April 17, 2010
This is not a painting or a fine-art photo. It shows Tibetan monks through the heat waves and flames of a mass burial of victims of the earthquake that shook Yushu, Qinghai, China on April 14. PHOTO BY AP
November 16, 2010
Staff Sergeant Salvatore Giunta becomes the first living soldier since Vietnam to receive that Medal of Honor for action in the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan, during which he saved the lives to two friends. If Giunta's expression is solemn, the reason could be learned on this clip, made by photographer Tim Hetherington and writer Sebastian Junger as a followup to their remarkable film Restrepo. As I noted in a blog post, this picture doesn't tell the facts behind the medal, but it tells the meaning of the facts. PHOTO BY J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE/AP
NOVEMBER 12, 2010
Dancers with illuminated hats performing at the opening ceremonies of the Asian Games. A spectacle of color. PHOTO BY NICOLAS ASFOURI/GETTY IMAGES
June 2, 2010
These pictures belong together, as cause and effect. It was just one of those days for Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galaragga, who pitched a perfect game until the ninth inning, when umpire Jim Joyce called the runner in the photo on top safe at first base, though the runner was out by a mile, but there was no turning back. The following day, Joyce was behind home plate when he took the Tiger lineup card from...Galaragga, who comforted the clearly emotional ump. Let's bring in instant replay so no umpire has to go through this again.
November 2, 2010
More baseball: This photo of triumphant pitcher Tim Lincecum appeared on the front page of the New York Times's sports section the day the San Francisco Giants won their first World Series championship in 56 years. The headline: "Giants Once More." The paper hangs in my office now, because I've been a Giants fan six age six. When my wife, a Chicago Cubs fan, saw it, I felt obliged to say that the Giants's win proved anything was possible. "Not really," she replied. "You're right," I said.
January 23, 2010
February 13, 2010
Ian Banner wipes out--I think that's the right term--during a surfing contest in Half Moon Bay, California. Oddly, it's the wave that impresses me here. PHOTO BY BEN MARGOT/AP
June 28, 2010
The world needed another picture of Marilyn Monroe, and it got it. This x-ray was made in 1954 at the Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Florida, where Marilyn was treated there for endometriosis. As I always suspected, she had a superb chest. As I noted in a blog post, the woman simply could not take a bad picture. A doctor in the hospital's radiological unit kept the images, then passed them on to his daughter, who decided to put them up for sale at an auction of Marilyn memorabilia in Las Vegas.
March 31, 2010
This is what a lava lake looks like. It's a beautiful thing if you know how to photograph it right. This picture of the lava lake of Mount Nyiragongo in Congo was photographed quite well, I think. PHOTO BY REBECCA BLACKWELL/AP
June 1, 2010
This marks the third time I've included this picture in my blog. I'll try to make it the last time, but who knows when I'll need to talk about the visual allure of sinkholes again? This sinkhole, which swallowed up an entire intersection of downtown Guatamala City, went down some 30 stories. I think it's my favorite picture of the year...it really unleashes the imagination. Last summer I wondered who one might find down at the bottom, in the outer regions of hell....Osama bin Laden? Professor Moriarty? Ernst Stavro Blofeld? Dick Cheney? Just think what we may find out in 2011.
I think the surfer at Mavericks sums up 2010 ... and yes, the wave is beautiful!
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