PJL: May 2014 (Part 2)

Features and Essays

Every so often Mad Men introduces an bizarre plot point that feels less like a profound storytelling tool and more like the usually subtle drama's own attempt at shock value or a license to have some cooky fun in the writers' room (see: the lawnmower accident, the time the all got high off the mysterious energy supplement shots). Sunday's episode of Mad Men, "The Runaways," returned to this familiar habit to meet this season's WTF quota — and then some. The arrival of the loud, massive computer to the SC&P offices last week had most employees on edge for one reason or another, but while Ginsberg's paranoia about technology was mostly of source of laughs in an episode fraught with fretting about office politics, it took a far more disturbing turn this week. Gay jokes are in the air after the creative team finds copies of Lou Avery's innuendo-laden comic sketches — Lou, who gets more human with each passing episode, wants to strike it big in the cartoon business like a mediocre colleague at his old agency did — but Ginsberg goes into full-on gay panic mode after witnessing a stealthy conversation between Lou and Jim Cutler among the din of the computer room. First, he shows up at Peggy's apartment, insisting he can't work in the office because the incessant humming of the machine is turning everyone into a homosexual, like Lou and Jim. Then, waking Peggy up on the couch, he admits he's actually been getting a little turned by Stan's manly shoulders and announces, "Peggy, we gotta reproduce!" (Best-Line-of-the-Episode Contender #1). And then, he shows up at Peggy's office the next day, declaring that he has feelings for her ("It's not real," Peggy declines both gracefully and brutally) and offering a token of his appreciation: a nipple! His nipple, which he cut out himself in act that would make even the most adamant luddite cringe. Is technology man's ultimate undoing? Will the morally bankrupt culture of advertising push more souls over the edge? Is there a clearer way to broadcast how superficial your feelings are than literally giving someone your nipple instead of figuratively giving them your heart? Your guess about the nipple's deeper meaning (now there's three words I'd never expect to see in succession, let alone in a Mad Men recap) is as good as mine, but I will say it was sad to see Peggy tearfully look on as she loses one of the few friends she had — and that I also feel sorry for the cast and crew of Ben Feldman's new romantic comedy, A to Z, which will probably spend the summer months figuring out how keep nipple talk from hijacking their promotional campaign. But enough about nipples — Sunday was Mother's Day, after all, and you can't have a true Mad Men Mother's Day celebration without Betty Draper. The bubbling angst she felt about being an unfulfilled housewife during Bobby's field trip reached its boiling point this week. While accompanying Henry on a get-to-know-your-neighbors open house tour, Betty's attempt at making small talk about the Vietnam War resulted in a reprimand from her husband, who reminds her that a politician's wife should keep her mouth shut and look pretty, lest she embarrass everyone. When Sally shows up with a few black-eyes after some reckless golf-club seining, Betty's lectures about taking care of your face are quickly met with some particularly caustic Sally sass: Of course she'll try and be more careful, because where else would mommy dearest be without her perfect nose? Betty and her daughter have had their differences for quite sometime, but this episode saw their sparring get personal, and after her fight with Francis — which heartbreakingly seems to be taking a toll on young bobby, who tells Sally he always has a stomach ache at home — it was enough to push Betty over the age. "I'm tired of people telling me to shut up," she later yells at Henry in the kitchen. "I'm not stupid. I speak Italian." (Best-Line-of-the-Episode Contender #2.) Family is the source of most of Don's drama in this episode, too. Stephanie, the niece of Don's late BFF Anna Draper, rings Don up out of the blue with some unfortunate news. She's broke, pregnant and living in Los Angeles, so Don sends her to stay with Megan (whom he's still with despite their almost-split) while he is held up at the office (plot twist: Lou doesn't like it when people make fun of his cartoons!). A hospitable Megan sympathizes with Stephanie as explains how the baby's drug-dealing musician father is in jail, but when Stephanie insists there's no reason to hide the truth from Don because she already knows all his secrets, an insecure Megan writes Stephanie and check and implies she should leave to avoid hurting Don with the current state of her life. Don arrives in Los Angeles too late to see Stephanie, but he's just in time to attend Megan's house party for her acting class, which, sadly, does not include a reprise of "Zou Bisou Bisou." Don looks like his usual fish-out-of-water self when Harry Crane shows up with a lady friend who is definitely not his wife and some information that is definitely not good news for Don: Jim and Lou were meeting about the Philip Morris' Commander Cigarettes account, which a major victory for the agency but would require Don's departure — you can't have the guy who wrote a New York Times op-end about the dangers of tobacco work with a tobacco company. Nothing is quite as pathetic as having Harry Crane promise to ensure Don's importance one week after he was the butt of jokes about his own irrelevance, but instead of going on a bender to deal with his powerless-ness, Mad Man fans saw a glimpse of the old Don Draper. Or perhaps it was the threesome that inspired him. After his drink with Harry, a bummed-out Don returns home, where Megan and her pal Amy are in the mood to cheer him up ("You know what would make you feel better? Drugs!" Amy says in Best-Line-of-the-Episode Contender #3). They're also in the mood for a few other things, too, as demonstrated by what was surely one of the most, if not the most, sexually explicit Mad Men scenes ever. (Can you imagine the lawyers sitting around debating exactly Megan is allowed to put her hand?) It's not quite enough to close the distance between them — Megan isn't exactly thrilled the next morning when Stephanie finally calls and Don sounds more interested in talking to her than his own wife. So an uninvited Don crashes the Commander pitch meeting, where he exclusively pitches himself, not the company. Yes, he'll walk away from the agency if that's what it'll take for SC&P to land the account, but why would they choose to work without him when he's willing to grovel and put his years of experience to good use? The risky move seemed in some ways like a continuation of the Don we saw last week, who took Freddy's advice about fighting for the job you want to heart when he started working with Peggy. But it's also a reversion to his old — he's making the impulsive, self-serving, insubordinate decisions that got him suspended in the first place, only this time it's working. "You think this is going to save you, don't you?" Jim Cutler asks at the end of the meeting. Funny he should ask. If there's one question Mad Men has been exploring all season, it's this: Can Don Draper even be saved?

