State of the Art

Ode to the Oasis

Sometimes it seems like a lowly editor can't do too much to change the world. After all, it's politicians, builders, activists, teachers, criminals...or sometimes entertainers who usually make things happen, right? But once there was a not-so-humble newspaper editor, William Cullen Bryant of the New York Evening Post, who wrote that the burgeoning city of New York should create a big public park as a place to escape urban life. This was in 1844, when such a concept was novel in America.

The idea caught on, land was purchased, a design was selected, and now the park is celebrating the 150th anniversary of that design — Greensward, the Plan for Central Park. To mark the occasion a host of public events continue through the summer, and the Central Park Conservancy has set up a fascinating photo-driven Website detailing the park's long and winding history.

Fab Four Reunion, Of Sorts

The photograph above is what I call "The One That Got Away." It's a rarely-seen picture of Beatle George Harrison with his first wife, Pattie Boyd, shot by Henry Grossman on the occasion of the couple's 1966 wedding. They both look young and fab. I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Pattie Boyd — photographer, former model, and rock-and-roll muse — for an article that will run in the July/August issue of American Photo. We just sent the piece to the printer. Alas, this picture didn't make the final mix — so I'm posting it here. (More about Pattie Boyd below.)

What's more remarkable is that in the photo world, nearly four decades after they disbanded, the Fabs — as Harrison sardonically called them — are still going strong. Never mind what John Lennon sang in 1970: For those of us who can't get enough of it, the dream still ain't over.

Recent reports  reveal that Christie's is to offer Lennon’s lyrics for "Give Peace a Chance" — plus never-published photos from the 1969 Montreal Bed-In staged by Lennon and wife Yoko Ono — for auction this summer, with early estimates between £200,000 and £300,000. The pictures, by UK-based comedy writer Gail Renard, had a unlikely beginning: Renard and a companion befriended John and Yoko after requesting an interview for their university magazine. This led to series of rare bed-in shots including the one at right. Lennon also signed and presented Renard the hand-written lyrics to his peace anthem, saying, "One day they will be worth something."

Meanwhile, the two surviving ex-Beatles, Paul and Ringo, recently showed up for the opening of an exhibit of platinum prints of Linda McCartney photographs at the James Hyman Gallery in London, on view until June 7. (Presumably McCartney is more pleased these days about revisiting memories with his first wife than with his second one.)

Ballad of the 'Tween Angel

Photographs © VanityFair.com

"You can't just say no to Annie." That was part of the explanation given by 15-year-old superstar Miley Cyrus after photographs were made of her "backless" and clutching a blanket by Annie Leibovitz for Vanity Fair. (A VF behind-the-scenes shot is above.) "I think it's really artsy," she told the magazine at the time. "It wasn't in a skanky way."

But by yesterday, Cyrus was backtracking. "I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be 'artistic' and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed," she said in a publicist's statement. She further criticizes the magazine in a People article, as the more financially minded press mulls over the fallout  expected to hit Cyrus's Hanna Montana phenomenon and its parent company, Disney.

What gives? Having shot to the heights of international fame at such a young age, is Cyrus an example of media exploitation or, rather, a reflection of prudish attitudes about portraiture?

"I'm not a screamer"

Some news stories beg a photograph for verification. Such is the case with the alligator that strolled into Sandra Frosti's kitchen in Oldsmar, Florida. Fortunately someone had the presence of mind to snap several pictures of it before it was removed (our favorite shot is at left).

"I was in my bedroom and I heard a noise. And I walked in and he was in the kitchen," Frosti told ABC News. "How about that? But I'm not a screamer, so I just went 'Oh my God' and I ran to the telephone."

After reading this, what I'd really like to see is a picture of the unflappable, 69-year-old Frosti. But all Google Image searches of her name lead back to photos of the interloping gator. However, Frosti's voice has been immortalized in a clip of her 911 call about the gator's intrusion that has become a big internet hit.

During the call, the dispatcher asks Frosti if the animal might be an iguana. “Oh-no, no, no, no, no,” Frosti answered matter-of-factly. "It's huge." And the photos bear her out.

But on a much sadder note in the Animals Gone Wild department, the grizzly bear that appeared in the Will Ferrell film "Semi-Pro" reportedly lashed out and killed one of his trainers yesterday. Of course, this story also begs a photo — one of the bear's publicity stills is at right. — Jack Crager

Tintype Buckaroos

Having grown up in the Texas Panhandle with a healthy dose of cowboy artifacts and imagery all around, I'm always tickled when I come across said folklore here in New York City. So I was pleased as a pig in mud to see the arts-section feature story called "You Bet Your Tintype, Buckaroo" in yesterday's New York Times.

