I know, I generally like to keep certain topics off the boards more often than not, but I just happened upon some really good things recently that I wanted to share. I promise not to put too much polemic into my posts, or to digress down the socio-political alley too often, but I thought these items deserved to be linked-up.
1) Architecture of Authority by Richard Ross
Photoshelter blogged about what photo books they were reading, and this one really struck me. It’s an architectural photography book that focuses on how authority is imposed by the space we’re in. The images are so stark, and yet there’s a strange quality of beauty in this designed order. The range of spaces photographed is also telling, from a Montessori, churches and mosques, where perhaps we first learn the subtleties of power, to courtrooms and the UN assembly hall. It looks like a very moving visual essay, and quite pertinent to the times we live in. (click the images to view larger)
2) CapitolWords.org
Today’s Very Short list was this fascinating website, CapitolWords.org. This website will analyze congressional records to see what the most used word of a given day is. From VSL:
Created by the Sunlight Foundation, Capitol Words demonstrates how oil, energy, health, and intelligence are perpetual hot-button issues — while some days are all about spam (presumably not the canned meat). Traveling back in time can be both a pleasure and a sobering slap in the face: The word from Monday, September 10, 2001, conjures a nation with arms wide open: available. By Friday it was war.
You can view today’s word, or see a month view. The monthly view reveals how heavy certain topics weigh on the minds of the public and lawmakers alike…
3) Underground America: Narratives of Undocumented Lives, Edited by Peter Orner
I would need to be in an extraordinarily good mood to make my way through this book, but I think it’s important that it was written. It’s an oral history of undocumented workers in the US. Especially with the election coming up, immigration is a hot-button issue. What gets forgotten so many times is the human lives behind the numbers of those who have come over to this country to seek a new life. Often, they don’t exactly get what they bargain for, and too often, the conditions they find themselves in are no better than the ones they fled.
The publisher’s description:
They arrive from around the world for countless reasons. Many come simply to make a living. Others are fleeing persecution in their native countries. Millions of immigrants risk deportation and imprisonment by living in the U.S. without legal status. They are living underground, with little protection from exploitation at the hands of human smugglers, employers, or law enforcement. Underground America, the third book in the Voice of Witness series, presents the remarkable oral histories of men and women struggling to carve a life for themselves in the U.S. Among them are:
FARID, an Iranian-American business owner who employs a number of American citizens while he himself remains undocumented. A critic of the Iranian government, he fears for his safety if he is deported back to his native country.
DIANA, who, along with thousands of other Latino workers, helped rebuild the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina. After completing her job, she and many others were detained and imprisoned for not having proper documentation.
LISO, a South African woman who was the victim of a bait-and-switch immigration scam. She was enticed to come to the U.S. as a religious missionary, but once here, her sponsors forced her into unpaid domestic labor.
Thanks for listening, and I hope you find something in there that sparks you as well. Now back to the art and fluff.