Adam Ferguson—National Geographic

Adam Ferguson: The Dogs of War | Basic Training (National Geographic) Out in front of America’s troops, combat canines and their handlers lead the way onto the most dangerous battlefields on Earth | From the National Geographic magazine’s June 2014 issue

Andrew Moore: Hallowed Ground (New York Times) National September 11 Memorial Museum

Vincent Fournier: 9/11 Museum (Wired)

Christopher Griffith: 9/11 Museum (New York Magazine)

The head of IBM says the company is poised for growth, putting an end to years of stagnant stock prices and flagging competitiveness. CEO Virginia M. Rometty, 56, said during an interview with the New York Times that things had long been “rocky” for IBM, but that a clear vision was now at hand for pursuing fresh avenues. "We are transforming this company for the next decade," she said. "That is not a one-year job, not when you’re a hundred-billion-dollar company." Having jettisoned less profitable aspects of the business, the firm of more than 400,000 employees is turning to new fields — cloud computing, says Rometty, is one example that can become an exciting venture for IBM. “I feel very good about the direction and how we’ve crystallized it,” she added. “We are making progress, and we just need to keep moving with speed.” [New York Times]

Krisanne Johnson for The New Yorker

Krisanne Johnson: Picture Me Tomorrow (New Yorker) The faces of a Newark School

Ami Vitale: Growing Up in Big Sky Country (PROOF) Growing up in Montana

Matt Eich: A Day at the Derby (The New Yorker’s Photo Booth) Kentucky Derby

Andrew Burton: Aging California Prisoners (Wall Street Journal Photo Journal) The California Department of Corrections is taking steps to alleviate the aches and pains of prison life for the elderly, who make up the fastest-growing segment of the incarcerated population in the United States. Burton documented the daily lives and struggles of aging prisoners at a variety of state prison systems in California

Yvonne Albinowski: Sights from America’s ‘loneliest road’ (CNN Photo blog) Albinowski took an ambitious photographic journey across the Nevada portion of U.S. Route 50 — or as Life magazine once dubbed it, “the loneliest road in America.” She discovered, however, that most of the towns along the road “didn’t really feel all that lonely.”