The subject is the photography of National Geographic veteran Robb Kendrick — a native of tiny Hereford, Texas (home to world-class stinky feed lots, and sports rival to my nearby hometown of Canyon) — who often shoots modern cowboy life using the outdated but aesthetically apt medium of the tintype.

"The latest result of Mr. Kendrick’s twin obsessions — with tintypes and the bow-legged anachronisms who continue to make their living on horseback — is Still: Cowboys at the Start of the Twenty-First Century, a new collection of 148 tintype portraits published by the University of Texas Press," writes Randy Kennedy in the Times.

The story's online slide show includes evocative portraits such as those of Raithe and Merline Rupe (above left) and Kendrick himself at work (right). The project is a fascinating rediscovery of rural North America, historic photo techniques, and enduring relics. Happy trails to viewers. — Jack Crager

Crewdson's Weird World

Given the unsettling eerieness of Gregory Crewdson's photographs and their suburban settings, it's surprising that photographer grew up in Brooklyn with a self-described "normal" childhood. "Suburbia is like a foreign country to me," Crewdson told me a couple of years ago. "I approach it as a literary place, an aesthetic setting rather than one of personal experience."

Nonetheless, Crewdson has made that setting his own in elaborate images that manage to tell little stories yet often beg the question, "What's going on here?" An influential photo professor at Yale, he creates large-scale photographs at a meticulous pace but keeps cranking them out: His most recent collection, Beneath the Roses, goes on view at New York's Luring Augustine Gallery April 5 through May 3, as well as London's White Cube April 23 to May 24 and LA's Gagosian Gallery May 3 to June 4. Crewdson himself will be signing books at Luring Augustine from 2 to 5 pm April 12.

Accompanying the show is Crewdson's newest book, Beneath the Roses (Harry N. Abrams, $60), in which the photographer adds some slushy winter elements to his subjects' psychological coldness. As always, the detailed pictures show familiar scenes in which something is askance, the mood seems foreboding, the characters caught in an internal drama. "I like to take sort of ordinary iconography and defamilarlze it, make it mysterious," Crewdson explains, "so there's a tension between a sort of dream and reality, between the ordinary and the fantastical. But it's always grounded in something real."

"Get Your Glossy Online"

The above line is from an anonymous reader who posted it — after the words "Save a tree" — as a comment to an interesting piece about the future of magazines. The story was in the New York Observer but you can read it here. (Save a tree, get your pink paper online.)

Among the magazine insiders commenting on the future of print media are Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter (who envisions a new "electronic book" in our future world), Esquire editor David Remnick (who imagines more innovative printing practices), and Wired editor Chris Anderson (who sees magazines staying the same for awhile). Go figure.

Editors at many print magazines (including American Photo) may take comfort in the facts that a) a new medium doesn't necessarily kill an old one; b) nothing looks better than a picture printed on decent paper; and c) people don't usually take their computers to the bathroom or curl up in a tub with them.

Swimsuit Model Audition

The great sports photographer Walter Iooss — who has shot more than his share of Sports Illustrated's swimsuit issues — once said that "with models like these, you can't go wrong." Here's a chance to test his theory. As a clever promotional gimmick, Taco Bell has set up a virtual swimsuit model website called directdaniella.com. The model, Daniella (left) is a gorgeous (but not always cooperative) woman who will pose in a setting of your choice, and you can test your ability to capture her moves. For comparison's sake, the home page links to SI's swimsuit website as well. Happy shooting. — Jack Crager

A Flickr of Leibovitz

Master photographer that she is, Annie Leibovitz is often stirring up the blogosphere ... as in the recent debate, both con and pro, over her new Vogue cover featuring an image of Gisele Bundchen and LeBron James (left).

But today, we're especially intrigued with this item about Lebovitz and Flickr. Hmmm. (Be sure to read the whole post and check out her Flickr page at the bottom.)

Photoshop For Free

In the never-ending circus to attract Web-based imaging customers, Adobe has tossed a thousand-gallon hat into the ring with its new Adobe Photoshop Express, now available for free in a beta version. First-look bloggers warn that this is Photoshop Lite — not the full-fledged imaging tool used by pros but a simple, free photo-editing version for newbies.

