The Cracks in the Cult of the AI Supermen

Balazs Gardi’s portraits of Stockton Rush capture the doubt and anxiety now catching up with AI’s boy geniuses.

Oct 2 • Michael Shaw

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September 2026

In Kent Nishimura’s Photo, the White House Press Corps Is Already Breaking Apart

How a backstage image takes on new force after Trump banned CNN, Politico, and MS NOW from the White House

Sep 23 • Michael Shaw

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“Salam,” Again: A 9/11 Image for a New Politics of Fear

For years, I wrote about 9/11 anniversary visuals. With anti-Muslim tactics on the rise, this image of mourning and belonging from 2011 deserves to be…

Sep 12 • Michael Shaw

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Pictures of the Moment: What the Eye Can’t Settle

Recent photographs of rupture, attention, and a world under pressure.

Sep 10 • Michael Shaw

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August 2026

In Praise of Composition

Two photographs whose formal order makes political disorder and unequal power inescapable.

Aug 30 • Michael Shaw

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The Deadline

The Iran War’s 60-day ceasefire expires today. Calling out the noise, misdirection and mystery next steps, a sly photo reminds us that war is not…

Aug 17 • Michael Shaw

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Caught My Eye: Pools, Flags, and Faceless Men

Another set of images quietly telling on power

Aug 11 • Michael Shaw

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July 2026

When Canoe Country Goes Under

At a Minnesota summer camp, a submerged fleet shows how climate risk is rewriting the visual language of “wilderness adventure.”

Jul 26 • Cara Finnegan

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My 4th of July is ... the Next U.S. World Cup Match

Forget Trump's politicized pageantry. The most authentic display of American patriotism is playing out on the pitch.

Jul 4 • Michael Shaw

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June 2026

France's Heatwave Was a Mass-Casualty Event. The Photos Don't Look Like It

Feeding the public ice cream is much easier than confronting true danger and suffering.

Jun 29 • Michael Shaw

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Political Theater: Erasing Donald J. Trump Off the Kennedy Center

The striking images, political symbolism, and spectacle of taking his name down — and the drag queen still standing.

Jun 17 • Michael Shaw

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May 2026

Surrender: How Trump Lost the Iran War, in Pictures

From blind bet to bloody stalemate — the visual record of a war Washington didn't understand and couldn't spin.

May 27 • Michael Shaw

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