first efforts

Flickrs of Cairo

The White House's Flickr photostream posted about a dozen images of President Obama's speech at Cairo University today. Several of them offer the kind of "behind the scenes" images coming to play a big role on the WH Flickr site - shots from behind Obama into the sea of humanity, close-ups of rapt listeners. But a few, like this "Official White House Photo" by Chuck Kennedy, look decidedly different. Shot from well back into the audience, Obama is but a tiny figure far away at the lectern. In contrast, the foreground of the image is dominated by the close, out-of-focus heads and backs of his listeners. It's like we're looking at him through binoculars or a telescope, trying to make him out. The photograph gives the viewer the experience of being at the speech. Being in the room. Being included.

The point of view parallels the themes of the speech itself, which Oratorical Animal skillfully critiques. It also parallels the White House's overall media strategy for the event, as outlined in this piece in USA Today: the goal was to reach the broadest audience possible by translating the speech into several languages, text-messaging it around the world, broadcasting it on social media sites, and inviting journalists from around the world to be there in person. The camera's eye embodies the media strategy perfectly.

Trolling the blogs for the good stuff

Much to see and read in the visual blogosphere lately. Here are a few of my recent favorites...

From NYT's Lens: Revisiting Tiananmen Square twenty years later and reading the stories of photographers who chronicled it.

From Face to Face, the National Portrait Gallery's blog: George Tames's famous 1957 photograph, "The Johnson Treatment", including a downloadable, 15-minute podcast lecture on it.

From NYT's City Room: Previously unpublished photos from Stonewall, forty years later.

From the Smithsonian's Bigger Picture: Photography and Astronomy as Seeing the Invisible, Parts One and Two.

Dear mother robin,

Yes, I know our porch is lovely. And, to your tiny bird brain at least, it probably seems very safe and secure. Indeed, the covered roof provides us with much shade and protection during the hot summers here in central Illinois. And the ceiling fans really make it comfortable and pleasant. In fact, the porch may be my favorite place in the whole house.

However, our porch is not the best place to build your nest. To be even more specific, the ceiling fan is a very bad choice. First, as you have no doubt noticed repeatedly over the past week, the blades of the fan are very narrow and the straw and bits of nest-building material you put up there just fall back down again (onto our new porch furniture, which is unpleasant). Every single time you have put something up there, it falls down of its own accord. This should be your first clue that this spot is not good nest material. In addition, and I can't believe I actually have to tell you this, our ceiling fans move. When we turn them on, the blades spin around; this should be another clue that this is not the best place to build your nest, unless you like your eggs scrambled. We have tried to help you see the danger of the fans by leaving them on. Yet the minute we turn them off again, you return and begin again, undeterred. Instinct is a terrible thing.

But wait! you protest. My momma robin friend built her nest right near your porch, over there, and you didn't seem to mind. In fact, you seemed pretty interested in her progeny. True, but that momma robin didn't select the single dumbest place to build a nest, and you did. Frankly, we're beginning to doubt you're even qualified to be a parent.

In closing, mother robin, while we are pleased to be your neighbors and don't want to be rude, we here in this household are asking you kindly, one more time, to please take your little stringy bits of nest and assemble them elsewhere. Don't make us ask you again.

Hugs and kisses, Cara, John, dogs, and cat