Meanwhile, rival tech giant Google is upping the ante with an API to enhace its Picasa Web Uploader service. As Adobe and Google — two companies who have snared market share in several imaging sectors with user-friendly designs — battle it out, Bill Gates and company must be fuming. May the friendliest imaging interface win. — Jack Crager

New York Love Story Continues

Anyone have any great first-hand stories about John and Yoko? Now would be a great time to hear them...

That's because I could use the material. Not to tout my own horn, but I will be taking part in a panel discussion on the famous couple, and I've been asked to spread the word. The event will be held at 3 pm Saturday, April 5, at the Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Avenue at 104th Street.

The main speaker will be photographer Allan Tannenbaum, who published John & Yoko: A New York Love Story (Insight Editions, $45), a remarkable collection of his pictures of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. American Photo chose this book among last year's best in our Jan/Feb roundup, and we also ran a Web-exclusive interview between Tannenbaum and myself.

A veteran NYC photojournalist, Allan knew John & Yoko for several years but became especially close to them during the latter half of 1980, as they emerged from five years of seclusion to publicize their Double Fantasy album. Tannenbaum got rare access to their lives and made exceptionally intimate photos, among the last ones of Lennon before he was killed. He'll be showing and discussing these images in an illustrated lecture at the museum.

Iconic Decline

Photo © Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times

As an amateur guitarist and rock-and-roll fan, James Blake Miller may well marvel that he's made "the cover of the Rolling Stone." But he's probably not thrilled about the context.

Miller's picture is not on this week's RS cover — that honor goes to Chris Rock — but Miller is the subject of one of the main feature stories: "Home From War: Tragedy of the Marlboro Marine." The story recounts the sad journey that Miller's life has taken since his face became famous in an iconic photograph (above) — a shot of Miller in Falluja, Iraq, made in 2004 by imbedded photographer Luis Sinco for the Los Angeles Times.

The picture — which seemed to capture at once the steely resolve, grimy entanglement, and weary disillusionment of U.S. soldiers in Iraq — became widely known and emblematic of the war. "To my surprise, the image became iconic, capturing a sense of the front line in a young Marine's face," Sinco wrote later in the L.A. Times.

But after his return home, Miller's life began to unravel, and he became a different kind of symbol: a medically discharged former vet who suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, wartime flashbacks, and social isolation. Sinco continued to follow Miller's story and created a moving multimedia piece called "The Marlboro Marine" on the photojournalism website mediastorm.org (as we recounted in American Photo's March/April story on "The Photographer as Director").

Catcher of the Eye

For image-makers who want to learn to cut through the clutter of today's information glut and quickly grab people's attention, here's a chance to learn from one of the true masters. The Museum of Modern Art in New York just announced a forthcoming exhibition, George Lois: The Esquire Covers from the 1960s and early '70s. Along with large-scale prints of many of the final covers, the show will also show Lois's original artwork for several of the designs, including the renowned picture of Andy Warhol drowning in a soup can (above), which illustrated a May 1969 story about the decline of the American avant-garde.

This shot is particularly clever because, in the days before Photoshop, Lois and photographer Carl Fischer created it out of two images — one with the can of soup (Fischer says they dropped marbles in it; Lois says it was a stone) and the other a posed portrait of Warhol (he said, "Oh greaaaaat," Lois recalls). These were combined in a "C-print that was printed together and retouched," Lois told Kurt Andersen in an interesting interview recently broadcast on NPR's Studio 360. It will be fascinating to see the "images behind the icons" at the MoMA show — it runs from April 25 through March of 2009 (for a preview sampler of the Esquire covers you can go here).

Book This

If you are among the many photographers who have recently self-published a book of your work, take note: A new competition wants to see it. Called the Photography.Book.Now International Salon and Symposium, this contest celebrates and surveys self-published photo books, with a grand prize of $25,000 going toward the completion — or the beginning — of a new photo project of the winner's choice.

Entries will be accepted in two categories: General — pretty much open to any self-published photography volume — and Themed, which includes work that "demonstrates how photography can create a narrative in book form," according to the contest announcement, released today. (Above is a spread from a themed book on portraits.) Entry deadline is July 14. For entry details and guidelines, visit photographybooknow.com.

With a jury panel led by photographer and author Darius Himes, the contest will judge the entries based on creativity, innovation, and image quality. Along with an awards ceremony set for September 12 in San Francisco, related events include a traveling salon and symposium, detailed on the Website.

