BAGnewsNotes

Dot Biz

2009-11-20T22:49:24-08:00

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Consumer culture -- the endless manufacture of desire -- is killing us. It knows no morality.

And ultimately, the newswire photo just compounds the problem, establishing its value -- this clever, colorful piece of drive-by eye candy -- as a cocktail of conscience with a twist of irony.

On the 27th, let's do nothing about it. ...And then, let's do even less.

(photo: Mariana Bazo/Reuters. Lima, Peru)

University of California: Adding Injury to Injury

2009-11-20T11:38:41-08:00

The dirty shame, yet standard operating procedure of America Inc. -- especially after screwing it up -- has simply been to turn around and dump as much of it as possible -- in the abstracted form of paperwork, leg work, extra fees and surcharges, etc. -- onto Mr. Consumer, the the heaviest load on the youngest, poorest, least sophisticated.

This Getty/AFP shot, showing a campus policeman at UCLA tasering a student demonstrator yesterday, captures the pain, anger, abuse, degradation and fury over the outrageous 32% fee hike by the University of California.

When are people going to get (America Inc. rounding the last populist edges off the health care legislation as we speak) that the economic tasering of the consumer has been consistent and systemic, and that what's mostly striking about this photo is the rare example of push back ... and the consequences of it.

More power to UC students, and as many pictures as possible, calling bullshit on the "business of the State."

(Photo: Mark Ralston/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images. caption: The state allocation for the 10-campus system was cut $813 million, or 20 percent, this year, leading to a hiring freeze, furloughs and layoffs. A student protester was tasered by a police officer during a protest against the increase in student fees at U.C.L.A.)

When is Piper Next Going to Have a Normal Halloween?

2009-11-20T00:45:43-08:00

2008

2009

I promised Piper that this time, I would keep my distance so I wouldn't disrupt the fun she has planned for herself and her friends. She's so good and accommodating. She puts up with a lot.

-- Sarah Palin. Family video. The Oprah Show.

If anyone out there still somehow entertains the notion that the Palin children aren't media props, consider the question: When is Piper next going to have a "normal" Halloween?

In the closing days of last year's presidential race, if you recall, Piper went campaign trick-or-treating in rural Pennsylvania as the star of a national media circus, the secret service in tow. (That's little Trig in the elephant suit.)

So when Halloween rolled around again this year, do you think Mom might have thought to carve the 31st out of her busy PR schedule? Quite the contrary. If you watch the video, you can see it was car trick-or-treating (and if friends were involved, I didn't see them) with the crew of the Oprah show.

(image 1: Todd Heisler/The New York Times. October 31, 2008. Dauphin, PA. image 2: screen grab. Harpo Productions. October 31, 2009)

Afghanistan Leakers: Making Obama, Clinton Look Foolish

2009-11-19T12:55:26-08:00

Rather than taking up the right wing's "dithering" or "what's taking SO long" meme when it comes to Obama's Afghan strategy (in a situation that some see as having no practical urgency) perhaps the better question to ask is, what's with the leaks? -- and, what are they costing the Administration?

Arriving for Karzai's swearing in, this photo of Hillary makes the Secretary of State, and Obama by proxy, look like fools caught between Gen. "Surge" and Ambassador "Hold on Now."

American Ambassador Eikenberry (a former Army Lt. Gen. and U.S. Afghan Commander) -- who had two cautionary classified cables to Obama leaked last week -- feels that sending additional troops only ties us more closely, in the minds of the Afghan people, to the corrupt government inaugurated today. General McChrystal, on the other hand, whose his own recommendations to Obama were leaked last month, has been pushing for 40k more troops as part of a counterinsurgency, hearts-and-minds and Afghan military training strategy.

Eickenberry's downward, inward and more circumspect, almost skeptical express ion, coupled with the cables that were publicized, expressing reservations with our strategy, and our support of Karzai, coupled with the event at hand, the Secretary of State's arrival in the country for Karzai's inauguration (underpinned by Hillary and America's front row stamp-of-approval), coupled with Hillary's exaggerated smile (like everything is rosy) as she enters town caught between two of Obama's warring minions makes the supposed U.S. front here painfully postured.

Absent the leaking/lobbying war playing out in public, however, the photo would indicate something pretty normal, involving component players -- under one roof -- with their own agendas and points-of-view. Instead, however, aided by partisan talking heads and a controversy-hungry media, we get the worst interpretation of "a team of rivals."
(revised: 4:30pm PST. removed version of photo with illustration)

(photo: Paula Bronstein /Getty Images. caption: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (C) walks with U.S Ambassador to Afghan Karl Eikenberry (R) after arriving on November 18, 2009 in Kabul, Afghanistan. This is her first trip to Afghanistan as U.S Secretary of State. Clinton will meet with Afghan President Karzai before he officially starts his second term of office.)

