In 2005, David Alan Harvey began photographing local emcees in the Bronx River Projects, home of hip hop's pioneers. Boogie Down thugs Uptown and Ruckus, became Harvey's self-appointed guides, bringing him inside their homes, their families, and their lives. From there, Harvey went to Hollywood, gaining access to Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, and Nelly. Going global to document the regional manifestations of a culture a mere three decades in existence, Harvey also traveled from Spain, France, and Gambia to Senegal, South Korea, and Thailand. (This essay contains explicit lyrics.)
M*A*S*H* Iraq by Thomas Dworzak
As the US military fights to gain stability in Iraq, doctors, nurses, and medics are working on the front lines to keep the casualties down. Thomas Dworzak was embedded with the 44th, 50th and 115th Medical Companies in Iraq.
Jim Goldberg's photographs of rich and poor Americans in the late 1970s to mid-1980s, with the subjects' own handwritten comments about themselves on the prints, give us an inside look at the American dream at both ends of the social scale. His pictures reveal his subjects' fears and aspirations and their perceptions and illusions about themselves with a frankness that makes the portraits as engrossing as they are disturbing. (Note: The captions are taken from the subjects’ notes in the photos. Therefore, not all punctuation, grammar, and/or spelling is accurate.)
This week marks the anniversary of the uprising against police harassment toward homosexuals at Stonewall Inn in New York City, considered the birthplace of the gay pride movement. June was also designated Gay and Lesbian Pride Month by the Clinton administration. Magnum and Slate present a gallery in celebration of the gay and lesbian community and the progress of the gay rights movement.
Quote of the Week
You've got to be careful of the seduction of digital—the idea that you can make a picture better by changing it. You just can’t make anything better by changing it. It’s more important to be true.