Todd Heisler: Joined by a Border (New York Times) Laredo, Tex., along the Mexican border, where Interstate 35 begins its path, faces extreme challenges to meld two cultures, an evolution occurring nationwide

Michael Robinson Chavez: Mexico vigilantes register weapons, are to disband (Los Angeles Times)

Meridith Kohut: Mysterious Illness in a Sugar Cane Heartland (New York Times) Deadly illness in Nicaragua baffles experts

Jane Austen must be rolling over in her grave. A new study shows that kids read for fun less and less as they get older, with 45% of 17-year-olds saying they read by choice only once or twice a year. The report from Common Sense Media shows that not only do reading rates decline as kids get older, but they've also dropped off significantly in the last 30 years. In 1984, 8% of 13 year olds and 9% of 17 year olds said they "never" or "hardly ever" read for pleasure. In 2014, that number had almost tripled, to 22% and 27%. Girls also tend to read more than boys, as 18% of boys say they read daily, while 30% of girls do. Parents are also reading to their kids less than ever. In 1999, children aged 2-7 were read to for an average of 45 minutes per day. In 2013, that number had dropped to an average of just over 30 minutes per day. The researchers also found racial disparities for how long children are read to. 75% of white children get read to every day, while only 66% of black children do and only 50% of Hispanic children. That disparity can translate into educational differences as well; In 2013, 46% of white 4th graders were reading proficient, while only 18% of black students and 20% of hispanic students were reading at grade level. Those trends stayed roughly the same through 8th grade. The decline in reading for fun is most easily explained by technological advances (ie, kids would rather text than read) but education could have something to do with it as well. It's no surprise that 53% of 9-year olds read for fun every day, but only 19% of 17-year olds do. Yes, the teenagers have more Instagrams to post, but they also have more homework to do. But it's impossible to ignore the prevalence of technology here. 45% of 17-year olds say they only read once or twice a year, but in 1984, 64% said they read once a week or more. The researchers also investigated the effects of e-reading, which appear to be gaining traction as a substitute for paper books, even among kids. In 2010, 66% of 9-17 year olds said they were loyal to paper books over e-books. That number dropped to 58% by 2012. And so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the -- SNAPCHAT!

Sebastián Liste—Reportage by Getty Images for Al Jazeera America

Sebastian Liste: World Cup Showdown in Rio (Al Jazeera America) Brazil’s pacification police have driven the gangs in Maré favela underground — for now

Thomas Lekfeldt: Brazil : Life in the favela of Rocinha 2014 (Agence Vu) Rocinha is the largest favela in Brazil. According to an official census around 70,000 people live in the favela, but unofficial estimates are as high as 200 or 300,000

Natalie Keyssar: Protesters Keep Up the Pressure in Venezuela (Wall Street Journal) San Cristobal demonstrators keep vigil as the nationwide protests that roiled the country earlier this year die down

The head of IBM says the company is poised for growth, putting an end to years of stagnant stock prices and flagging competitiveness. CEO Virginia M. Rometty, 56, said during an interview with the New York Times that things had long been “rocky” for IBM, but that a clear vision was now at hand for pursuing fresh avenues. "We are transforming this company for the next decade," she said. "That is not a one-year job, not when you’re a hundred-billion-dollar company." Having jettisoned less profitable aspects of the business, the firm of more than 400,000 employees is turning to new fields — cloud computing, says Rometty, is one example that can become an exciting venture for IBM. “I feel very good about the direction and how we’ve crystallized it,” she added. “We are making progress, and we just need to keep moving with speed.” [NYT]

