Rant: The New Yorker

The New Yorker magazine has stirred a hornet's nest for what it calls a satirical cartoonish cover that shows Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama dressed in a Taliban-like garment, and his wife Michelle — dressed in camouflage, combat boots and an assault rifle strapped over her shoulder — standing in the Oval Office. To add insult to injury, artist Barry Blitt added a portrait of Osama bin Laden on the wall, and the American flag burning in the fireplace. This cover is tasteless, repugnant and offensive on all levels.

I read that The New Yorker's editor says that the cover is satirizing rumors about Obama — including rumors that he's Muslim and anti-American, and defended its choice, "saying its readership is sophisticated enough to get the joke."

This is so out-of-touch (and dismissive of our intelligence) that it beggars belief as to how these people at The New Yorker think. I hope readers will find the so-called "joke" so unfunny that they cancel their subscriptions, and demand their money back. That'll be really funny.

POV: Lightroom Or...?

Image © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved
The photographer Georges Mann has written an article tackling the "Can Lightroom 2 replace Photoshop CS3?" question on the O'Reilly Digital Media blog. This of course is a question that triggers endless debates, Byzantine arguments and lots of harumphs from both sides of the aisle..sort of like the Canon vs Nikon debate.

I believe that Lightroom 2 does all I need and more, and I'm glad that I've opted to go for it instead of spending my life's savings on CS3 (or on its endless stream of successors).

In a nutshell, Mann's 6th prediction in the article is precisely my view. I'd be less cautious in my verbiage than he is, but we all have our own writing style.

"6. Photo Journalists & Travel photographers - there are exceptions but most of these photographers deal with reality, so Lightroom should be enough for editing out bad shots, improving bad exposures and generally applying a personal look to their images. Lightroom can also help them present their images to their clients and put galleries on the internet."

Exactly! As a documentary and travel ethnographic photographer, I'm into reality ( I seldom crop, for instance), not fantasy...and I'm not a pixel-pusher, so CS3 is a software program that I don't need.

I occasionally listen to the arcane discussions by CS3 (or its other versions) users, who extol the minutiae of layers, adjustments, and other tools, that just make me roll my eyes to the heavens and yawn!

Via Imaging Insider.

Max Becherer: The Mandaeans of Iraq

Photograph © Max Becherer-All Rights Reserved
Here's an interesting photo essay by photographer Max Becherer on the Mandaeans in Iraq. The Mandaeans are a small religious sect in Southern Iraq and Iran, who espouse an ancient belief resembling that of Gnosticism and that of the Parsis. They are also known as Christians of St. John, among other names.

The customs of Mandaeans indicate early Christian, and possibly pre-Christian, origin. Their system of astrology resembles those of ancient Babylonia and the cults of the Magi. Although some of their practices were influenced by Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, they reject all three. St. John the Baptist is honored by the Mandaeans since their main ritual is frequent baptism. It seems that the Mandaeans are currently being discriminated against in Iraq, and forced to leave their homes.

Max Becherer is a freelance photojournalist, represented by Polaris Images since 2004, dedicated to covering international news and the Middle East. He is published in Time Magazine, the New York Times and a variety of other newspapers. Since working with Polaris, Becherer has covered Africa and the war in Iraq. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Photojournalism from California's San Jose State University in 2000.

Here's Max Becherer's The Mandaeans