today at 4pm PST/7pm EST, BAGnewsNotes presents "Reading the Pictures: The View From Korengal Valley." This 90 minute discussion is the first meeting of the BAGnewsSALON, a real-time discussion forum dedicated to the singular analysis and discussion of social and political images.
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Work With Me, Baby
Anxiety over nuclear bombs is perhaps more pronounced today than anytime since the Cold War, marked by a persistent worry about unfriendly nations, renegade scientists, and terrorists of all stripes gaining access to enriched uranium and nuclear warheads. And yet, outside of a few editorial cartoons here and there,...
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