Pretty Scary Shit...

And it's just starting up (but No Worries)!

350.org

Au Revoir: Politics, Theory, Photography

I suppose shocked too dramatic a word, but I was most definitely saddened upon my return home to discover that Jim Johnson has officially closed shop at (Notes On) Politics, Theory, Photography. Starting in 2005, Jim's online voice was one of unwavering sanity, and acute analysis and insight; no matter the issue, be it politically divisive and/or deeply personal, he would either break it down in a logical, forthright manner, or direct you to others who already had. And always, always, always- a class act. 

Though I'm sure he will continue to excel with those he directly serves, he will be sorely missed by those of us who knew him solely through his blog.

Thank you, Jim- and continued success...

Minimum Wage/Maximum Outrage- From Debt To Death

Maria Fernandes

There are those who seek to better themselves through sheer force of will, working as many jobs and as many hours (often at minimum wage) as their bodies will endure. The constant physical wear involved in multiple jobs combined with the challenges of raising a family leaves many a parent with little time to rest, sleep or stabilize themselves long enough to maintain their physical, as well as psychological well being. Domestic abuse, addiction, and other stress and chronic health related issues all come to manifest themselves as a result of this physical and psychic abuse. Forget success, hard work and determination at minimum wage can't even cover the rent, and only guarantee perpetual slavery to a system designed to ensure just that. Sometimes, as in the case of Maria Fernandes, the result is the new face of economic martyrdom- the once proud American Dream reduced to the nightmare of premature death.

But what of education, Stan? Surely someone who's had some years in the teaching biz cannot deny the age old ladder towards upward mobility? Going through all the hoops against all odds from ghetto to mainstream for acceptance into jobs that are simply no longer there is bad enough, now the final insult has been firmly nailed in place with prohibitive tuition costs and for profit schools that are pledged to keep you in a world of debt before you even enter it.

I don't know how many new capitalist ploys will yet be introduced to squeeze every last remaining crumb and penny from those who can least afford it, for those who least need it- but fear not, they're working scheming on it...

On Blogs And Jackalopes And...

  Photo: Bruce Haley 

Not usually big on kid pictures, and yet... this is the kind that stops you in your tracks and just makes ya think. The contemplative look on this "little bruiser" (same two words came to my mind) does make one wonder the paths that lay before him- those he chose to walk, and those that chose him. Did he use his brawn and good looks to muscle his way through every one of life's problems; did those who came to fear him negotiate a premature demise? Did his physicality succumb solely to the allure of immediate gratification, or was he of a much rarer breed (as this photo seems to suggest) with the wherewithal to develop that rather pensive mind into that rarest of entities- a conscientious leader in the cause of righteousness? Yeah, good photography, good art, can make ya think on all them things....

Not many people keeping up (let alone starting up) photo blogs anymore. And along comes... Ropin' The Jackalope, making its grand debut with none other than former conflict photographer, prophet and raconteur extraordinaire (made at least one of those up) Bruce Haley at the helm. This could be (ie- will be) a most welcomed addition of oxygen rich blood doping into this now somewhat tired mix of the usual suspects, especially with all the youngbloods out there too busy tweetin' around. 

All shittin' aside, Bruce brings an experienced voice with a considerably different background and outlook that will be a most welcomed addition to most anyone's photo reading list: amusing, informative- and most definitely worth a look and listen...

Going 180 in a 360 Circle...

This truly embraces so many of the complex and seemingly irrational conundrums that life constantly throws our way. It outrages, confuses, offers hope and betrays. Really, you want more?

Self Destruction

Unfortunately, since this video was made, we have not only failed to curtail our own self destruction, we have redoubled our effort to destroy the very planet we live and depend upon and everything within it...

How To Blow A Cool Hundred... Million

"more than twenty million dollars of Zuckerberg’s gift and matching donations went to consulting firms..."

Coulda told ya that was bad move #1, and saved ya a cool coupla mil! Aren't you the guy who became Mark Master Z by not dealing with bureaucrats in the first place??? Never fails- even the smartest minds all go suddenly kinda D-U-M-B when it comes to... education.

So, what would you have done, Mr. Smarty Pants- you no doubt ask... Well, I wouldn't have made a move, or spent a single dollar, without asking this guy first!

College Students Actually Deserving Of Sympathy

How bad is the college loan/student debt crisis- Crazy Bad! Bad enough so that graduates cannot even proceed with the careers they borrowed money for in the first place because they are now choked by overwhelming debts and interest rates often not properly explained in the first place, and then subject to transfers and raises. Debt that even bankruptcy won't erase, debt that can even be transferred to family members upon death! Debt so staggering and overwhelming that young people are actually killing themselves- all over that which is often free in other developed and "undeveloped" countries- a higher education.

