Description: [caption id="attachment_3065" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Detail of a vinyl advertisement, Chennai, India, 2004, by Preminda Jacob."][/caption] It’s interesting to think about how shrewdly and often free still photography is used to get us to pay to watch motion pictures. Still photographs—often shot by special photographers on sound stages or on location, just
Description: Recently, I read some interesting news about the National Public Radio blog, “The Picture Show,” that explores photographic images and issues.
Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Marey Wheel Photographs of Unidentified Model, with Eadweard Muybridge Notations, by Thomas Eakins, 1884, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden."][/caption] Please be aware that some of the photographs included in links within this post may contain graphic and emotionally disturbing material. Which are more powerful,
Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="350" caption="Wallet, by Amanda Govaert, Creative Commons: Attribution 2.0."][/caption] A recent article by Caitlin McDevitt in the Washington Post, describing Facebook’s expanding role as a hub for digital photography, while providing some surprising facts, raises one particularly interesting issue. As more people post and share
Description: [caption id="attachment_1954" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Squirrel Kisses, by Flickr user (Alex)."][/caption] It’s summer, so time for a break from serious thoughts about photographs, their meaning and impact. Instead, let’s relax and have a laugh about the pictures that make us laugh. A recent article in the business section of Time magazine describes how Ben
Description: Bloggers on The Bigger Picture often describe how, in the course of their work, they come across intriguing archival objects and artifacts that trigger new insights into history. “Hands on” encounters with compelling evidence from the past are thrilling and can be provocative. But so can different sorts of encounters, including those that are driven by data, rather than
Description: The Smithsonian Institution Archives will be celebrating African American History Month throughout February with a series of related posts on THE BIGGER PICTURE.
Description: [caption id="attachment_2376" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="blurredvision, by Flickr user Paul Denton Cocker."][/caption] According to the National Eye Institute, more than 3 million Americans are blind or have vision so poor that everyday tasks become extremely difficult. Interestingly, according to a recent article by Pam Belluck in The New York Times, a new