Photography project: convince two strangers to pose as though they are intimate

Check out the images and video here. More images here. Since 2007, photographer Richard Renaldi has worked on a series of photographs for which he asks complete strangers to physically interact while posing together for a portrait. Working on the street with a large-format 8-by-10 view camera, Renaldi encounters his subjects in towns and cities all over the United States. Imagine being Renaldi, trying to recruit for each of these photos. He probably has only a few seconds to garner some semblance of trust. But then he makes it even more difficult by often pairing very different types of folks, and demanding the physical contact that would--for many people--cause the subject to jettison the project. And one more thing -- I'm not sure how this cuts --Renaldi uses a huge old fashioned camera in which he covers his own head. In other words, he has (intentionally, I assume) taken himself outside of the process (except as photographer). He is not longer able to coach with any facial expressions because he is under the cloak. This leaves the strangers to fend for themselves in their intimacy. This project fascinates me. I often think back to those fretful moments when I was trying to decide whether to say something in order to meet a stranger. That first thing out of our mouths is so often trite. "Nice weather." or "You eat healthy food" (peering into someone's shopping cart. But that's how it often starts, and virtually every one of my good friendships started with something saying something that was rather ordinary and even cliche. From there, the friendships often grow slowly, with back and forth bits of encouragement, and often with a step back before there are two steps forward. And only after trust has naturally developed, without either party forcing anything, will there be any spontaneous touching (something other than a handshake). Through his photography, Renaldi has conducted a powerful psychology experiment. I find his results stunning, because there is always a blend of recognition that the other person is a sentient human being, tinged with "but we aren't really supposed to be this intimate. Oh, yeah, we're abiding by the request of that photographer, who is yet another stranger. Somehow, Renaldi get it done often enough to assemble an impressive gallery (I do wonder what his batting average is--how many potential subjects abort the project for each successful photo?). When he pulls this off, does he do it because he has assumed the role of authority figure (I'm thinking of the Millgram experiment)? Or isn't there, in all of us, an insatiable craving for physical intimacy, at least on the level of simple touching? To what extent is Renaldi's job easier than it seems? And if someone came up to you, asking you to pose for a photo, touching a stranger as though you knew him or her well, would that be of interest to you? I assume that I would say yes without hesitation, but it would depend on how I was approached by the photographer. As I suggested above, he or she probably has only a few seconds to make their case that they (the photographer) is someone I can trust. That seems like the most difficult part of this project, much harder than convincing me to touch a stranger.

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Read more about the article Nothing positive about this ratio

Nothing positive about this ratio

The one (academic) thing I remember most from my undergraduate days is my Thermodynamics professor Dr. Will Sutton’s mantra: “Check your sources. Check your sources. Check your sources.” Makes perfect sense and I took that as a universal given but after reading a few PhD dissertations recently, I was wondering if it applies to the soft sciences.

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Sunset drumming

Last night I road my bike across town to the World's Fair Pavilion in Forest Park in St. Louis to take some photos. I didn't know what I'd find--I assumed I'd be shooting a sunset. It's a spectacular overlook at one of the many edges of one of the largest city parks in the U.S. I did find a compelling sunset, but what was equally compelling was a group of first rate drummers that go by the name of "Soularo," including Nafi Rafat and Marcus Jones. They gave me permission to photograph part of their session. IMG_4237 drummers Soularo-3 IMG_4202 drummers Soularo IMG_4185 drummers Soularo As Jones noted hours later, drumming is like heartbeat. That is true, and it is also a powerful elixir, capable of erasing one's woes and filling one with thirst for good-hearted life. That's what seemed clear from watching the dozens of people who were drawn to this spontaneous gathering. IMG_4225 drummers Soularo IMG_4191 drummers Soularo Only a few weeks ago, I spent time at this same location honoring the life of Sonny Glassberg, who recently passed away (she was the mother of a friend of mine). She gave substantial financial support to allow the renovation of this extraordinary venue.

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Why the trial of Bradley Manning is about democracy

At the U.K. Guardian, Yochai Benkler writes that the trial of Bradley Manning is about much more than Manning's freedom. And it's about much more than Wikileaks.

[T]his case is about national security journalism, not WikiLeaks. At Monday's argument in preparation for Thursday's ruling, the judge asked the prosecution to confirm: does it make any difference if it's WikiLeaks or any other news organization: New York Times, Washington Post, or Wall Street Journal? The prosecution answered: "No, it would not. It would not potentially make a difference."
There are a lot of Americans who immediately write off Manning as a criminal because he leaked "secret" information (many of those people have never bothered to watch "Collateral Murder," a small but vivid and highly disturbing part of Manning's leak. How typical is this of the "fight for freedom" that has been waged in our names? We wouldn't know, because the information that has come from Iraq over the years is carefully filtered by the American military American press. In woeful ignorance, many Americans fail to see that Manning's trial is about the right of Americans's to be informed about what goes on in their name, informed enough to engage in meaningful discussion and informed enough to vote intelligently.
Leak-based journalism is not the be-all-and-end-all of journalism. But ever since the Pentagon Papers, it has been a fraught but critical part of our constitutional checks in national defense. Nothing makes this clearer than the emerging bipartisan coalition of legislators seeking a basic reassessment of NSA surveillance and Fisa oversight following Edward Snowden's leaks. National defense is special in both the need for, and dangers of, secrecy. As Justice Stewart wrote in the Pentagon Papers case, the press is particularly important in national defense because it is there that the executive is most powerful, and the other branches weakest and most deferential:
In the absence of the governmental checks and balances present in other areas of our national life, the only effective restraint upon executive policy and power in the areas of national defense and international affairs may lie in an enlightened citizenry – in an informed and critical public opinion which alone can here protect the values of democratic government. For this reason, it is perhaps here that a press that is alert, aware, and free most vitally serves the basic purpose of the first amendment. For without an informed and free press, there cannot be an enlightened people.

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