British Army Accused of Sexual Abuse of Detainees in Iraq

2009-11-18T23:57:13-08:00

BAGnews is pleased to introduce Pete Brook, our newest contributor. This piece is cross-posted from Pete's superb blog, Prison Photography.

Still from video shown to the Baha Mousa public Inquiry showing Corporal Donald Payne,

formerly of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment, shouting and swearing at hooded Iraqi detainees.

The British Army is facing accusations as serious as those leveled against the US military at Abu Ghraib.

Let me offer some context of UK Army abuses in Iraq.

Only one British soldier has ever been sentenced to prison for detainee abuses in Iraq. He is Corporal Donald Payne. Above is a still from this very disturbing video which was released in June of this year into the inquiry of Baha Mousa’s death. A long-running and contradicting narrative followed this case since Mousa’s death in 2003 and the opening of the first inquiry in 2006. BBC has a timeline.

It seems that Corporal Payne and the six other soldiers acquitted during this inquiry may not have been the only British soldiers involved in abuse. I must say that these allegations are still just that – they are unproven, yet to be fully investigated.

Robert Verkaik of the Independent has pursued this story here and here:

One claimants says he as raped by two British soldiers, and others say they were stripped naked, abused and photographed. For the first time, British female soldiers are accused of aiding in the sexual and physical abuse of detainees.

The 33 new cases, which form part of a pre-action protocol letter served on the MoD last week, include allegations of mock executions, dog attacks, rape, exposure to lewd acts and exposure to pornography. The abuses are alleged to have occurred in 2003 – the time as Baha Mousa’s torture and death.

It is suggested it has taken so long for the allegations to come about because the Iraqi’s were fearful of reprisals during the British occupation of Southern Iraq. UK forces pulled out in April, 2009. Three camps are named: Shaat-al-Arab camp (shown below), Shaaibah British camp and Akka in Al-Zubayr.

Shaat-al-Arab camp, Southern Iraq

Details of abuse:

In May 2003, a 16-year-old Iraqi was among a group of Iraqis taken to the Shatt-al-Arab British camp to help fill sandbags. When the Iraqi youth, who wishes to remain anonymous, and his friends had filled the available sandbags, a British soldier indicated that he should enter a room, from where he assumed that he was to retrieve more sand bags, he says.

On entering the room, he claims he saw two British male soldiers engaged in oral sex. As soon as the two men saw him enter, they started to beat and kick him, he alleges. When he fell to the floor, one of the men held a blade to his neck while the other soldier stripped him naked. Although he screamed in protest, the two British soldiers, one after the other, raped him.

They took off our blindfolds and I could see that we were surrounded by seven or eight soldiers. There were five of us. They asked us to pick fights with one another, or fight them. They were laughing at us and taking photos with digital cameras. They made us squeeze in pile-up, as in Abu Ghraib prison photos, while a soldier stood on top of us and started shouting and laughing. I felt so humiliated and treated as a toy they messed up with.

They picked further on a younger man who was good-looking. They made him strip naked and started messing with his penis and taking photos. “On one occasion I refused to pick a fight, then a soldier kicked me hard on my back, which made me fall on the floor. He started hitting me with a baton on my knees. Then he used an electric baton on different parts of my body.”

Source: Independent Saturday, 14 November 2009

Of course one wonders now whether the investigations will publish the photographic evidence or if it will be used only internally.

Personally, I have no desire to see these images. I sympathize with arguments to say that only through release of such images can the world know the full extent of what happened, but I also doubt what we can actually and accurately “know” from photographs that we wouldn’t otherwise learn through full disclosure and description of events.

It is extremely unfortunate that both Google and Daylife image searches for “Shaat-al-Arab camp” result in this image.

British soldiers share a laugh as their comrade walks around dressed as Borat, the Kazakh journalist

played by British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, during Christmas celebrations at the Shatt al-Arab camp

in the southern Iraqi port city of Basra on December 25, 2008. The Iraqi parliament has voted to allow the

presence of non-US foreign troops after December 31, giving British troops a legal basis to remain beyond

the expiry of a UN mandate. © ESSAM AL-SUDANI/AFP/Getty Images

But the madness, brevity, violence, stress, justified escapism, testosterone and “laws” of war are vastly different than in any other milieu.

It just seems to me that the internet has collided stories and images here that could be as valid a critique of 20th century war as any of the great American Vietnam films.

____________________________________________________________

Interestingly, Shaat-al-Arab camp was erased by Google from their maps three years ago for security reasons. This action seems warranted as Shaat-al-Arab camp was a common target for insurgents – as Abu Ghraib was. Details are described half way through this article.

Thanks to Sean for the tip off.

