Media & Culture Archives - Reading The Pictures

Notes Photo March 18, 2024

Visual Blindspots and Media Bias: The “Disappearing” of Kamala Harris

While framed as “missing-in-action,” Kamala Harris tackles the hardest jobs and is everywhere fighting for social justice.

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.

Chatting the Pictures Video October 1, 2023

Chatting the Pictures: A Portrait that Dares to Expose Musk’s Madness

We do a deep dive into a daring photo that reflects Elon Musk as a supervillain and potentially mentally disturbed.

Chatting the Pictures Video August 14, 2023

Chatting the Pictures: The Fate of Twitter in a Single Shot

In the video, we into the symbolism of the dismembered logo, the visual dynamics of the replacement “X,” and the live bird and the “BlueSky.“

Notes Photo June 21, 2022

David Hume Kennerly: Because He Was There

This photo of David Hume Kennerly, taken in Vietnam, makes a basic yet essential point about media integrity and the reportage from Ukraine.

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.

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.

Notes Photo March 20, 2020

The Coronoavirus and the World Atilt

Suddenly, the media is filled with images that situate the coronavirus into the most well-known backgrounds. This example from Pisa is striking.⠀

Notes Photo March 5, 2020

“Bernie’s Warren Problem” Really Media’s Gender Problem

The photo of Warren on the Edmund Pettus Bridge helps explain why, on the eve of Super Tuesday, everyone was talking about the old white guys.

Notes Photo September 30, 2019

Toxic Nationalism: The Tomb of the Unborn Soldier

The point was to rally the base. But by wrapping the American flag around an “unborn soldier,” the photo infuriated the right and the left.

Notes Photo May 27, 2019

Make America Meme: Why Melania Trump Birthday Photo was a Coup for the White House

More than pointed critiques, these memes tend to offer the Trump administration greater drama and even unwitting sympathy.

Notes Photo May 18, 2018

Between Jerusalem, Gaza and the Media: The Tear Gas Spectacular

What stokes the media as effectively as it fuels insurgency and state power--especially in the Trump era? Simply put, it's the fireworks.

Notes Photo December 17, 2017

Cruel Looking: From Puerto Rico, and Beyond

Showing the bodies of others—be they Puerto Rican children or British Muslims—and stripping them of dignity in full view: this is cruel looking. Knowing it is wrong is part of the plan.

Notes Photo November 12, 2017

Pop Goes Newsweek: Sexual Harassment Cover Gone Wrong

The Newsweek cover perfectly illustrates the juvenile, adolescent male snickerings that have floated around locker rooms, golf courses and topless bars for years.

Notes Photo November 1, 2017

Compounding the Weinstein Outrage: How to Visually Cover Sexual Assault

Lurid details and graphic accounts in the Weinstein case do not compensate for the simple fact: there is no adequate imagery to testify to sexual assault.