“To affordably make a book of one’s own photography, with complete creative control, is a liberating, exciting, highly personal, and satisfying experience," says Eileen Gittins, CEO of Blurb, one of the contest sponsors (others include Livebooks, Flickr, SmugMug, and American Photo). She adds that the contest is for "photographers making the books they’ve always wanted to make — with a real chance to gain worldwide recognition and win a tremendous prize.” — Jack Crager

"Sponge-Worthy?"

Last week while spring-cleaning at home we discussed the demise of Polaroid film, set to be discontinued by year's end, but we made the decision to hang onto our nifty little Polaroid instant camera — "hey, you never know what will happen with this technology so let's not toss it just yet" — while we contemplated whether to snarf up some Polaroid film while we can. It reminded me of the Seinfeld episode where Elaine stockpiles boxes of Sponges and then has to decide whether subsequent dates are "Sponge-worthy." (If you need an explanation for that ... never mind, you're too young.)

Then we saw a piece in yesterday's New York Times Magazine that officially reminded us how, for instant-camera film, time is short.

The piece is in the Consumed column by Rob Walker, a personal friend (I hired Rob eons ago as a reporter for a Texas newspaper and I've steadily watched his writing career ascend ever since). Each week the column is all about trends in marketing and consumption, sometimes not in that order, and Rob rightly points out that Edward Land's invention of Polaroid instant pictures led to its modern digital ancestors — which rendered it obsolete.

Flip Side of Fame

Back in the pre-digital days, we all kept batches of snapshots in shoe boxes, pulling them out occasionally to marvel at the memories, mainly interesting only to those involved. But when your shoe box has photos of someone wildly famous — and prematurely departed — it could be turn out to be revelatory.

Such is the case with May Pang's shoe box full of images of her 18-month companionship with John Lennon. In her new, splendidly titled book, Instamatic Karma ($30, St. Martin's Press), Pang (at right in 1974) shares pictures that had literally been closeted away since the mid-1970s. A recent piece in the New York Times pointed out Pang's intent — to show that Lennon was not all depressed and unproductive during his "Lost Weekend" months with her — but the book itself weaves a complex portrait of Lennon's time away from his wife Yoko, befitting a man of every-changing moods and contradictions.

Every Grain of Sand

Photos © Dr. Gary Greenberg

"In the fury of the moment I can see the Master's hand
In every leaf that trembles, in every grain of sand."
– Bob Dylan

That couplet has long struck me as among the most heartfelt and poetic ones in Dylan's entire oeuvre. But I never thought it would make a great lead-in for a photo book report.

A bit of background: Recently I posted a Web story on a book called The Art of the Snowflake, by Dr. Kenneth Libbrecht. That book features mesmerizing images of snow crystals, a photographic subject rarely explored since Wilson Bentley's pioneering snowflake images back in the late 1800s. Seizing on one aspect of Libbrecht's project, I titled the piece "No Two Alike?"

"People make a lot more out of that saying than they ought to, you know," Libbrecht replied when asked if every snowflake was unique. "No two grains of sand are exactly alike either, but nobody really cares about that." Later, I joked with Libbrecht about the possibility of him doing a book on sand. "People have done this with sand," he said.

He's right. The day after the story was posted, I got a note from Libbrecht's publisher: "This spring, Voyageur Press will publish a new book that will do for sand what Ken Libbrecht’s photographs did for snow," wrote marketing rep Maurrie Salenger.  I just received the new title, A Grain of Sand: Nature’s Secret Wonder, by Dr. Gary Greenberg ($20, voyageurpress.com). And this book, too, is a revealing, iridescent study in microphotography and nature, drawing equally from science and art.

Giant Leap for Mankind (or, Why is This Man Jumping)?

Since it's Leap Day — that once-every-four-years phenomenon that lets people jokingly claim to age more slowly and stay newlyweds longer — we've been looking for the perfect photo event tied to this Gregorian intercalary anomaly. (We threw in that last $15 term in honor of the late Wlliam F. Buckley Jr.)

One cool contender is an homage to Philippe Halsman's Jump Book — including the classic shot of Richard Nixon at left — staged by Rich Janzaruk, photo editor of the Times-Mail in Bedford, Indiana, called "Leaping for Leap Day." Unfortunately, most of Janzaruk's shots of leaping local celebs are not posted online yet, but the story links to a great Owen Edwards piece recounting Halsman's original series published in 1959 (one of the most inspired leaps of imagination in modern portraiture, IOHO).

