Wikipedia: List of photographs considered the most important
This is a list of photographs considered the most important in surveys where authoritative sources review the history of the medium not limited by time period, region, genre, topic, or other specific criteria. They are all considered key images in the history of photography.
Dorothea Lange at the National Gallery of Art, Washington
During her long, prolific, and groundbreaking career, the American photographer Dorothea Lange made some of the most iconic portraits of the 20th century. _Dorothea Lange: Seeing People _reframes Lange’s work through the lens of portraiture, highlighting her unique ability to discover and reveal the character and resilience of those she photographed.
Featuring some 100 photographs, the exhibition addresses her innovative approaches to picturing people, emphasizing her work on social issues including economic disparity, migration, poverty, and racism.
November 5, 2023 – March 31, 2024 - West Building, Ground Floor, National Gallery of Art
Star Power: Photographs from Hollywood’s Golden Age by George Hurrell at the National Portrait Gallery - March 1, 2024 - January 5, 2025
Updated Guide to Visiting Washington, DC
Results of the 2023 Ricoh GR Photo Contest
GR Photo Festival 2023: Three photos were selected by each of Ricoh’s ten judges from all over the world. There were about 7,000 total entries. This shows what a small camera can do in everyday life. There is no need to go to Mount Everest to make compelling photographs. The images are worth reviewing along with the comments of the judges.
Visiting Paris
If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.
Places to Visit
- La Tour Eiffel
- Arc de Triomphe
- Saint-Chapelle
- Assemblée Nationale - Palais Bourbon
- Le Panthéon
- Hôtel des Invalides
- Bibliothèque nationale de France
- La Comédie-Française
- Paris, France: 10 churches you should visit - Lots of detail and wonderful photos
- Église Saint-Sulpice - It is only slightly smaller than Notre-Dame and thus the second-largest church in the city. The church is mentioned in Dan Brown’s 2003 novel The Da Vinci Code.
- Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel
- Walking Along the Seine
- Pont Alexandre III
- Hôtel de la Marine
- Musée Guimet, Musée national des arts asiatiques
- Musée Jacquemart-André
- Musée Carnavalet – Histoire de Paris
- Musée de la Libération de Paris - musée du Général Leclerc - musée Jean Moulin
- Rue des Martyrs
- Basilique de Saint-Denis - The final resting place of the kings and queens of France. Built on the grave of Saint Denis, a Bishop of Paris who died in 250 AD, the royal abbey of Saint-Denis was, from the death of King Dagobert in 639 AD until the 19th century, the burial place of 43 kings, 32 queens and 10 servants to the monarchy. The basilica was raised to the rank of cathedral in 1966.
- Musée d’Art et d’Histoire du Judaïsme - The largest French museum of Jewish art and history
- The American Church in Paris, the first American church established outside of the United States.
- Musée Nissim de Camondo
- Musée Picasso
- Le Cordon Bleu Paris proposes a range of short term culinary discoveries for those with a passion for the art of cooking: cooking classes, pastry classes and boulangerie workshops. These courses can take the form of demonstrations or practical workshops.
- Boulevard Paris 13 - Street Art
- Bibliothèque nationale de France
- Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève
- Tunnel des Tuileries
- The Musée de la Vie romantique (Museum of Romantic Life)
- Des Mots et Des Arts (en français) vous propose de découvrir ses visites guidées de Paris. Pour mieux comprendre l’histoire et les transformations urbaines de la capitale, nos guides vous accompagnent dans votre découverte parisienne.
- Cultival - Guided tours of Paris landmarks
- Sarah Donnelly, Stand-Up Comedian in Paris
- Domaine National de Saint-Cloud
- Canal Saint-Martin
- Eiffel Tower viewed from Pont Bir-Hakeim
- Tour Montparnasse - Since April 1, 2023 the rooftop terrace is closed to the public. The 56th floor is open but you will be viewing and making photos through glass.
- Paris Walks (in English)
- Parisology - Walking Tours
- April in Paris Tours - April Pett, a Canadian from Ontario who lives in Paris, offers walking tours. April was interviewed in French by Yasmine Lesire in this podcast.