Lynsey Addario for The New York Times

Lynsey Addario: The Dead and Those Left in South Sudan (New York Times) U.N. report documents atrocities by both sides in South Sudan war

Mustafah Abdulaziz: Women in Ethiopia struggle to survive without water (MSNBC) In the Konso Region of southern Ethiopia, the struggle for clean, safe water is a daily reality for women and young girls

        Less than a month before the 25th anniversary of the massacre, Beijing is taking no chances. In the last few weeks, authorities have rounded up several high-profile survivors and tightened   The lead-up to the anniversary usually sees the arrest or detainment of would-be remembers, and this year was no different. In addition to Pu and four others at the gathering, several people who survived the square have been arrested or detained. After going missing in late April, journalists Gao Yu, 70,was arrested and forced to confess — on television — to stealing state secrets. Gao spent a year in prison after the uprising and went on to become one of the country's most respected independent journalists. On May 9, the New York Times reported that Chen Guang, a soldier-turned-artist was also detained.  

Muhammed Elshamy—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Mohammed Elshamy: Life inside the ‘Venice of Africa,’ Nigeria’s floating slum (Al Jazeera America) Photographer Mohammed Elshamy documents Makoko, a waterfront slum neighborhood home to thousands in Lagos

Tom Stoddart: Desert Warriors (Reportage by Getty Images) Photos from the the 6th annual combat-oriented Warrior Competition in Amman, Jordan

Shelly Sterling said during an interview published Sunday that she plans to divorce her embattled husband, Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling. However, she added that she'll fight to keep her stake in the team if the National Basketball League owners vote to force him to sell the squad. "To be honest with you, I'm wondering if a wife of one of the owners, and there's 30 owners, did something like that, said those racial slurs, would they oust the husband?" Shelly Sterling told ABC News' Barbara Walters. "Or would they leave the husband in?" The NBA banned Sterling for life and fined him $2.5 million last month after a recording of him making racist remarks surfaced online. Sterling suggested to Walters that her estranged husband may have made the offensive comments because he was suffering from "the on-set of dementia." She has not spoken to him about the future of their ownership in the team, but says she "would love him to" transfer his ownership to her. "I don't know why I should be punished for what his actions were," she said. [ABC]

Kevin Frayer—Getty Images

Kevin Frayer: India’s Elections (Time.com) Voting in India’s general elections concluded on May 12, five weeks after the first ballots were cast. Some 550 million people—equating to a record turnout of over 66%—voted in what was the biggest exercise in democracy on the planet | Frayer’s photos from the Ladakh vote on the National website

Daniel Berehulak: Hopes of a Generation Ride on Indian Vote (New York Times) Also: Indian Leader Aims National With Local Economic Policies

Romi Perbawa: Fearless Riders: The Child Jockeys of Indonesia (LightBox) Indonesian photographer Romi Perbawa has spent four years documenting the child racers of Sumbawa Island in the West Nusa Tenggara province of Indonesia

A new study shows that kids read for fun less and less as they get older, with 45% of 17-year-olds saying they read by choice only once or twice a year Research released today from Common Sense Media shows that not only do reading rates decline as kids get older, but they've also dropped off significantly in the last 30 years. In 1984, 8% of 13 year olds and 9% of 17 year olds said they "never" or "hardly ever" read for pleasure. In 2014, that number had almost tripled, to 22% and 27%. Girls also tend to read more than boys, as 18% of boys say they read daily, while 30% of girls do. Parents are also reading to their kids less than ever. In 1999, children aged 2-7 were read to for an average of 45 minutes per day. In 2013, that number had dropped to an average of just over 30 minutes per day. The researchers also found racial disparities for how long children are read to. 75% of white children get read to every day, while only 66% of black children do and only 50% of Hispanic children. That disparity can translate into educational differences as well; In 2013, 46% of white 4th graders were reading proficient, while only 18% of black students and 20% of hispanic students were reading at grade level. Those trends stayed roughly the same through 8th grade. The decline in reading for fun is most easily explained by technological advances (ie, kids would rather text than read) but education could have something to do with it as well. It's no surprise that 53% of 9-year olds read for fun every day, but only 19% of 17-year olds do. Yes, the teenagers have more Instagrams to post, but they also have more homework to do. But it's impossible to ignore the prevalence of technology here. 45% of 17-year olds say they only read once or twice a year, but in 1984, 64% said they read once a week or more. The researchers also investigated the effects of e-reading, which appear to be gaining traction as a substitute for paper books, even among kids. In 2010, 66% of 9-17 year olds said they were loyal to paper books over e-books. That number dropped to 58% by 2012. And so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the -- SNAPCHAT!

