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Notes 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.

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Chatting the Pictures Video June 18, 2021

Chatting the Pictures: Beyond Cute

We explain how this Chinese panda at the National Zoo in Washington both offers lessons in photo editing and captures a post-pandemic mood.

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Notes Photo May 27, 2021

Scenes from Work as Photographers Increasingly Caught Up in the Protests They Cover

These Instagram photos of Colombian news photographer Luis Robayo speak to the all-consuming challenge of covering protests today.

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Chatting the Pictures Video March 5, 2021

Chatting the Pictures: The “Old Timey” Look of the Second Mars Touch Down

As always, NASA plays the excitement to the hilt. And the first image from Perseverance plays it both forward and backward in time.

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Notes Photo January 16, 2021

Where the Mockery Falls

America has largely confused Trump's mockery of democracy with the mocking of Trump himself. The Europeans haven't had such a problem.

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Notes Photo January 10, 2021

Capitol Artwork a Symbolic Participant in Trump White Supremacist Riot

While the rioters who invaded the Capitol amplified the nation's history of white supremacy, that history was already hanging on the walls behind them.

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Chatting the Pictures Video August 21, 2020

Chatting the Pictures: Kamala VP Nod Gets Special Front Page Treatment

In this highlight video, we discuss the "singularity" of the Harris layout. We also consider the scale in terms of the cultural and personal breakthrough.

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Notes Photo July 16, 2020

This Fauci Cover Is Not Cool. It’s Sad.

Poor Dr. Fauci has been reduced to defending his stature by playing the White House's game.

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Notes Photo July 15, 2020

Death From Covid and the Western Gaze

This photo from Rio provides a view of poverty and the brutal outcome of the coronavirus that just isn't seen in America.

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Notes Photo April 17, 2020

Trump’s COVID-19 Show in One Picture

Set in the White House hallway leading to the press briefing room, it serves as the perfect specimen of a spectacle that unspools for hours each night.

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Notes Photo March 16, 2020

White House Flickr Exposes Trump’s Oval Office Coronavirus Speech

While the crisis calls for selflessness, what the photos reveal is an obsession with the camera, and Trump acting the role of first responder.

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Notes Photo November 23, 2019

Turkey’s Syria Invasion and Visual Media Bias

Media bias usually has to do with what's in the frame--not whether there is one. Turkey's Syria invasion is an example of bias for only showing one side.

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Notes Photo June 11, 2019

Mexican Forces Give Their All for the Cameras to Placate Trump

With Trump on their backs over immigration deal, Mexico put the "show" in "show of force" at its southern border.

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Notes Photo August 5, 2018

The Visual Bubble: White House Media Affairs Undoes a Breakfast

Not since the administration’s panic over the crowd size at the inauguration have we seen such visual damage control.

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Notes Photo June 14, 2018

From the Olympics to Singapore: Kim Jong Un’s Remarkable Visual Makeover

Kim Jong Un has proved himself a master at softening his media image. His summit with Donald Trump in Singapore was just the latest example. 

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Notes Photo April 23, 2018

With Media Fixated on the Terror, a Good Time to Look Again at Everyday Middle East

With western media concentrated on Gaza and Douma, crisis and violence again come to stereotype the Middle East and Islam.

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Notes Photo April 13, 2018

Here’s Looking at You Kid: Mark Zuckerberg’s Elusive DC Testimony

As much as his appearance before Congress was a visual sensation, Zuckerberg was not going to be pinned down legally, rhetorically or photographically. 

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Notes Photo April 5, 2018

The Meaning of Emma in the Visual War on Parkland’s Survivor Activists

Emma has become the visual trademark of political dissent and generational change, a contemporary Rosie the Riveter.

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