Then there is this Leap Day how-to article on adorama.com that tells you all about how to catch people in action (start with a cute and fearless model, as below).

Watson's Walk on the Wild Side

Photographer Albert Watson has always been hard to pigeonhole, but his newest project is a surprise departure even for him — an unabashed romp into kitsch and kink in Vegas.

The Scottish-born Watson has put together a one-man show called Miss Beehayving, running at Hamiltons Gallery London through March 15. Culled from Watson's forthcoming big book project Shot in Vegas, this exhibition focuses on a single model, a dominatrix and burlesque performer called Breaunna (her online moniker is the show's title). "She lives in an exotic, erotic world, and that 's what fascinated me," says the photographer.

I once had the pleasure of visiting Watson's 13,000-square-foot studio in Manhattan's meat-packing district, which covers several floors and is humongous by New York standards. Throughout the space, prints of Watson's work were on display and stacked in organized piles, thousands of photographs running the gamut from fashion to celebrities to fine art to journalistic moments. "In 99 percent of art, recognizability is a comfortable factor," he said at the time. "My recognizability is going to have to be in the diversity."

Metadata: The Eyes Have It?

We recently came across a blog claiming that Canon has filed for a patent to "take photographer's copyright protection to the next level," according to PhotographyBay.com.  The method? Iris watermarking — that is, the iris found in your eyeball.

The idea is that a photographer can register "biological metadata" contained in an image of his or her own iris, then use it to protect the copyright of photographic images. According to the report, the proposed invention "makes it possible to protect the copyright of photographic images by reliably acquiring biological information of a photographer for the purpose of personal authentication."

Confused? Intrigued? We're both. And we wonder if this is for real.

Break it like a Polaroid picture

In yet another sign that digital photography is killing off film, the inventor of the instant picture, Polaroid Corp., will shut down its remaining U.S. film plants in March, according to the Wall Street Journal. (The move follows Polaroid's discontinuation of instant cameras last year, as outlined by this NY Times blog.) The company will lay off hundreds of jobs and focus its energies on digital technologies, printers, and flatscreen TVs. 

Where will those longtime fans of Polaroid instant cameras turn? "The company is shopping its technology and a sale could result in a third party making film for Polaroid products," said spokeswoman Amanda Schuneman in the WSJ story.

While most snapshot enthusiasts have apparently long ago made the switch to digital, we have to wonder what this development will mean to larger-format shooters who have relied on Polaroids for instant demos. The tools they are a-changin. — Jack Crager

The Catch, Revisited

Of all the memorable moments in the New York Giants' Super Upset last night, the most famous one is destined to be Eli Manning's scrambling, third-down heave-ho pass to David Tyree with just over a minute remaining. Or rather, Tyree's unbelievable catch! With a giant leap, a fingertip nab, a cradling of the ball against his helmet, and an ability to hang on in the clutches of New England's Rodney Harrison, Tyree's catch defies belief — and the camera's eye. There seem to be too many moving parts in this play for a still picture to do it justice.

With hundreds of photogs at that game, did anyone get The Defining Picture of this event? One of the Monday-morning columns, by Mike Lupica at nydailynews.com, compiles an excellent slide show showing the play in no less than ten parts. (Three of these are above, credited, from left, to Daily News photographers Antonelli, Cataffo, and Appleton.)

"Photographs, you know, they're half-truths"

That is of course a famous quote from a man who devoted his life to photography: Eddie Adams, who passed away in 2004 after a long career behind the lens and behind the scenes as founder of the Eddie Adams Workshop. It was 40 years ago today that Adams made one of the most famous war pictures ever, as reported on NPR.org.

The NPR story points out that Adams's Pulitzer Prize–winning photo for Associated Press, "General Nguyen Ngoc Loan executing a Viet Cong prisoner in Saigon" (left), owes much of it's power to it's instantaneousness — Adams snapped it just as the gun was fired. (Indeed, the more complete and gruesome news film footage of the execution is not nearly as well known as the still.) Adams, who describes the event in a clip on NPR's site, often expressed ambivalence about the picture and its aftermath: "The general killed the Viet Cong; I killed the general with my camera," he wrote in Time.

The Capa Files Reopened

Robert Capa is widely credited for establishing the tone of modern war photography, simply by getting close to the action. A newly discovered treasure trove of his negatives brings that point home. As reported in an excellent piece in yesterday's New York Times, a found cache has been confirmed to be negatives made by Capa, as well as some by his collaborator Gerda Taro and fellow Magnum founder David Seymour. "This really is the holy grail of Capa work," says Brian Wallis, chief curator at the International Center of Photography, which has fittingly become the new home for the negatives.

