Alfred Gescheidt is a professional photographer born in Queens, New York on December 19, 1926. He won a scholarship to the Art Students’ League and studied with Will Barnet and Harry Sternberg. He served briefly in the Navy during World War II, then went to the University of New Mexico and studied with Raymond Johnson. He decided to become a photographer and transferred to the Los Angeles Art Center School and here studied with George Hoyningen-Huene. In the 1950s he documented life on city streets and beaches of America. (Escape Into Life: Alfred Geischeidt)
• Oct 21, 2010 link notes tagged: art photograph photographer photomontage hack manipulation image simulacrum meat woman girl face anatomy BW vintage
• Aug 31, 2010 link notes tagged: art photograph photographer photomontage image representation manipulation simulacrum cigarette smoke pathology psychiatry phychanalysis compulsion
Higher Pictures: “Untitled” by Alfred Gescheidt, vintage gelatin silver print, 1961
In an age when Photoshop seems to be a de facto part of nearly every photographer’s creative process, the ways of in-camera and darkroom trickery - montage, collage, double exposure, hand-retouching and re-photographing - are in danger of becoming a lost art. Alfred Gescheidt was a master of all these techniques and more, although his name has, rather unjustly, become largely unknown in recent years.
Once described by former New York Times photo editor John Durniak as “the Charlie Chaplin of the camera”, Geischeidt amassed a rich body of photographic work that was unique, satirical, idiosyncratic and at times even hallucinogenic. (Field of Vision: Alfred Gescheidt)
• Aug 23, 2010 link notes tagged: art photograph photographer photomontage image representation manipulation simulacrum animal humor technology telephone communication
I first found this photo over at Washington’s Blog. The post where it appears makes a (short) argument about the ban of media coverage apparently imposed by BP and US officials and the alleged suspension of the 1st Amendment of the US Constitution it represents. At the very end of the post, the author seems to put forward a legal argument supporting the publication of such pictures as the one shown above:
In addition, use of such images is also protected under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Specifically, reproduction is protected under the “Mai Lai/Zapruder line of cases”, since:
(1) The images are of historical significance;
(2) They show facts which cannot be conveyed effectively in any other manner, and
(3) Therefore the Constitution trumps copyright law. (more)
Now, what exactly are those “Mai Lai/Zapruder line of cases” ? It’s not a law, but a “line of cases” and it could plausibly be used to challenge the ban of some media access to the site of the catastrophe (see The New York Times: “BP and Officials Block Some Coverage of Golf Oil Spill”). More thoughts about this over at Aphelis.
• Jul 14, 2010 link notes tagged: communication technology catastrophe animal destruction death responsability shock image representation human oil BP British Petroleum disaster copyright fair use constitution media press freedom Zapruder
 | True, the Pentagon does have perhaps the single largest public relations apparatus on earth – spending $4.7 billion on P.R. in 2009 alone and employing 27,000 people, a staff nearly as large as the 30,000-person State Department – but is that really enough to ensure positive coverage in a society with armed with a constitutionally-guaranteed free press? […] But is that enough to guarantee a level playing field? Can a general really feel safe that Americans will get the right message when the only tools he has at his disposal are a $5 billion P.R. budget and the near-total acquiescence of all the major media companies, some of whom happen to be the Pentagon’s biggest contractors? |
Matt Taibi is Rolling Stone’s chief political reporter. Lara Logan is CBS News Chief Foreign Correspondent. She has strong opinions about Michael Hastings’ article (published in the Rolling Stone Magazine). She thinks he’s a bad journalist.
Previously on Skandalon: Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal
• Jul 06, 2010 link notes tagged: communication public relation army military press free press McChrystal jurnalism journalist Pentagon media media image representation image
Thanks to Innovation Is Dead for the photo of the BP gas station.
• Jun 01, 2010 link notes tagged: art catastrophe communication death design disaster illustration image nature oil public relation technology BP
Multicolor Search Lab: Visual search technology by Idées Labs
“We extracted the colours from 10 million of the most “interesting” Creative Commons images on Flickr. Using our visual similarity technology you can navigate the collection by colour. Also available with Alamy Stock Photography” (Read the FAQ)
• Aug 11, 2009 link notes tagged: color image picture search technology web application web design