Oprah, Sarah and the Girls

2009-11-18T23:52:05-08:00

Here's the single promo shot Oprah's production company released to the media. What it shows is four women who are thoroughly experienced posing for a camera. If there is a curious element, it's the unusually tight grip Oprah has on Sarah and Willow -- reflective, perhaps, of Oprah keeping everyone close having scored the first interview of circus week. ...Not so curious, but mesmerizing, is the competing intensity for the lens Sarah and Oprah emit with those gazes. Ah, star power.

But then, I was also interested in this screen shot I grabbed from a cut-away while Willow and Piper listened to Mom discuss how the decision to accept the Veep offer -- uncharacteristically omitting the kids, Palin adds -- was made.

If you watch the video, you see how conscious Willow is of being on set, shifting her eyes, for a split second, toward the camera. And then there's Piper, who is unselfconsciously engrossed by Mom's discussion, but, in a different way, seems to recognize the stakes in all this. Considering the breezy and bemused expressions on the faces of the two other women, the tension in the Palin girls -- the most pleasing extras in the Palin Show -- is more than palpable.

(images: Harpo Productions)

Are You Going To Believe Them, Or Your Own Eyes?

2009-11-18T23:50:07-08:00

Somehow, this was read as a fireworks show.

And then, even after witnessing this, much of America was spun into buying this.

BAGnews is singularly dedicated to challenging the use of pictures for the purpose of sensationalism, oversimplification, infotainment or collusion by the shockingly over-concentrated corporate media.

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Following This Link.

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BAGnewsNotes.com is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions in behalf of BAGnewsNotes may be made payable to Fractured Atlas and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

Last Look On O China Trip: A Little Cold

2009-11-18T14:09:20-08:00

How did this read to me on first pass, through this week's media filter?

...A nation of umpteen billion people and Obama, a man recognized for wowing the crowds and stirring hope in the masses, especially overseas, is featured today on the newswires wrapping up his China trip alone at the Great Wall.Either through lack of informed strategy, or a desire to placate, or real cards to play, Obama's failure to gain with the Chinese makes him come off, instead, more like a tourist with a steep hill to climb.

However, there was zero chance a triumphant image was going to come out of this trip, the Chinese being almost constitutionally disposed to stymie their charismatic visitor. And, after years of economic and leadership free fall, it's as much true that America has been left looking up.

Combine the demand for spectical with the obsession with an otherwise meaningless bow in Japan, and the domestic media's bottom line on this bridge-building excursion and, yes, "look-see," was of some kind of distant and solitary failure.

REVISED 11/19 9:30 PST

(photo: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images. caption: US President Barack Obama tours the Great Wall on November 18, 2009 at Badaling, northwest of Beijing. The US president was to wrap up his maiden trip to the world's most populous nation with a bit of tourism -- a visit to the Great Wall, one of China's most treasured landmarks -- before heading to South Korea.)

The Relevance of BAGnews

2009-11-18T01:26:36-08:00

With the staggering investment that goes into advertising and advocacy images in this country, is it any wonder nobody's teaching, let alone preaching visual literacy?

Let's face it, pixels are playing a fundamental role both in the political and culture wars, as well as the commercialization of visual culture. For an example very close to home, in fact, just look at how inflamed right-wingers helped commandeer the BAG's discussion thread yesterday on our post on the Palin Newsweek cover based on a link to our write-up from YahooNews.

If you read our exciting announcement yesterday, the aim of our expansion is to make BAGnews the watchdog, the home -- among progressive, visual academics, and the photojournalism community -- for reading media and political pictures, and speaking truth to visual power.

Can you donate $5, $10 or $25 dollars to our expanding and critical mission? Can you contribute $50 or $100? Or, can you take on a benefactor role and invest $500 to $1000 to help us pay for our web designers, and the stipends for our photo-contributors, and our other expenses while a growing group of us realize this photo-activist commitment?

To make a TAX DEDUCTIBLE contribution, following this link. Or, if you'd prefer to write a check, please make it out to "Fractured Atlas," with "BAGnewsNotes" on the memo line, and send it to: BAGnewsNotes / c/o Michael Shaw, Ph.D. / P.O. Box 3217 / Manhattan Beach, California 90266.

Oh, and the picture above? That's a shot from a lab Disney is operating very quietly down in Austin. Using behavioral science and human subjects, they are tracking heart-rate, skin temperature, facial muscles and eye movements to cognitively engineer irresistible web pages and on-line advertisements

If you'd like to discuss a benefactor role, please email me at: OpenBag [at] BAGnews [dot] com.

Otherwise, please join us. ...Because these pictures, spun as they are, are getting way too deep into people's heads.

Let's face it, pixels are playing a fundamental role both in the political and culture wars as well as the commercialization of visual culture.