William Daniels—National Geographic

William Daniels: Train for the Forgotten (National Geographic) For Siberia’s isolated villagers, the doctor is in the railway car | From National Geographic magazine’s June issue | From the National Geographic magazine’s June 2014 issue

Sergey Ponomarev: Slovyansk: An Unlikely Flashpoint in Ukraine Crisis (New York Times)

Hillary Clinton has been thinking a lot about her own mother as her daughter Chelsea expects her first child, the former Secretary of State writes in an excerpt from her new memoir, Hard Choices. Dorothy Howell Rodham, who passed away in 2011, helped inspire Clinton's passion for public service after overcoming an abusive childhood in Chicago. "Mom helped Chelsea navigate the unique challenges of growing up in the public eye and, when she was ready, encouraged her to pursue her passion for service and philanthropy," she writes in the excerpt published in Vogue from her upcoming book. "Even in her 90s, Mom never lost her commitment to social justice, which did so much to mold and inspire me when I was growing up. I loved that she was able to do the same for Chelsea." Clinton also writes in the excerpt about the blessings and challenges of taking care of an aging parent. "Mom was a fighter her entire life, but it was finally time to let go," she writes. "I sat by her bedside and held her hand one last time. No one had a bigger influence on my life or did more to shape the person I became." You can hear Clinton read the excerpt aloud over on Vogue's website. Hard Choices hits bookstore shelves June 10. [Vogue] [time-brightcove videoid=3551451994001]

Jerome Sessini—Magnum

Jerome Sessini: Rebel Vote Turns Deadly In Eastern Ukraine (LightBox) Magnum photographer Jerome Sessini captured the fallout as armed men identified as Ukrainian national guardsmen fired on a crowd gathered at polling location for a sovereignty referendum, deemed illegitimate by the government, in eastern Krasnoarmeisk

Stephan Vanfleteren: Atlantic Wall (Panos Pictures) The Atlantic Wall was a system of defensive structures built by Nazi Germany between 1942 and 1945, stretching over 1,670 miles along the coast from the North of Norway to the border between France and Spain at the Pyrenees. There are still thousands of ruined structures along the Atlantic coast

Kenneth O’Halloran: Ireland’s Abandoned Handball Alleys (New York Times Magazine) A century ago, handball was one of the most beloved sports in Ireland, its typical three-walled alley, or court, a fixture in villages and at crossroads | Related: Interview with the photographer

Reed Young: Italian Dubbers (The New Yorker’s Photo Booth) Young developed an interest in the world of the Italian doppiatori. He recently began work on a series of photographs that recreated scenes from iconic American movies, with Italian voice actors standing in for their stateside counterparts

James Rawlings: Architecture of Conflict (Wired Raw File) The fake UK city streets where cops learn riot control

Stuart Franklin: Calais: the final frontier (Financial Times Magazine) As border controls have relaxed across Europe, the cross-Channel port has become the last barrier for economic and political migrants trying to enter Britain illegally

Marco Pavan: Stories of Immigration Told Through Objects Left Behind (Wired Raw File) For years, a small group of residents on the Italian island of Lampedusa have been collecting the items left behind by the thousands of African migrants who land on their shores each year

