BAGnewsNotes

Visual Politics: China Quake

I'm in NYC this week attending the NYPhoto Festival as well as the VII agency seminar, so I might be a bit briefer over the next few days.

One thing I'm thinking about is how the visual earthquake coverage simultaneously distracts from and sustains the running pre-Olympic China criticism.  The image above -- ostensibly just another crisis picture, and part of the wave that pushed pro-Tibet demonstrations and Beijing's ecological problems out of the media eye -- can't help but serve as a replacement, raising questions about China's hyper-industrialization and it's humanitarian cost.

What strikes me about the "missing" snapshot is the extent to which it is identifiable by type -- especially here in New York.  After 9/11, one does not look at this image and wonder, at least right away, about the fate of the couple so much as one wonders which disaster it is this time.

NYT China quake slide show -- (May 15, 08)
In Departure, China Invites Outside Help (NYT)

(image 1: David Gray/Reuters. Dujiangyan. image 2: Andy Wong/Associated Deyang. Press via nytimes.com)

Your Turn: McCain's Stowaway

(click for full size)

I'm curious how you read  this shot that ran on the AP wire about two weeks ago.

It's a scene aboard Air McCain, with Mac doing his customary press schmoozing.   Coincident to that, we have Arianna Huffington doing her cable news thing on the small screen.  The way she physically parallels McCain in the image is interesting, as is her proximity and relationship to the (main stream) reporters.  (By the way, this shot preceded the firestorm Huffington started over McCain's 2000 presidential vote by three days.)

I especially like how the image captures the different political platforms and "talk streams" in play this year, not to mention Huffington's tenacity in, once again (see video), finding her way onto McCain's radar.

(image Mary Altaffer/AP.  Phoenix. May 2, 2008)

Your Turn: Obama's Bubba Gap

Yes, arugula and beer.  It's your BAG.

(If you're interested, by the way, there are summaries from all four related articles after the jump.  Otherwise, I think you've got it all right here.)

(photo-illustration: not attributed on-line.  Newsweek Cover: May 5, 2008)

Your Turn: Move Over SNL

Is Barry Blitt's Hillary/Obama/red phone New Yorker cover that obvious or not?  How much is it editorializing about the politics, as opposed to hypothesizing about the potential scenario itself?  And, with the kind of racial and gender tension this campaign is stirring up, what do you make of the bedfellows analogy?

All lurkers and new readers especially welcome.

(illustration: New Yorker Cover. March 17, 2008 by Barry Blitt)

Your BAG/World Press Wednesday: PKK

World Press '08 - People in the News: 1st prize stories

Philippe Dudouit, Switzerland, for Time magazine.

PKK fighters, Northern Iraq

The rest of the series

http://www.phild.ch/

Your BAG/World Press Tuesday: Last Combat Injury?

World Press '08 - Spot News: 3rd prize stories

Michael Kamber, USA, The New York Times.

Searching for missing soldiers, Latafiya, Iraq, 18 May

The rest of the series.

 

different dimension: Have We Just Seen The Last Combat Injury In Iraq? (Michael Kamber + The BAG: Huffington Post)

kamberphoto.com

Your BAG/World Press Monday: Putin

World Press '08 - Portraits: 1st prize singles

Platon, UK, for Time magazine.

President Putin of Russia

platonphoto.com

Your BAG/World Press Sunday: From Gaza City

World Press '08 - Spot News: Honorable Mention

Emilio Morenatti, Spain, The Associated Press.

Rockets launched from Gaza City towards Israel, 22 May

Your BAG/World Press Saturday: The Range

World Press '08: General News: Honorable Mention

Christoph Bangert, Germany, Laif for Stern.

German Army sniper practice target, Kunduz, Afghanistan, 27 April

christophbangert.com
Iraq: The Space Between (BNN)
Exit The Green Zone (BNN)

Your Turn: San Diego

I was really fascinated with the McCain image that appeared on yesterday morning's NYT front page.  I found it particularly unusual as the shot they chose to mark his Super Tuesday victory. 

Given our mission at BAGnewsNotes,  we have a unique opportunity in the coming days to consider and analyze -- from the beginning -- how the media goes about visually framing McCain.  This photo, taken by Mario Tama, the fine Getty photographer and friend of The BAG, was taken at an aircraft company in San Diego on election day.  What do you make of it, both the shot itself, and the fact The Times elevated it the way they did?

If you're new to the site, or have been hesitant to jump into the discussion, by the way, I'm offering you special encouragement as we all visually move into the post-Bush era.

NYT Front Page image September 6, 2008

(image: Mario Tama, Getty Images. San Diego.  February 5, 2008.  via usatoday.net)