John Edwin Mason: Documentary, Motorsports, Photo History

Women Photograph Grant Winners, 2017

Nobody moves faster than Daniella Zalcman. A big claim, but I'm pretty sure it's true. The organization that she created, Women Photograph, went from idea to reality in no more than as year. And what a tremendously impressive reality -- an online database of female visual journalists in 87 countries, a mentoring program for younger visual journalists, and a source of funding for travel and for long-term projects. Along the way, she's continued to work on Signs of Your Identity, some of the most innovative and moving documentary photography that I've seen in years. Read more →

LaToya Ruby Fazier: A MacArthur "Genius" Award and a Thank-You to Gordon Parks

I've never met a genius. I've spent the last 25 years teaching in major research universities. Before that I went to an awfully good grad school, and I'd still be hard pressed to say that I've met anyone that I'd call a genius -- somebody, that is, with the dazzling,... Read more →

Marion Post Wolcott in a Mississippi Juke Joint (and on Sale at the 20x200 Gallery)

When Jen Bekman asks you to write an essay about one of your favorite photographers, the only correct answer is "Yes." Jen is the CEO of 20x200, an online gallery that she created with a mission to make great art affordable for almost everyone. It's a terrific project. Last summer,... Read more →

Updates (Finally!): Margaret Bourke-White, Gordon Parks, Kamoinge, & En Foco

It's been a long time -- too long a time -- since I updated this blog. And I'm pretty sure that my regular readers (all three or four of them) have departed for more entertaining pastures. To them I say, please come back. Why have I been so silent? In... Read more →

Eleanor Macnair's Photographs Rendered in Play-Doh

The most fun that I had with photography in 2014 was watching Eleanor Macnair recreate iconic photos in Play-Doh. A project that started out small and on a whim, not too long ago, became a phenomenon. Besides the original Tumblr, which has many thousands of followers, there's now a book... Read more →

I Stand With Survivors at UVA: An Interview with Lyra Bartell

Rolling Stone got it right. Nothing emerges more clearly from Lyra Bartell's "I Stand with Survivors" project than the simple fact that rape and sexual assault are serious problems at the University of Virginia [UVA] and that the university yet to adequately confront them. In these portraits -- there are... Read more →

Sarah Stacke: Love from Manenberg

I can't remember when I first saw photos from Sarah Stacke's on-going project, "Love from Manenberg," but I know that I responded immediately to their intimacy and beauty. I also liked the people and the setting. Manenberg is an impoverished suburb of Cape Town, South Africa, a city that has... Read more →