John Edwin Mason: Documentary, Motorsports, Photo History

Malcolm Browne and the Burning Monk, 1963

The burning monk was a photo-op. Thich Quang Duc's self-immolation was, of course, a protest against the vicious and corrupt regime of South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem. And the photo that Malcolm Browne made of the event became one of the most iconic images of the Vietnam War, winning... Read more →

Margaret Bourke-White in South Africa: Part 2, the Black Problem

Now about the mines. One thing that’s happened to me... from now on I just hate gold and diamonds. --Margaret Bourke-White * * * Note: It's a sad coincidence that I'm posting this piece on the day after over 30 striking platinum miners were killed and nearly 80 were wounded... Read more →

Margaret Bourke-White in South Africa: Part 1, the Voortrekker Monument

High above Senegal aboard a New York-bound airliner, Margaret Bourke-White typed a letter to a friend. She had left Johannesburg only hours before, and as she wrote, her emotions exploded into a white-hot fury. "I don’t know where to begin about South Africa," she said. "I’ll have to get further... Read more →

Margaret Bourke-White & the Photography of Segregation: Life Magazine, 1956

“Outside the South, the white Southerner who believes in segregation is sometimes pictured as a latter-day Simon Legree who now does with the law what used to be done with a whip. ...There are Southerners who fit this picture, but there are many more who are thoughtful, pious, gentlefolk --... Read more →

Running with Raven: On Kickstarter -- And It's Amazing

Never underestimate a tall ditsy blonde. I've had to learn that lesson two or three times over the last ten years. My teacher? Laura Lee Patterson Huttenbach. College professors have their prejudices. One of mine has been to not take seriously young women who are tall and blonde and laugh... Read more →

Gabby!

"I have an advantage because I'm the underdog and I'm black and no one thinks I'd ever win. Well, I'm going to inspire so many people. Everybody will be talking about, how did she come up so fast? But I'm ready to shine." --Gabby Douglas Associated Press/Gregory Bull: U.S. gymnast... Read more →