I’ve spent some time in recent years pondering the word citizenship. This began when a good friend pressed me to define the public function of criticism more precisely. To my considerable surprise, I heard myself explain, “It’s the activity of responsible citizenship within a given community.” Though I’ve worked as a professional critic for close to thirty years, I hadn’t known I believed that. […]
|
|
Long, long ago (1976), in a galaxy far, far away (the New England region of the United States, specifically Boston), I helped to found an organization that, amazingly, still exists: the Photographic Resource Center. This year the PRC celebrated its 40th anniversary. In 1996 the PRC celebrated its 20th anniversary with a series of events, one of which involved my giving a talk. As usual in such situations, I used the opportunity provided by the occasion to make some trouble, as you’ll see. … […] Richard Whelan’s work on all matters related to the subjects of Robert and Cornell Capa should be considered fatally compromised and entirely unreliable, except when their overall narratives and specific claims can be verified by credible outside sources. It will take decades to undo the contamination of the literature on Robert Capa that traces directly to Whelan’s efforts on Cornell Capa’s behalf. […] Taken in tandem with Richard Whelan’s acknowledgment that he, Cornell Capa, and John G. Morris had effectively buried the Hansel Mieth letter about Robert Capa’s staging of “Falling Soldier” for 35 years, I view this as a confession of abject failure to fulfill the ethical obligations of biographer and historian. […] |
 SPJ Research Award 2014 |
Election 2016: Image World (16)
For all intents and purposes, this election is now over and Donald Trump has lost. Neither the media, the American electorate, nor Hillary Clinton have any obligation to await his concession before acknowledging her victory and his defeat and moving forward on the night of November 8. […]