Lourdes Segade: Surgery helps kids grow taller (CNN Photo blog) The most common cause of dwarfism is a condition called achondroplasia. It is a birth defect that affects bone growth, especially in the arms and legs. Segade followed a child who suffers from the disorder and underwent a painful limb-lengthening procedure to help them become taller

Articles

A new study shows that kids read for fun less and less as they get older, with 45% of 17-year-olds saying they read by choice only once or twice a year. Research released today from Common Sense Media shows that not only do reading rates decline as kids get older, but they've also dropped off significantly in the last 30 years. In 1984, 8% of 13 year olds and 9% of 17 year olds said they "never" or "hardly ever" read for pleasure. In 2014, that number had almost tripled, to 22% and 27%. Girls also tend to read more than boys, as 18% of boys say they read daily, while 30% of girls do. Parents are also reading to their kids less than ever. In 1999, children aged 2-7 were read to for an average of 45 minutes per day. In 2013, that number had dropped to an average of just over 30 minutes per day. The researchers also found racial disparities for how long children are read to. 75% of white children get read to every day, while only 66% of black children do and only 50% of Hispanic children. That disparity can translate into educational differences as well; In 2013, 46% of white 4th graders were reading proficient, while only 18% of black students and 20% of hispanic students were reading at grade level. Those trends stayed roughly the same through 8th grade. The decline in reading for fun is most easily explained by technological advances (ie, kids would rather text than read) but education could have something to do with it as well. It's no surprise that 53% of 9-year olds read for fun every day, but only 19% of 17-year olds do. Yes, the teenagers have more Instagrams to post, but they also have more homework to do. But it's impossible to ignore the prevalence of technology here. 45% of 17-year olds say they only read once or twice a year, but in 1984, 64% said they read once a week or more. The researchers also investigated the effects of e-reading, which appear to be gaining traction as a substitute for paper books, even among kids. In 2010, 66% of 9-17 year olds said they were loyal to paper books over e-books. That number dropped to 58% by 2012. And so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the -- SNAPCHAT!

William Daniels—Panos Pictures

French Journalist Camille Lepage, 26, Dies in Central African Republic (AP Big Story) See also: a 2013 PetaPixel interview with Lepage

AFP photographer Fred Dufour on Camille Lepage and her career cut short (AFP Correspondent)

Bearing Witness, Losing Her Life (New York Times Lens blog) Camille Lepage, a 26-year-old photographer who considered it her duty to delve into stories in often-overlooked places, was killed in the Central African Republic | Also on LightBox here

Lee Kun-hee, chairman of Samsung Electronics Co., arrives for a company meeting at the Shilla hotel in Seoul on Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013

John Moore—Getty Images

Lynsey Addario on Covering War (National Geographic News) The death of a French photojournalist weighs on conflict photographer Lynsey Addario | According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 70 people in my profession were murdered in 2013 “as a direct reprisal” for their work. Of those, nearly a quarter were photographers

Kidnapped, Beaten, and Shot in Syria, Photographer and Writer Manage to Escape (Photo District News Pulse blog)

The head of South Korea’s largest business group is recuperating after suffering from a heart attack and undergoing an emergency operation in Seoul over the weekend

The Real Story About the Wrong Photos in #BringBackOurGirls (New York Times Lens blog) Photographer Ami Vitale, who worked in Guinea-Bissau to show the dignity and resilience of its people is aghast at how her photographs were used – without her permission – to represent girls kidnapped in Nigeria. | Related interview with Vitale on Public Radio International

Story Behind Daniel Berehulak’s Afghanistan Childhood Malnutrition Photos (Photo District News)

Photo booth in Za’atari (The New Yorker’s Photo Booth) Late last year, Nina Berman and three other photographers from the NOOR agency travelled to Jordan to set up a photo booth in the middle of the Za’atari refugee camp

Gritty Instagrams of the Biggest Election in the World (Wired Raw File) India’s mammoth election captured on Instagram