The Times piece not only chronicles the tangled international journey that this batch of negatives took during the decades it was missing, but also emphasizes Capa's philosophy of getting in the thick of the battle — “If your pictures aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough," he famously said — which ultimately helped cause Capa's death at age 40 (he stepped on a land mine while covering in the Indochina war in 1954).

Reviving the Unibrow

Ever wonder what Frida Kahlo really looked like? Sure, she painted herself hundreds of times...with her usual a flair for the dramatic, but her real likeness was captured splendidly by her friend and collaborator, photographer Nickolas Muray, who died in 1965 after a long and successful career in celebrity, fashion, and commercial imagery. A new show of Muray's photographs of Frida can be seen at the Delaware Art Museum in Wilmington, next Friday through March 30.

Many of these photographs have an intimacy that befits the bond of their subjects: Muray and Kahlo were romantically involved for years and he hoped to marry her at one point, losing out on the prospect when Kahlo rekindled her volatile relationship with fellow painter and husband Diego Rivera. Nonetheless, Muray and Kahlo remained close friends until her death in 1954, and their many photographic sessions are represented in this show by more than 50 images.

Africa's Dirty Little Secret

For most of the past decade, Marcus Bleasdale (left) has been the very picture of a dedicated photojournalist on a mission. The Oslo-based VII Agency photographer's steady, piercing visual reportage of the ongoing war in the Democratic Republic of Congo has garnered accolades and helped to trigger human-rights reforms — but has too often been ignored in the West. Now it may find a new audience, however, as a moving multimedia feature on MediaStorm.org.

American Photo featured Bleasdale and his remarkable black-and-white Congo images in November/December 2005, as part of a package called "Five Stories You've Never Seen," meant to bring attention to international events underreported in the United States. "The statistics [in the DRC] are just staggering," Bleasdale told me at the time. "In fact, 3.5 million people died there within a period of five years, the largest number of deaths in one country since World War II."

The complex reasons for the war carnage and poverty in the DRC — which ironically is greatly blessed with natural mineral resources — are explored in the MediaStorm feature, called "Rape of a Nation."

Music City Views

A case could be made that no other American city has encompassed more musical talent during the past four decades than Nashville, Tennessee. During most of that period, one of Nashville's most prolific music photographers was Jim McGuire, who made countless portraits of the Music City's performers and songwriters and also shot artwork for more than 500 recordings. (McGuire's shot of unlikely pals Johnny Cash and Billy Graham is above.) Now a well-deserved retrospective of McGuire's images is on display in a new exhibition and a new book, both entitled Nashville Portraits. 

The traveling exhibition opens today and runs through March 23 at the Art Museum of Western Virginia in Roanoke. It features 60 photographs of Nashville stars, ranging from past masters like Bill Monroe and Minnie Pearl to more contemporary artists such as Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, and Marty Stuart.

The Photo As Politics: Adventures of Mike & Bill

After his improbable victory in Iowa, Mike Huckabee owes at least some gratitude to Bill Clinton. Though from different parties, the two former Arkansas governors from Hope share more than just the same home state, birthplace, and religion: Huckabee's been taking pages from Clinton's political playbook in the "Image Is Everything" chapter. Mike's appearance on The Tonight Show Wednesday night (he plays bass, not lead guitar as often reported) echoes Clinton's Aresenio sax gig; both men revel in tales of how they overcame obesity by jogging; and Huckabee even gets high praise from Bill on the Iowa trail today. (What's next—the boxer-vs.-briefs question for the new GOP upstart?) Whatever happens in this entertaining primary season, Huckabee's cash-strapped burst out of nowhere into the spotlight proves one thing: A good picture's worth a thousand donors. — Jack Crager

Hair There and Everywhere

If there was ever any doubt that big hair is alive and well, it will be dispelled by a new photo book and accompanying runway show. Just in time for the holidays, a consciousness-raising volume called Hair Wars has been released by powerHouse Books  (which can always be counted on for idiosyncratic photo collections). The book features such wild creations as this little do at left. For those who want to see this stuff in the flesh, a grand celebration is planned for January 20, 2008, at the Northfield Hilton in Troy, Michigan, outside Detroit — touted as the "Hair Capital of the World."

Portrait of a Dead Man