Cutting Out Photographic History – And Now Pasting It Back In

“The history of the [New York Photo] League has receded from our collective psyche, despite its influence on documentary photography as the field developed in the ’30s. While we may easily recognize the migrant workers of Dorothea Lange’s Oklahoma or the tenant farmers of Walker Evans’ Alabama, we know little about the Harlem streets of Jerome Liebling.”

What Does It Mean To Be Isolated (Really, Truly Isolated) In This Google Earth World?

“Once upon a time, the ancestors of each and every one of us lived in a premodern culture. Those cultural origins have now been completely erased from our collective memory. Do any of us regret the loss of this memory? Would any of us prefer to return to our ancestral condition, rather than to live in the modern world?”

It’s All A Sham(rock): There Is No Such Thing

You can wear a trefoil on St. Paddy’s Day, but do you know which plant it comes from? In the 1890s, a naturalist found “five very different species of plant which were being used around the country as shamrock: the yellow, white and red clovers (in that order of popularity); also wood sorrel; and, a small herb called black medic (Medicago lupulina ), that resembles a cross between a clover and a small creeping buttercup.”

Dancing Garbage Trucks Rock SXSW

“Allison Orr’s jarringly visceral The Trash Project – in which 24 employees of Austin’s Solid Waste Services Department animate the cranes, lights, and other features of 16 trucks on an old airport tarmac – has been captured in a documentary film. Directed by Andrew Garrison, Trash Dance is receiving accolades right out of the gate; The film floored audiences and won a special jury prize at its world premiere last weekend at Austin’s South by Southwest festival.”