Higher Ed- the new US government subsidized racket keeping us poor, servile and forever in debt (now, whether you play the game- or not).

In December 2007, a class action lawsuit was brought against Sallie Mae in a Connecticut Federal Court.,[26] alleging that the company discriminated against African American and Hispanic private student loan applicants by charging them high interest rates and fees. The lawsuit also alleged that Sallie Mae failed to properly disclose private student loan terms to unsuspecting students.

The Thomas Roma Affair

Interesting post on PetaPixel regarding the photographer of one of my all time favorite photography books (Found In Brooklyn) and his particular brand of teaching, which I was not particularly aware of (until now). It's gotten quite a rise, and bent more than a few outta shape on that site. Seems that Thomas Roma is pretty much your quintessential New Yorker, and then some... 

He is what I consider the truly evolved New Yorker- brash, assertive, argumentative, opinionated- without being: prejudiced, hateful and shortsighted. He can empathize with and relate to the entire spectrum of shades and social strata to be found within that universal megalopolis- and still call out a dick head when he sees one. 

While many of the selected excerpts on the blog in question are pure gold, some can make Mr. Roma come off a bit cartoonish, I'm betting this is but one aspect of his teaching style, an appeal to wake his minions from the deception and repetition that surround us all. And then, of course, there is his work- and there is nothing cartoonish to be found there...

The Crime Of Education

See whole chart, and more- Here.

I remember thinking even as a kid how stupid adults had to be to burn books like they did in Nazi Germany. But really, how different is it to live in a society where an average college tuition can set you up for a near lifetime of debt? And where even the very college professors meant to educate you into a better life can die penniless, homeless and w/o healthcare. That more than anything clearly SHOUTS just how little our society values the role of educators, and lays bare the lip service we pay to the desire of having an educated population.

So when you hear about how crime is going up- remember, many of those embarking on a life of crime got the message loud and clear, weighed their opportunities (or lack thereof), and acted quite... rationally. Educating yourself with money you don't have for jobs that don't exist is not a viable option. Maybe we should think twice before automatically condemning each and every criminal as chronically lazy or inherently crazed bad guys. They're not the crazy ones, they made a logical decision based on the facts and their reality, our reality as it exists today. No, it certainly ain't the best for all concerned: certainly not for the victim, society as a whole, or even the criminals themselves who eventually end up dead or incarcerated.* But before you condemn them for being amoral, irresponsible, cold hearted subhumans, think about a society that lets a college professor of 25 years die in the streets like an unwanted dog- and thinks nothing of it...

Then get back to me.

* Speaking of careers- The Prison-Industrial Complex!

Reality/And The Lack Thereof...

Two loyal readers and very competent photographers in their own right sent me two interesting posts this week, one photo-related, the other not. Both should have had the element of surprise, even shock, if it wasn't that both are thoroughly logical... coming from their particular schools of thought.

Eric Rose alerted me to this particular affair; but at this point, I'm more just plain exasperated than infuriated. These people have neither shame nor scruples, they translate lack of wealth simply as lack of moral integrity (coupled with zero work ethic)- it doesn't matter that they either inherited their wealth, or that they "work" pushing numbers around while taunting and degrading those they steal their money from, those who have far less than them and actually do have to work for a living. Of course, this is what they do to celebrate and excuse their inexcusable actions! And whether some actually meet to conspire in top level secret meetings of the Illuminati no longer concerns me, whether they do or don't- they get their evil done, their agenda gets pushed through, regardless...

I'm too jaded at this point. That's why it takes someone like a Snowden to do what he did. Young enough and still wet behind the ears enough so that the extent of the malfeasance he unearthed rocked his very world and... shocked him into action! That's why we need the influx of informed youth, and why they do everything to keep ours, ignorant, underemployed and imprisoned!

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Dave Reichert alerted me to this interesting Burtynsky article citing the prevalence of staged photography that has currently taken hold (see below). I suppose one can put forth a number of reasons for such an overwhelming prevalence, and while I certainly don't travel in those circles... I certainly can't see every illustrious university with a photo program training their grad students in how to advance their careers through journalistic endeavors. Everyone knows that kite's no longer flying- they have to sell a much stronger drug. They're teaching them to be artists of the highest caliber- and you certainly have to create (and live in) your own separate reality these days to believe that you are actually going to succeed in the photo art world once you  graduate. They have to delude themselves into believing that- that's what their money's buying them...