Robert Capa’s Longest Day (Vanity Fair) Seventy years ago, the great war photographer joined the first slaughterhouse wave of D-day, recording W.W. II’s pivotal battle in 11 historic images of blur and grit. But that is only a fraction compared with what he shot—and lost

Vivian Maier and the Problem of Difficult Women (New Yorker’s Photo Booth)

Samsung chairman Lee Kun-Hee is in stable condition after suffering a heart attack late on Saturday night. After complaining of respiratory difficulties, the 72-year-old tech tycoon was rushed to Samsung Medical Center in Seoul where doctors performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation. "He is now recuperating in a stable condition after undergoing an operation," read a statement issued by Samsung Medical Centre. The Samsung chief has reportedly been plagued with respiratory related health issues since undergoing lung surgery in the early 1990s. Samsung has yet to comment on how the latest incident may affect his relationship with the company. His 45-old-year son Jay Y. Lee serves as vice chairman of Samsung Electronics and is being groomed to take over the company once his father steps down. Lee is often credited with transforming Samsung into one of the most recognized tech brands in the world, after taking over the company from his father in 1987. [WSJ]

Marco Longari—AFP/Getty Images

The girl in the photograph (AFP Correspondent) Marco Longari on a photograph he took in Kenya in 2003 that inspire a UK man to start a clean-water foundation that would raise millions. A decade later, Longari travelled back to Kenya to meet the girl in the picture

“Urbes Mutantes” at the I.C.P. (The New Yorker’s Photo Booth) Urbes Mutantes: Latin American Photography 1944-2013, a new exhibition at the International Center for Photography, focusses on the ways in which political and social turmoil have sculpted urban identity in Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, and elsewhere in the region | Also on the Lens blog

Italy’s Independence in Postwar Photography (New York Times Lens blog) Mid-Century Postwar Italian Photography is on exhibit at the Keith De Lellis Gallery in Manhattan and will be up until May 17.

Mark Cohen’s Street Photography (New York Times Lens blog) Mark Cohen has found that his love of taking up-close of pictures of strangers isn’t always requited | Mark Cohen is on exhibition at Danziger Gallery in Manhattan until June 20

A wildfire has forced several hundred people from their homes in the Texas panhandle, authorities said late Sunday. Up to 100 homes have been gutted and some 1,200 are threatened, according to officials in Hutchinson County. The cause of the blaze hasn’t yet been established, but gusts of up to 50 mph were hampering containment efforts, Emergency Management Coordinator Danny Richards told CNN. [CNN]

Phaidon

Review: The Seventh Dog by Danny Lyon (Conscientious Magazine)

Peter van Agtmael’s Disco Night Sept 11 (British Journal of Photography) Magnum photographer Peter van Agtmael’s work in Iraq, Afghanistan and the US has won countless awards over the past decade but, finds Olivier Laurent, it gains newfound meaning in Disco Night Sept 11, the photographer’s second monograph

‘Moonshine’, by photographer Bertien van Manen (Financial Times Magazine) Images and words from the photographer’s forthcoming book on a poor, rural mining community in Kentucky

New York Times photographer Josh Haner’s invention: the streaming backpack (Capital New York)

Richard Mosse wins Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2014 (Telegraph) The Irish photographer has won £30,000 for his photographs of tragedy in the Congo

Mary Ellen Mark wins Lifetime Achievement Award (Phaidon) George Eastman House, the world’s oldest photography museum, honors the American photographer | Related on the George Eastman House YouTube channel

Prix Pictet Prize: Photographs From the Finalists (Wall Street Journal) 11 finalists from across the globe are up for the prestigious photography prize, which will be announced on May 21

Life, Time and Fortune: how Walker Evans mastered magazine photography (Guardian) A new book shows the master at work, and in control of, magazine photoessays on everything from Chicago street life to common tools

Detroit, From Both Sides of the Coin (New York Times Lens blog) Bill Rauhauser spent much of his life taking pictures as a hobby while working as an engineer in Detroit. But those twin tugs gave his work a range and balance few can match

