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Reading The Pictures
Reading The Pictures

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Apr 6, 2020

The Grim Reaper

by Michael Shaw We were told repeatedly we were ten days to two weeks behind Italy, but denial and disbelief have powerful effects. Alex Majoli’s shadowy portraits were already nightmarish when they were published in Vanity Fair ten days ago. But now that we in the U.S. …

2 min read

The Grim Reaper
The Grim Reaper

2 min read


Published in Vantage

·May 30, 2019

A Defining Image of Trump’s America: The Cage Seller

by Michael Shaw If you had to choose one photo to illustrate the immigration crisis, this is literally the money shot. In fact, Mark Peterson’s photograph, taken at a recent border security trade show (a revealing exercise in itself), might serve as the defining image of Trump’s America. It’s a…

Politics

3 min read

The Cage Seller
The Cage Seller
Politics

3 min read


Published in Vantage

·Apr 30, 2019

How Climate Change Is and Isn’t Fueling the U.S. Border Crisis … and Why the Photos Aren’t that Simple

by Christa Olson You’ve seen pictures like these before. In early April, The New Yorker published a series of three by Jonathan Blitzer articles lushly illustrated with photographs by Mauricio Lima. Blitzer’s essays provide context for the recent surge in migration from Guatemala to Mexico and the United States. …

Climate Change

5 min read

How Climate Change Is and Isn’t Fueling the U.S. Border Crisis … and Why Photos Aren’t That Simple
How Climate Change Is and Isn’t Fueling the U.S. Border Crisis … and Why Photos Aren’t That Simple
Climate Change

5 min read


Published in Vantage

·Apr 23, 2019

The Barr Code: Why the Mueller Redactions Went Viral

by Philip Perdue How fitting that, two years into Trump’s presidency and upon the final, but necessarily incomplete release of the Mueller Report, one of the most significant impressions of the document was pictographic. Usually reporting about a report involves careful verbal summary and synopsis, but in this case much…

Politics

5 min read

The Barr Code: Why the Mueller Redactions Went Viral
The Barr Code: Why the Mueller Redactions Went Viral
Politics

5 min read


Published in Vantage

·Apr 2, 2019

The Meaning of Roseanne Barr in Jerusalem

by KC McGinnis ONE OF THE reasons people go on pilgrimages is to find solace in arriving at a concrete destination. That may be why Roseanne Barr, the exiled TV star who cut her own explosive comeback short last year with a disastrous, racist tweet, made a surprising appearance at…

Israel

3 min read

The Meaning of Roseanne Barr in Jerusalem
The Meaning of Roseanne Barr in Jerusalem
Israel

3 min read


Published in Vantage

·Mar 31, 2019

El Paso Refugee Camp, Awkward Mueller, Netanyahu Morphing

This week in ‘Chatting The Pictures’ — by Michael Shaw “The News” photo this week was taken by Sergio Flores for The Washington Post. At a makeshift detention center in El Paso, a surge of asylum seekers has been overwhelming Border Patrol and the U.S. immigration infrastructure. In this frame, we see how a news photograph…

Politics

2 min read

El Paso Refugee Camp, Awkward Mueller, Netanyahu Morphing
El Paso Refugee Camp, Awkward Mueller, Netanyahu Morphing
Politics

2 min read


Published in Vantage

·Mar 29, 2019

Mulling on Mueller, Mo’ Beto, and So Much Posterizing: Our Social Week

by Rian Dundon With all the anxiety and anticipation over the Mueller Report, the release of a slight Justice Department summary exonerating Trump just led to a deeper foreboding. Bereft any lingering hope of the special prosecutor revealing something of immediate consequence for this administration, instead we were left with…

Politics

2 min read

Mulling on Mueller, Mo’ Beto, and So Much Posterizing
Mulling on Mueller, Mo’ Beto, and So Much Posterizing
Politics

2 min read


Published in Vantage

·Mar 28, 2019

Trump and Reporters on the South Lawn: Getting Stranger by the Day

by Michael Shaw With the death of the White House press briefing and the presidential press conference, these South Lawn encounters are really all that’s left of a regular exchange between Trump and the press. The scene above, by Evan Vucci, could be called your standard fare — meaning, a…

Donald Trump

4 min read

Trump’s Combustible (and Loud) Press Appearances on the South Lawn
Trump’s Combustible (and Loud) Press Appearances on the South Lawn
Donald Trump

4 min read


Published in Vantage

·Mar 15, 2019

College Entrance Scandal; Venezuela Black Out; Beto Leibovitz 2020

by Michael Shaw Welcome to the latest edition of Chatting the Pictures. In each 20-minute webcast, co-hosts Michael Shaw, publisher of Reading the Pictures, and writer and historian, Cara Finnegan, discuss three prominent photos in the news. The program is broken into three segments: “The News,” “The Look,” and…

Politics

2 min read

Beto’s  Leibovitz Portrait, College Admissions Scandal and Black Out in Venezuela
Beto’s  Leibovitz Portrait, College Admissions Scandal and Black Out in Venezuela
Politics

2 min read


Published in Vantage

·Mar 2, 2019

Chatting the Pictures: Trump Kim Long Faces; Cohen’s Big Check; Billy Porter’s Oscar Stunner

by Michael Shaw Chatting the Pictures is a weekly, 20-minute webcast for which RTP publisher Michael Shaw is joined by writer and historian, Cara Finnegan to discuss three prominent photos in the news. The program is broken into three segments: “The News” examines a hard news image for its…

Politics

2 min read

Trump Kim Long Faces; Cohen’s Big Check; Billy Porter’s Oscar Stunner
Trump Kim Long Faces; Cohen’s Big Check; Billy Porter’s Oscar Stunner
Politics

2 min read

Reading The Pictures

Reading The Pictures

6.6K Followers

Official feed of the visual politics + photojournalism site, ReadingThePictures.org. (Formerly BagNewsNotes.)

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