Bloomberg Watch: Wastin' Away Again in Margarita Burritoville

2009-11-18T01:22:23-08:00

If "The Great Recession" label failed to catch on before the recession was called, and the "two Americas" meme somehow died with the fidelity of John Edwards, symbols of gross entitlement -- as represented by the incestuous merger of corporate and political power married to tin-eared populist gestures -- are everywhere, if you look.

Today, I'm starting another "watch" series starring New York Mayor and financial services mogul, Michael Bloomberg. As a poster child for Wall Street's co-opting of Main Street -- especially after he nearly lost re-election for trying to buy it -- I want to put, and keep an eye on NYC's CEO.

What specifically reminded me of the photo above was the NYT piece yesterday morning focusing on how much Bloomberg is "humility challenged." The picture ran on the NYT front page two weeks ago, on the day after the election. From the accompanying article, we get this backstory:

Michael R. Bloomberg, stung by an election outcome that revealed resentment over his undoing of the term limits law and his extravagant campaign spending, moved quickly Wednesday to strike a conciliatory tone as he reached out to the Democratic establishment that backed his opponent in the mayor’s race

....

Signs of an altered landscape quickly emerged as Mr. Bloomberg, never known for his humility, made an elaborate show of deference. His staff hastily arranged a highly visible meeting, at a Manhattan restaurant, with the city’s public advocate-elect, Bill de Blasio, a Democrat.

What amuses me no end, besides the two heavies outside, and the yellow fire hydrant in such close proximity to Hizzoner, and the Mayor's dead heavy-handed planting of himself in the window of the cleared-out local joint shouting "look at me, I give a sh-t, now" (flash!), is the restaurant sign, reading (backwards, no less): "Burritoville."

Burritoville! Like Heinz ketchup is a vegetable, this Daddy Terminalbucks deigns to co-op the symbolism of the burrito (and then, never you mind all the race, class and immigration baggage wrapped up with it) as some heavy hint of a common man.

(photo: Michael Appleton for The New York Times)

Afghanistan: Ain't That The Problem?

2009-11-17T14:11:41-08:00

The AP couldn't express it in any taller terms.

As long as Stanley and the U.S.A. are fronting for the crooked, discredited Karzai, we've got nothing to say.

(photo: Anja Niedringhaus. caption: Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander for Afghanistan, talks in front of a giant poster of Afghan President Hamid Karzai during a ceremony with the Afghan Air Force in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009. Two new C-27 transport planes were donated by Italy and the United States to the Afghan Air Force)

A Whole New BAG

2009-11-17T01:55:47-08:00

Dear BAGnews Readers,

Sometime in the first months of 2010, BAGnewsNotes is going to change. We will still be the best site for decoding the spin of politics and images, but we’ll be redesigned to do it that much better. It won’t be a shallow makeover. We’ll be building on the old with new features, new tools, and new ways to grow this incredible community.

Everyone knows BAG as a great site for news image analysis and original photojournalism. What some may not realize is that your participation, the high level of analytic acuity and observation from the BAG community, makes this site what it is. The new BAGnews will recognize that and build on your energy and intellect. We’ll put eye-catching discussions front and center. It will be easy to track your contribution to great conversations. You’ll have a direct pipeline to submit recommended photos and interpretations for BAG to use in featured posts.

The new BAGnews will give you more. More original photography from great photojournalists. More posts from leading academics in the field. More access in one place to all Bag activities in different media. The old one-track method of chronological posting will make way for community input, diversity, and participation.

What won’t change: Michael Shaw’s insightful and unique take on the images that spin politics and culture, as well as inside access to the best shooters, analysts, and thinkers in photojournalism.

We’ll kick off the new BAGnews with new and familiar contributors including Robert Hariman and John Lucaites, co-authors of No Caption Needed, Pete Brook of Prison Photography, Stan Banos of Reciprocity Failure and Cara Finnegan of First Efforts, to be joined by others.

Our own Alan Chin will oversee a dedicated photojournalism section, BAGnews Originals, assisted by the talented Jason Andrew, bringing exciting photography to the site from new and familiar talents, including our renown Nina Berman. We will also be building out BAGnewsSalon, offering more interviews, multimedia, and key research from the academic world.

To help achieve our potential, however, we need your support. In the coming days, we'll be asking for your contribution to help grow the site.

In the meantime, some of you may recognize my name from an occasional post or from my many comments (as Karen H.). To those who don’t, I’m just one of a few new faces you’ll be meeting as the new BAGnews launches. We may come from diverse backgrounds (mine is publishing, reporting, and law) but we all share an excitement about what BAGnews is and how the community can participate more fundamentally in the near future.

Watch this space for new information and previews of the new BAGnews. We think you’ll be just as excited about the future as we are.

Karen Hull

BAGnews Deputy Publisher