They wanted him to disappear. In the early hours of May 6, Pu Zhiqiang, a prominent Chinese human rights lawyer, was criminally detained on charges of 'picking quarrels and provoking trouble.'     Days earlier, Pu and a small group of others gathered privately in Beijing to discuss the incident, posing for a picture in front of a red sign. Almost as quickly as the picture was posted online, Pu and four others were detained—a not-so-subtle warning to would-be rememberes   Less than three weeks before the 25th anniversary of the crackdown on demonstrators in Tiananmen square, the government has launched a fresh campaign to suppress those who might remember.       Less than a month before the 25th anniversary of the massacre, Beijing is taking no chances.     In the last few weeks, authorities have rounded up several high-profile survivors and tightened controls on activists. In addition to Pu and four others at the gathering, several people who survived the square have been arrested or detained. After going missing in late April, journalists Gao Yu, 70,was arrested and forced to confess, on television, to stealing state secrets. Gao spent a year in prison after the uprising and went on to become one of the country's most respected independent journalists. On May 9, the New York Times reported that Chen Guang, a soldier-turned-artist whose worked touched on Tiananmen and its legacy, was also detained.  

Alexander Chekmenev

Strong Arm of the State: Alexander Chekmenev’s Post-Independence Ukraine Passport Photos (LightBox) After the breakup of the Soviet Union, Ukraine had to go through the process of issuing new passports to all of its citizens, roughly 50 million of them. Many of those citizens were shut-ins, elderly and bedridden, and in order to take their passport pictures someone had to go around making house calls with a camera.

Tangled Identities and Allegiances in Ukraine (New York Times Lens blog) Photographer Alexander Chekmenev’s national and ethnic identities have whipsawed during the upheavals since the collapse of the Soviet Union and right through the current crisis

Mishka Henner: a Duchamp for our times (Telegraph) Henner’s found photographs have won him a Prix Pictet photography prize nomination

Gueorgui Pinkhassov’s best photograph: a rooster in a Tashkent bazaar (Guardian)

Jürgen Schadeberg’s best shot: Hans Prignitz’s handstand over Hamburg (Guardian)

Featured photographer: Giles Clarke (Verve Photo)

Interviews and Talks

Ashley Gilbertson—VII

Three of VII: The Life of a Photograph (PROOF) VII photographers—Ashley Gilbertson, Ron Haviv and Gary Knight—on the things that motivate and inspire them

Mary Ellen Mark (The United Nations of Photography)

Vince Musi (TEDx) Musi talks about his animal photography

Ed Kashi On the Trail of a Mysterious Disease in Nicaragua (Open Society Foundations)

The head of South Korea’s largest business group is recuperating after suffering from a heart attack and undergoing an emergency operation in Seoul over the weekend

Photographing War: Tyler Hicks (PROOF) Hicks spoke at the 2014 National Geographic Photography Seminar in January—an annual celebration of photography held at the society’s headquarters in Washington. Hicks discussed his experience documenting conflict in Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, and most recently, the massacre at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, the city he calls home.

Photographer Ismail Ferdous On Documenting the Rana Plaza Factory Collapse (The Aerogram)

Maxim Dondyuk (FotoEvidence)

Zed Nelson (Dazed and Confused) On his Hackney project

Massimo Vitali (Two Way Lens)

Gerhard Steidl (The Talks)

Amy Toensing on Going Outside the Comfort Zone (PROOF)

Sean Gallagher (World Press Photo Academy YouTube) Gallagher talks about his most recent multimedia project ‘The Toxic Price of Leather’ filmed in Kanpur in northern India

Lucas Foglia (Mossless / Vice)

Paul D’Amato (Mossless / Vice)

Mustafah Abdulaziz (Roads & Kingdom) Abdulaziz on his Water project

Mikko Takkunen is an associate photo editor at TIME.com. Follow him on Twitter @photojournalism.

Contact us at letters@time.com.