Is photojournalism art?

Reading the Michael Kimmelman piece in chapter seven of McQuade and McQuade's "Seeing and Writing," made me want to see some of the pictures he describes. Here's a couple I found.

Richard E. Byrd claimed to fly over the North Pole in 1926. During the flight, this image was sent via radio transmissions from London to New York, a pretty amazing feat at the time.














It looks pretty boring, if you ask me. Where's the pub?

Next up is Ernest Sisto's photo of the Empire State Building after a B-25 flew into it in 1945, a tragedy which killed 14 people.


















Apparently Sisto dangled over a thin ledge while some fellow newsies held him by his ankles.

This last photo from Stephen Crowley is reinvigorated by the looming presidential campaigns, despite the fact that G.W. won't be running.













I don't think the lady in purple will be leaving a very big tip.

Kimmelman ends the piece with the assertion that the Serbian funeral photo (which can be found by following the Kimmelman link above) and the suffering it reveals are "proof not only that art imitates life but that life, when captured in the most profound news photograph, is art."

What do you think, is photojournalism art?

The thing I carried to class

Sadly, Tim O'Brien on Wikipedia is more intriguing than Tim O'Brien's home page.

Regardless, I hope everyone enjoyed the selection from "The Things They Carried." I thought Hale could easily have included an O'Brien excerpt in "Sin and Syntax." His noun-heavy prose would be a great addition to chapter one's Carnal Pleasures.

Pleasant living continued

Here are a couple of photos I took earlier this week. (Note: I by no means claim to be a photographer, just a mediocre writer who sometimes takes photos.)

First stop: Butchers Hill. The neighborhood makes me think of the Victorian-style homes and flower boxes that line its streets. Granted, I took a picture of the Butchers Hill sign on Baltimore Street, but this is the one I've decided to share.




Then I cruised down to Canton, where I took a few pictures of the square. Bob's suggestion about the whole popped-collar thing is probably apt, but I was lucky enough not to run into any of those. I just went ahead and got a few pics of John here.








My last stop was in my very own 'hood. Maybe I copped out a little (since the photo actually has the words "Brewers Hill" in it), but this sign makes me smile (almost as much as a wink from Mr. Boh).

Pleasant living

I fled my cubicle today and headed out under perfect blue skies to take photos around Baltimore. The photos will be part Metromix's new neighborhood guides.

I think it's fair to say that a good designer should have the ability to choose the "right" image to convey an idea, and I'm wondering if the photos I took will provide strong symbols for their respective neighborhoods. I'll certainly post my favorites later this week, but for now (since my USB cable is still at work and I'm not) I'd be interested to hear what images would conjure Canton, Brewers Hill and/or Butchers Hill for you guys. (I'd be interested to hear about other neighborhoods as well, but those are the only ones I visited today.)

Really cool six year olds

If you'd like to know more about Dan Deacon, Wham City or the impact the collective has had on the city, check out this article in "City Paper" or visit him on MySpace. (If you do both, you'll be able to sing along to the Wham City theme song, which is pretty great.)

If you'd like to see a live interview with Dan, check this out:

Is it just me, or is that newscaster laughing at him?

Tow away zone

As a newcomer to The University of Baltimore's Publications Design program (as well as the blogoshpere), there are probably some introductions that ought to be made.

So, hi. I'm Mark. According to my parents, I work for the Internet. More specifically, I work for Baltimore Metromix. As an associate producer, I create what our corporate overlords consider "hyper-local" content. I develop ideas for features, manage freelancer content and frequently write for the site. Metromix is all about bars, restaurants and local music, which makes it pretty easy to come to work most days.

For now, my understanding of design is rudimentary at best, non-existent at worst. I believe that I prefer simple designs. That said, one of my guilty pleasures during the summer semester were the signs which indicated tow-away zones. Its simple, functional message is conveyed succinctly by only the back half of both a car and a tow truck.

Despite the heavy workload foreshadowed by our first meeting, I'm excited to delve into Words & Images. A friend of mine is nearing completion of the Pub Design program. His claim about this particular course is that once it's completed, one can finally say "I'm a designer." That is, after all, why I'm here.