Foto Motel

Stephen Crowley hits up "Tableaux Vivant"

Bought the NYT today at Starbucks on 7th & G because of the beautiful poster like image of Bush and Alito by Kevin Lamarque/Reuters on the front page. How could I resist the blurry absence of George and the lost-in-space puckered kiss of Alito. Well was I in for a pleasant surprise on page A18-A19. That's right, a Stephen Crowley spread. This guy's work and the forward thinking of his editors has produced an amazing image. I presume it to be two images again (see earlier post HERE). This is the newspaper version of the triple fold-outs Leibovitz does for Vanity Fair. See HERE & HERE. Frankly Alex, I'll take Stephen Crowley for the NYT for a dollar (in DC) over Vanity Fair any day. Though, I do a a sweet spot or two for it.

Talk about telling looks. Bush looks down. Alito spys on Bush to his right from almost closed eyelids. An empty chair to his left. The Alito family stand in the second panel. Daughter and son both look down. Maybe mesmerized by the positions the unseen photographers must take on the floor to make a picture of their father. Only his wife is seen proudly looking in the direction of the podium. Random photographers in foreground and one hiding behind a plotted plant. Not only is Bush pictured, but we get two others presidents as well. A Portrait of Kennedy is tucked away in the center of the image, arms folded looking down. Clinton's portrait beems above the Alito family. And wouldn't you know it, his painted hand appears to be on Laura Alito's shoulder. This image by Stephen Crowley is almost pure American "Tableaux Vivant" history painting.

Robin Gavhin, I hope you explore this nominee and his family through their fashion sense as you did Robert's earlier, HERE.

Double Paged

Charles Dharapak of the Associated Press gets a gold star for making the front cover of The Washington Post & New York Times on Friday. His picture of Harriet Meiers waving to the press and biting her lip as she delivers her "formal" letter of withdrawl (for nomination to The Supreme Court), to the President, is the perfectly posed timely picture the photodesk has wetdreams about. This guy should get a raise. Check out other front pages of newspapers worldwide HERE.

Madonna sited in DC...

...sorry, the other Madonna. Walking up Connecticut Avenue in DC I passed a long line of newspaper boxes and stopped at the "madonna and child" on Friday's cover of the NYT. The colors, the focus are beautiful. The reference to the "madonna and child" is helped by the gray cloth wrapped around the mother's head and the impoverished surronding in the image caused by the earthquake on the Pakistan/Indian border. Not wanting to put any more of a "western eye" on a woman and child that are unknown to me, I'll stop.

The photodesk at the NYT has once again proved they have a great eye. Photographer Gurinder Osan for the Associated Press deserves much of the credit. See more of Osan's work HERE and HERE.

Donate to UNICEF.

Bush Clinton Happy Together

Photographer, Doug Mills was allowed to capture our past two Presidents frolicking (almost skipping) out of The Oval Office together. Click HERE.

Supreme Court Group photo

Here's a link to the most current (soon to be defunct), Supreme Court of The United States, Group Photo. Not much different from the photo taken of the court in 1954 (the court that heard "Brown v Board of Education") . Maybe Vanity Fair and Annie Leibovitz will have a go at it. She's already done a pull-out cover of Bush's Administration. Maybe, they're on it already. I'm sure they've tried. Imagine, what it would mean if the official United States Supreme Court photo of the new court, once Bush's appointment is confirmed, (whomever that maybe), was taken by David LaChapelle. What would it mean if the official photo was taken by Andres Serano? Or Liu Zheng, or Alec Soth, or Nan Goldin, or William Eggelston, Bruce Weber. What could it have meant to have the official portrait from 1954 taken by Avedon, Arbus, Horst P. Horst, Gordon Parks or Weegee. Imagine. Chances are, whoever passes the confirmation hearings and is sitting with the other eight on the first Monday in October for their official portrait it will look something like this,