Gordon Parks -- the prolific photographer, filmmaker, composer and writer who died at age 93 in 2006 -- would have turned 100 this November. To commemorate his life and artistic achievements, the International Center of Photography in New York City is displaying more than 50 of Park's most memorable pieces in its newest exhibit, "Gordon Parks: 100 Years," which includes Emerging Man, a 20-by-13-foot photo mural set in 1952 Harlem. Parks' other photographs documented the civil rights era and America's struggles with racism, urban and rural poverty and politics. For more than 20 years, Parks worked at the photo desk of Life magazine, where he snapped timeless images of the segregated South, gangs in Harlem and iconic personalities including Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr. ... Continue reading →
Steve Jobs' successor is making his mark and trying to keep the Apple magic going. FORTUNE -- In February of this year, a group of investors visited Apple as part of a "bus tour" led by a research analyst for Citibank. The session started with a 45-minute presentation by Peter Oppenheimer, Apple's chief financial officer, and the 15 or so investors who attended the session were treated to Apple's unique brand of hospitality: They met in a threadbare conference room in Apple's Town Hall public conference center at the 4 Infinite Loop building in Cupertino, Calif., where the refreshments consisted of "three stale cookies and two Diet Cokes," in the words of one participant. All that, save the meager refreshments, is routine for big public ... Continue reading →
Everyone's seen the photo of Barack Obama in the Oval Office with a little boy whose arm is raised to touch his hair. It's hung in the White House and is still making the Internet rounds because of what many see as its moving message about the symbolic value of the first African American presidency. Today, the New York Times tells the story behind the photo: The boy in the picture is Jacob Philadelphia of Columbia, Md. Three years ago this month, his father, Carlton, a former Marine, was leaving the White House staff after a two-year stint on the National Security Council that began in the Bush administration. As departing staff members often do, Mr. Philadelphia asked for a family photograph with Mr. Obama. ... Continue reading →
The New Orleans Times-Picayune, which distinguished itself amid great adversity during Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, is about to enact large staff cuts and may cut back its print publishing schedule to several days a week, according to two employees with knowledge of the plans.Newhouse Newspapers, which owns the Times-Picayune, will apparently be working off a blueprint the company used in Ann Arbor, Mich., where it reduced the frequency of the Ann Arbor News, emphasized the Web site as a primary distributor of news and in the process instituted wholesale layoffs to cut costs.A request for comment from the newspaper’s editor, Jim Amoss, late Wednesday night was not returned.The plans have been kept under wraps, but the newspaper will likely cease to exist as a ... Continue reading →
Pete Souza/The White House In the photo that has hung in the West Wing for three years, President Obama looks to be bowing to 5-year-old Jacob Philadelphia, his arm raised to touch the president’s hair — to see if it feels like his. WASHINGTON — For decades at the White House, photographs of the president at work and at play have hung throughout the West Wing, and each print soon gives way to a more recent shot. But one picture of President Obama remains after three years. In the photo, Mr. Obama looks to be bowing to a sharply dressed 5-year-old black boy, who stands erect beside the Oval Office desk, his arm raised to touch the president’s hair — to see if it feels ... Continue reading →