You know it already, so how do you say something new about it? It locks us into a cliché, or a genre of understanding. We immediately understand it, so there’s nothing there.

I just came back from a conference on the future of photography, where we had an interesting conversation around this. One of the curators of a museum in Switzerland had invited students from any art school, anywhere in the world to submit work to be included in a survey of photography of the new generation. The one thing that was consistent in 1,200 submissions was that not one of the students was showing anything that had to do with spontaneity. Spontaneity was gone completely.

There were no pictures with light coming through the glass on the table or a Robert Frank kind of street photograph or a decisive moment photograph—nothing like that at all. It was all very staged and all very deliberate—not photography as the act of seeing the world or reacting to seeing the world, but rather a photography of crafting things in the studio. We didn’t find one that varied from that, which I thought was fascinating.

We were wondering, why this is? In school, are they teaching that all the possibilities for taking photographs of reality and interpreting reality and reacting to reality in a spontaneous way have all been done? There seemed to be a feeling that there is no new narrative that can be found by pursuing that avenue of representation, and that they have to move into creating their own world.

Blinded Them With Science

To say this is so scary on so many levels is, of course, a cliche. And yet scary is exactly what it is- and this I found particularly chilling (and telling)...

And eventually, when I spoke with the lawyer here at the University, I was told that, "Well, I represent the university, and I protect the university from liability. You’re kind of on your own." And I remember I looked at him, and I said, "But the very university, from the Latin universitas, is a collection of scholars, of teachers and students, so who is this entity, the university, that you represent that doesn’t include me?" But clearly there’s some entity that doesn’t really include us, the professors and students, and doesn’t really protect our academic freedom, I think, the way that it should.  (emphasis mine)

One In Four!

How Ignorant Are Americans? Oh, About...

Yeah, but them's hicks- surely my sophisticated, hometown New Yorkers know what side is up...
(thank you FOX News- bring on the Death Squads!)

Congratulations Seattle!

For refusing to sell out, dumb down and corporatize your children- if only the rest of the country would take note..

Teach Gets Schooled

As a teacher, this is the kind of student you pray to have in your class- and this lazy ass seat warmer doesn't know it, can't see it, wants nothing to do with it. So what the hell is she doing in front of a class... except carrying out our nationwide "education" policy to pass standardized tests.

400 ppm

I won't be around when it hits 1,000 come the end of the century- wonder how many Republicans will be around then living in their gated hill top communities watching the peasantry float by in the valleys below and, of course, blaming them for their woes...

History Negates Itself

Recently there's been a rash of ludicrous and embarrassing racial faux pas that were originated by people of color- ridiculing people of color. There's really no excusing this, but alas, there is a reason- the proverbial dumbing down of America, a sad but all too true reality that ranges from the highest  pantheons of power (remember a recent president?) to the most impoverished of inner cities. Too many people in this country (black, white and brown) are woefully ignorant of even the most recent history- forget basic science, general geography, and good ol' common sense... In fact, one of the excuses most often heard is that it was never "intentional." As if no harm, no foul strictly because- it wasn't purposely "intentional." I was aiming for the apple- you gonna blame me!? Serious?

First, there was the Accidental Racist fiasco by LL Cool J, "If you forget the gold chains, I'll forget the iron chains." Really, LL? A few hundred years of beatings, killings and slavery all made good because a few folk had the bad taste to wear too much bling? That's an even trade off? Then there was the Lil Wayne debacle- talk about going well the hell outta your way to demean your own! And finally (if only), there's Tyler The Creator. For all the above- your blatant ignorance does not translate into our misinterpretation; if you do not know the baggage, weight and history of the tools you use, and the work you create- do not dare blame those that do!

Hopefully, the time will come when you gather the resolve to enlighten yourselves and act with some measure of responsibility, respect and dignity- and still challenge and break the boundaries of the powers that be (not work in their favor). Mandela, Malcolm, MLK- they weren't about the bling, they weren't about how much money they could make in their lifetime. They were about sacrifice, dedication, doing for those that couldn't- even Ali voluntarily gave it all up at the very height of his power... because it was the right thing to do. The concept of such self sacrifice would never dare enter your mind.

I know you are the product of a racist, third rate education system that had no real interest in your success. I realize the incredible odds you've overcome to get where you are. Obviously, you are people of certain talent, no one is denying that- but that doesn't give you license to spread ignorance and misogyny, all the while demeaning your own for the sake of profit, excuse me- "art."

If you can't hear what Dr. Boyce is saying, if your child sized ego can't differentiate constructive criticism from just plain "hatin'," it really shows just how long a road you have yet to travel...

Mange!

Self Explanatory...