Amitava Kumar

Image and Text. Writer Amitava Kumar. http://www.amitavakumar.com/

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“Out of nowhere, Bryan’s teacher came running through the airport, looking for him. He ran back through the security line, and they embraced and broke down. It was a very emotional scene.”

Photo by Rachel Woolf.

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Coming soon! You can pre-order now!

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What a great project. An attempt to display the ubiquity of phones but by removing them from the frame. Check it out here. #Removed

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I’m posting this picture from the icp Instagram feed primarily for that stunning quote from Henri Cartier-Bresson: “Chim picked up his camera the way a doctor takes his stethoscope out of his bag, applying his diagnosis to the condition of the heart."

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This report says that an artist who paints about #Kashmir has been blocked by Facebook.

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Seeing like the State.

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A friend called me just now to discuss a photograph I had not seen before. It is from a couple of years ago. Immigrants from Africa trying to get into Europe. They have attracted the attention of the police. But the game of golf can go on undisturbed.

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Make America Great Again

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This is the work of artist Myoung Ho Lee. “Tree...#6, 2014″; from the series “Tree Abroad.” A seeming simplicity -- and such elegance!

See the whole series displayed on the website of the Yossi Milo gallery.

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Advice to Writers

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In November, 2007 famed photographer Eugene Richards came upon a dad praying at son's grave. http://nyti.ms/2aYtfym

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The best thing about Tumblr is that you can stumble upon some very fine, engaging, whimsical sites. And this one is special because it is maintained by a friend--Just pictures of Paul “Dab King” Pogba Dabbing. And, and, and, it even has a picture of my kid and his friend dabbing. Ah, the wealth of engagement in this world! I love it.

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Why are these girls laughing?

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Photo by Mary Ellen Mark

In light of Mark's passing, NPR sought to find out more about the two children in the photograph, particularly Amanda: Why was she smoking and wearing makeup and fake nails at age 9? What does she remember of the photo shoot? And what has happened since that sunny afternoon in 1990?

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Art of protest or mere opportunism?

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Mumbai’s drain cleaners

Priceless quote from the photographer Sudharak Olwe: “When men go on wars, they are given gallantry awards... These men are fighting a war every day – with diseases, garbage, inhuman conditions, but nothing comes of it.”

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This image is from Teju Cole’s Instagram feed. It made me think of the cut that falls between the image and caption. You read the caption and you return to the image with an altered sense. And vice versa. I’m also left with other thoughts: what in particular made Teju think of “the mob” when he took (or, more likely, when he looked at) this image? With the caption in mind, the blue boxes now look like cages and the straps are restraints.

Teju posted another image a little later and in its extended caption included the following observation: “... what I'm thinking about is photography and captions: about how there is so much to say about the circumstances out of which photographic images emerge. Each has a story that is partly circumstantial and partly technical. All these things are interesting, and they are rarely touched on. (The photograph is like a priest in his smock: pristine and inaccessible: like a surgeon in her mask: an uninterpreted distance we permit.) I imagine all of you wherever you are looking at this image and reading these words, and thinking your own thoughts while I sit here in Brooklyn, waiting for the snow.”

Update: I’ve just started reading Teju’s latest column from the NYT Magazine (Jan 14). Read with special care the first paragraph! And the last one!