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Notes Photo August 19, 2013

Where Things are Pointed in Egypt (and Have Been Since the Coup)

To the extent photographs can foreshadow, these series of hands -- displayed as symbol of the martyr, as evidential stain, and as steadfast defiance -- constitute a deadly arc.

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Notes Photo August 17, 2013

The Machine and the Martyrs: The Quintessential Photo from the Maniacal Crackdown in Cairo Last Week

Though the week was filled with horrific and telling imagery, no photo struck me more than this.

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Notes Photo August 16, 2013

David Degner in Cairo: Putting Names and Faces to Morsi Supporters for a Change

Photographer David Degner has been living and working in Cairo for several years and covering the Arab Spring and its turbulent trajectory there and also in Libya and Syria. After the Egyptian army and police stormed the Muslim Brotherhood’s encampments protesting the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi, David made...

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Notes Photo July 29, 2013

Those Egypt Military Propaganda Videos: The Look of Blowback?

After the latest large-scale killing of Islamist demonstrators in Cairo, it's hard not to think that the military's surveillance technology and the characteristic features of that video imagery, is minimizing its propaganda value, particularly with an international audience.

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Notes Photo July 22, 2013

On That Viral Shot of the Syrian Refugee Camp in Jordan

Politicians come and go whereas images of the cost are more indelible.

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Notes Photo July 11, 2013

The Shooting Death of Ahmed Samir Assem

Was there was ever a stronger scene screaming out for an international response to the endangerment of journalists?

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Notes Photo July 9, 2013

Egyptian Military vs Muslim Brotherhood: At the Battle of YouTube

It's not only (perversely) interesting how social media is evolving as an extension of the battleground but how everyday web metrics become a defacto measurement of who's up and who's down in the contest for hearts and minds.

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Notes Photo July 5, 2013

That Giant Laser Messaging in Tahrir Square: It's Not a Coup

What I find interesting is how defensive this phrase is.

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Notes Photo

David Degner in Cairo: Scenes from the Toppling of a Government (Once Again)

Cairo photographer David Degner provides key scenes and details preceding the removal of President Morsi from power by the military.

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Notes Photo July 4, 2013

Alexandria Sunset: A Metaphor

What's so fascinating about this Egyptian sunset that's gone viral over the past few days is how much the heavy-handed construction of reality mirrors the radical re-engineering that has just taken place in Egypt.

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Notes Photo June 17, 2013

You Too Can Become an Insta-War Photographer in Syria – GRAPHIC

This piece glorifies the "Bevis and Butthead" idea that any couple of fools can have a harrowing experience like this and live to (sell it to VICE and) tell the world about it.

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Notes Photo April 19, 2013

On that Powerful "Condolence for Boston" Photo Tweeted from Syria Today

I was going to call it a "double message" -- which it is, but to do so would detract from the very earnest and heartfelt quality to this.

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Notes Photo February 15, 2013

Syria: Life "in Ruins"

Scenes from Syria continue to demoralize.

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Notes Photo January 29, 2013

I Feel it Would be Wrong Not to Stop and Take Note of this Photo from Aleppo

Yesterday's scene from that Aleppo canal.

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Notes Photo January 17, 2013

The Aleppo University Bombing and the Banality of Good

A well functioning civil society is one in which you don’t have to worry about civil war. The university represented the last space where that was possible, and now that has been lost as well.

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Notes Photo December 6, 2012

That TIME Morsi Cover, Dictator-Size

Although the backstory by the editor-at-large ascribed all kinds of political mystique and geopolitical weight to Egypt's new president, TIME's choice to feature him on the cover in a super-closeup looks mighty awkward a couple weeks later.

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Notes Photo September 18, 2012

What’s in a Picture? — #IslamicRage Meets #OccupyWallStreet

So many people have emailed me this photo, I wanted to hear your thoughts about it. Here’s the caption: Egyptian protesters wearing Guy Fawkes masks pose for a photo graffiti on a wall of the U.S. embassy during a protest in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2012. Egyptian protesters, largely...

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Notes Photo September 13, 2012

Before We Start Ascribing Bad Intent to Whole Countries, Regions and Cultures…

Most of the actions in play -- between the creation of the im-Bacile Muhammed video; the attack on the U.S. Embassy in Libya and the killing of the ambassador; and the chest-and-drum beating for war on the part of the Israeli Prime Minister -- are not generalized or mainstream...

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