The Case of the Bad Olympic Portraits
With the Olympics in full swing, patriotism is in the air and athletes are the media stars of the day. If they win medals, they become gods and goddesses. Theirs … Continue reading
Moved by Reading
All the people heralding the death of the novel clearly haven’t traveled on the New York subway lately. People are using their daily commutes to read—and not just James Patterson … Continue reading
Lunch Hour NYC
Usually, the New York Public Library is not on my radar as an exhibition venue. But when I read about Lunch Hour NYC, I knew I had to get there … Continue reading
The Shipping News
Brooklyn has long been a magnet for writers and artists. The hip ones, anyway, and recently, certain grumpy and misanthropic British ones. And it’s fast becoming the go-to destination for … Continue reading
Making War Personal
In the past ten years, photojournalist Kate Brooks has been in almost every conflict zone in the Greater Middle East. The second intifada in Israel? Check. Cairo’s Tahrir Square during … Continue reading
Five Broken Cameras
How do you make people actually get interested in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? At this point, the whole thing seems so intractable, the lines in the sand so deeply dug, that … Continue reading
Is it art? Documentary photography at the New York Photo Festival
The question of whether photography can be art was settled a long time ago. Most major museums now have thriving photography departments, and photographs fetch pretty hefty prices at auction. … Continue reading
Living with Books
“Are libraries obsolete now?” my husband asked a few months ago. We were staring up at the main branch of the New York Public Library—the magnificent Beaux-Arts building designed by … Continue reading
John Isaac’s untaken photographs
Last week’s post about the new book Photographs Not Taken made me think about my good friend John Isaac, retired head of photography at the United Nations. John often talks … Continue reading
