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US press review by Paul Melcher

Slate.com: Philippe Halsman/Magnum Photos. Caption. Spain. Salvador Dali in bed in 1964, projecting pieces of dirty paper "to stimulate his inspiration.” Photographer Philippe Halsman collaborated with Salvador Dali for years and from time to time Today’s Pictures has featured some of the resulting images. This intimate, behind the scenes photo of Dali “at work” never quite fit into one of these galleries. Part of what I love about it is, in true Dali fashion, the photo and caption are completely disorienting.

NBCsport : Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Reina fails to save a shot from Udinese forward Antonio Di Natale during a Europa League match on Thursday, Oct. 4 in Liverpool, England. Photo by Andrew Yates / AFP

Interview Magazine : Brad Pitt as Bob Marley. Photography STEVEN KLEIN. Stylist LUDIVINE POIBLANC

Vogue.com : Hanne Gaby Odiele. New York. Photographed by Phil Oh

MSNBC.com : Visitors experience the "Rain Room" art installation by Random International in The Curve at the Barbican Centre in London, England, on Oct. 3. The Rain Room is a 100-square-meter field of falling water that visitors are invited to walk into, with sensors detecting where they are standing. Oli Scarff / Getty Images

National Geographic : Photograph by Brett Colvin, Here, skin like crinkled aluminum frames the large eye of a tarpon in this macro image. The Atlantic fish, also called the silver king, can reach up to eight feet in length and weigh as much as 350 pounds.

Msnbc.com : Julian Stratenschulte / AFP . A woman with a leaf blower reflects in the window of a bus stop in Hanover, Germany, on Oct. 9.

Denver Post : Journalists watch the first 2012 Presidential Debate at the University of Denver, Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2012 in Denver. The Denver Post/ Helen H. Richardson

The Seattle Times : CHARLIE RIEDEL / AP. St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Jaime Garcia, right, throws to Washington Nationals' Bryce Harper during the first inning of Game 2 of the National League division baseball series, Monday, Oct. 8, 2012, in St. Louis.

PDN : Harold Feinstein . Puppy Love, Crete , 1987

Palm Beach Post. Children from the Greenacres Community Center tour the Greenacres Public Works facility. Vehicle maintenance supervisor Mike Wood shows a police shield to the students while they are shown a police Special Response Team vehicle. Thomas Cordy/The Palm Beach Post
Slate.com: Philippe Halsman/Magnum Photos. Caption. Spain. Salvador Dali in bed in 1964, projecting pieces of dirty paper "to stimulate his inspiration.” Photographer Philippe Halsman collaborated with Salvador Dali for years and from time to time Today’s Pictures has featured some of the resulting images. This intimate, behind the scenes photo of Dali “at work” never quite fit into one of these galleries. Part of what I love about it is, in true Dali fashion, the photo and caption are completely disorienting.
In fact, photography is a tool for the blind. Because of our deep relationship with the animal world, our brain is wired exclusively to detect motion. In a natural state, we pay little or no attention to anything static because it offers little to no threat. We actually have to make a dedicated decision to focus our eyes and attention to something that is not in motion. Thus, in our everyday lives, we notice all the little things that move around us and hardly what doesn't. Advertising has known that for years thus the reason you have neon signs, commercials on tv and those annoying flashing banners on websites. But there is more to our blindness. Even as we pay attention to movement, we quickly identify patterns from which we can draw conclusions. We never, ever pay attention to an infinitesimal portion of the actions. Why would we ? We have to think about our security first. What the camera captures is both immobility and that slice of a motion. Two elements we are completely blind to. Even if we had witnessed the same events, from the same location as the photographer, it is extremely doubtful that we would have noticed what appears on the image. That fraction of second, for us, was lost in overall interpretation of an action, with the end result probably being, for us, the most import part. This is where photography cures our animalistic blindness . It allows us to stop, for as long as we wish, and focus into an infinitesimal fraction of a motion and analyze it freely. We are drawn to making our own conclusions on what the outcome could have been but, quite frankly, it doesn't matter much. What we revel into is the ability that we do not have to . The frozen frame moment becomes almost more important than the whole action altogether and opens up an entirely new dimension to our thinking. We no longer have to manage our primal “flight or fight” reaction but rather reach out to our cultural background to seek out better understanding. And we even process the image as part of our memory which we often, later on, confuse with real living moments. Every week here, we bring you some of those slices of motion, captured for you by complete strangers willing to sacrifice their life to let you better separate yourself form your animal condition.
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Paul Melcher
