Robert Hariman and Louis Lucaites, authors of No Caption Needed: Iconic Photographs, Public Culture, and Liberal Democracy have recently started their own blog at www.nocaptionneeded.com. As a companion resource to their new book, the blog is “dedicated to discussion of the role that photojournalism and other visual practices play in a vital democratic society.” Bringing the author’s ideas to bear on current issues and new media, almost in real-time, we definitely recommend you check it out.
In No Caption Needed, Robert Hariman and John Louis Lucaites provide the definitive study of the iconic photograph as a dynamic form of public art. Their critical analyses of nine individual icons explore the photographs themselves and their subsequent circulation through an astonishing array of media, including stamps, posters, billboards, editorial cartoons, TV shows, Web pages, tattoos, and more. As these iconic images are reproduced and refashioned by governments, commercial advertisers, journalists, grassroots advocates, bloggers, and artists, their alterations throw key features of political experience into sharp relief. Iconic images are revealed as models of visual eloquence, signposts for collective memory, means of persuasion across the political spectrum, and a crucial resource for critical reflection.
Read an excerpt from the book.