Michael Shaw Archives
5,619 Posts
International Focus Photo October 23, 2014

The Shooting at the Canadian National War Memorial: What's Going to Last

More than anything, what has been fundamentally altered as a result of yesterday’s events is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier that 24-year-old Cpl. Nathan Cirillo was assign to guard and defend.

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International Focus Photo October 21, 2014

About Race and those Ebola Handheld Thermometer Pictures on Western News Sites

Given the “loaded nature” of the objects and the situation, there are certainly ways to capture a scene like this that is not only more sensitive (and more mundane), but steers clear of the exploitive associations to race and violence.

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Ferguson MO Photo

News Photos: Has Lack of Context Reached a Tipping Point? (And Ferguson Protesters Did WHAT w US Flag?!)

Essentially what we have from a media standpoint — a picture worth a thousand words, and the caption not that many -- are black people rampaging with Old Glory.

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President Obama Photo October 19, 2014

Obola: Visual Attacks on Obama Pick Up Where Kenya/Muslim Slurs Left Off

Almost seven years down the road from the election of the first black American president, in many respects it seems we're back where we started.

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Hong Kong: The Umbrella As State-of-Mind

As the signature of a movement enduring dismemberment , the umbrella ceases to be just one more umbrella, just as the wire cutters cease to be just a tool.

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Culture Focus Photo October 16, 2014

Nostalgic for Anthrax

At least, I'm sure the Secret Service has all the entrances secured.

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Wage Slaves and Fatal Naps

There are many dramatic events and concerns that fill the visual news window every day. The despair of the low wage hourly worker isn’t the first one that comes to mind.

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Culture Focus Photo October 14, 2014

Mashup of the Day: Hands Up, Don’t Shoot

Maybe it’s relevant for drawing together the two biggest visual stories in the news stream right now — both involving blacks at risk.

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A Simple News Photo from Hong Kong Calls out the Economics

n this age of Citizens United, oligarchy, marauding socialist market economies and free markets aligned with the value of "all-for-one," when do you ever see a protest photo that captures and illustrates the enterprise system itself — as opposed to the crackdown in the streets in defense of that...

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Ferguson MO Photo October 12, 2014

And We'll Get Back to Those Slain Black Youths Right After Baseball

It’s a troubling commentary on our cultural and media priorities that the civil rights story and the playoff hoopla have been so seamlessly grafted.

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Disaster Focus Photo October 11, 2014

Benedicte Kurzen's Complex and Mysterious Photo from Ebola-Stricken Monrovia

This is one of the richest, most curious and most suggestive editorial photos I've seen in a while. I'm interested in your thoughts.

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International Focus Photo October 9, 2014

Media-Wise, Could Everyday Africa Change Everything?

If Everyday Africa and the rest of the "Everyday" sites can maintain their momentum, a revolution is coming to photojournalism and visual news.

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International Focus Photo October 8, 2014

Hong Kong: He Says Umbrella Revolution, She Says Post-it Note

If the umbrella is a more functional item, the Post-It note is more reflective of the word, the voice, a multiplicity of voices -- and social in the old fashioned way.

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Business Focus Photo October 6, 2014

Soul Searching Photos Replace “Shock and Awe” as Defense Industry Leads Us into Next Iraq War

As we roll almost mutely into another war, there is no end of high-priced hardware once more ready to burn.

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Culture Focus Photo October 5, 2014

Hindsight and News Photography: On a Bio-Hazardous Dallas Balcony

Unfortunately, one thing news photography is good at is second-guessing, especially when it comes to homeland security.

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Culture Focus Photo October 3, 2014

Does Up-and-Coming Model With Unusual Skin Condition Take Us Beyond Diversity?

How much is Ms. Brown-Young's condition, as a beauty signature, more singularly about "the other?"

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Disaster Focus Photo October 1, 2014

Sensational Ebola Pictures: Those Aren't Astronauts

Its been too easy in the West to either ignore the Ebola pictures, or pull up a chair for the horror show.

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Eco Watch Photo

Climate Change: Finally Matter-of-Fact?

I wonder if we’re approaching a whole new level of acknowledgment and realism surrounding climate change.

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