(Wall) Street Art

The Big Picture, Again

The Boston Globe's The Big Picture site keeps on delivering fabulous imagery. This time, Obama.

Also see these remarkable Callie Shell photographs. About Callie Shell, from The Digital Journalist:

Four years ago Time photographer Callie Shell met Barack Obama backstage when she was covering presidential candidate John Kerry. She sent her editor more photographs of Obama than Kerry. When asked why, she said, "I do not know. I just have a feeling about him. I think he will be important down the road." Her first photo essay on Obama was two and half years ago. She has stuck with him ever since.

UPDATE 11/19/08: There is some controversy swirling about in photography circles concerning the Callie Shell work. Some believe it is clearly inspired, if not a direct rip-off, of photographer Paul Fusco's 1968 work on the RFK Funeral Train. Judge for yourself.

Click here in case you missed Scout Tufankjian photographs from an earlier post.

Mama Africa Bows Out

Miriam Makeba passed on at age 76 yesterday. Here is a performance of the earliest piece I heard her do back in the late 60s.




I think it is time to visit my basement vinyl storage area and dust off some of her music, and maybe convert some for playback on the trusty iPod.

Song of the Day

Along the Way by DeVotchKa

DeVotchKa, still one of my favorites after all these months ...

Only x Shopping Days Until Christmas

Last night, I came upon Chika's really great looking new reusable shopping blogs ("BOTES"). Immediately made a mental note to Shop Chika for holiday gifts. Sustainability and green!

Then a few minutes later, PBS's Newshour with Jim Lehrer triggered a suggestion for yet another source, when the World of Good company and its founder, Priya Haji, were featured in a piece about how the company sells messenger bags, handicrafts and other products with the aim of employing people in impoverished parts of the world and spreading social awareness among U.S. consumers. Listen to the audio for this feature:

World of Good Segment MP3

Finally, there is one of my very favorite gifting ideas -- gift certificates to invest in a microfinanced third-world entrepreneur: http://www.kiva.org/.

Front Pages

See this story from the National Press Photographers Association.

And check out yesterday's Newseum entry: Wednesday, November 05, 2008. 719 front pages from 65 countries

Scout Tufankjian

She is a freelance photographer based in Brooklyn who has covered the Obama campaign from day one, and is said to have made over a million exposures in doing so. See more of her superb Obama images here. Tufankjian is also known for her photographs from Gaza.

Also, see this NBC News video clip.