- Musée Maillol
- Musée Marmottan Monet
- Bourse de Commerce - Pinault Collection
- Les visites-conférences de Paris historique - Visites guidées (in French)
- La Banque de France
- Musée des Archives Nationales - Hôtel de Soubise
- La Galerie Dior
- Fondation Louis Vuitton
- Serge Lutens, Palais Royal
- Enjoy a spectacular view over Paris from the 8th floor of Galeries Lafayette Paris Haussmann
- So Hotel - Rooftop bar
- Librairie Delamain - One of the oldest bookstores in Paris
- Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature
- Institut de France
- Sainte-Geneviève Library
- Parc de Bagatelle - Jardin botanique de Paris
- Marché Beauvau – Marché d’Aligre – See also, David Lebovitz’s 2016 description of the market.
Learning About Paris
- Evous - What’s happening in Paris (only in French)
- Paris Diary by Laure - An excellent blog about what’s happening in Paris
- Paris Update – What’s happening now in Paris (in English)
- Guide to Paris by Vito L. Tanzi, a talented Washington area photographer
- The Only Street in Paris: Life on the Rue des Martyrs by Elaine Sciolino, former Paris bureau chief for The New York Times
- The Seine: The River that Made Paris by Elaine Sciolino
- The Streets of Paris: A Guide to the City of Light Following in the Footsteps of Famous Parisians Throughout History
- Join Us in France Podcast
- Paris Unlocked
- Paris Gone By
- Admiring the Trees of Paris, New York Times
- Joann Pai - A Little Guide for Those Coming to Paris
- The Earful Tower: An Australian-Swedish couple living in Paris share their take on the city
- Bonjour Paris - Information for travelers to Paris
- Paris with Scott - “Paris, you are . . . the love of my life. And, I want everyone to love you as much as I do.”
- Les Frenchies - After 32 years in the US, the Duponts moved to France where Antoine was born. Antoine is rediscovering his homeland and sharing it with his American wife Colleen. They are on a quest to find the best France has to offer.
- The Paris Tourists Rarely Visit - See also, William Keo’s ongoing project about unrest in the suburbs of Paris.
- Tips for Photographing Montmartre by Serge Ramelli - Video
- Matt Barrett’s Guide to Paris
- Eight Places to See the Eiffel Tower
Eating in Paris
- David Lebovitz, Website by an American pastry chef and author who lives in Paris
- Paris by Mouth, Paris restaurant reviews and more
- Le Zinc d’Honoré - A classic brasserie I’ve enjoyed.
- Maison Fleuret - A literary coffee shop nestled within an old bookstore in the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. - Review en Français
- Elan café Galeries Lafayette 4è etage - Review en Français
Last updated: February 29, 2024
Read the Fine Print Before Buying Travel Insurance
If you buy travel insurance for a group tour make sure the payment of any claim from the insurer goes to you and not the tour company. Christopher Elliot explains that with some travel companies (e.g., Overseas Adventure Travel), “when you buy travel insurance with your trip, the insurance payment goes to the company, which then pays you.” And even then the tour company may be slow in paying the money or may never pay. If you choose to buy travel insurance, it’s better to buy it from the insurance company rather than the tour operator. That way if the insurer pays a claim they will pay it to you and not the tour company.
What’s more, the insurance company will have a claims procedure that will take time and effort. Without proper documentation, your claim may be denied. Be prepared to fill out forms and wait.
In addition, I suggest you consider buying cancel for any reason coverage, especially in current times. There may be political unrest, the risk of illness or other reasons that make you uncomfortable with the trip that won’t be covered by travel insurance. For an additional premium you can get cancel for any reason coverage which generally will pay 75% of what you paid for the trip. You will still lose money but a lot less than the full amount of the trip.
If you file a claim it may take the insurer a long time even to review it. You can expect to receive emails like this:
Thank You For Your Patience!
We are checking in to let you know we received your documents and we are still working to complete your claim. We sincerely apologize that our review process is taking longer than usual. We’ll provide you an update when your claim has been reviewed. You can check the status of your claim by logging into your profile or by visiting the link below.
If you have received more than one of these letters from us, please disregard the others.
On the other hand, if you travel a lot you may be willing to accept the risk of losing everything you paid the tour operator. Just don’t count on the tour operator to care about your level of fear or discomfort.
Buyer beware.
See also, Should Overseas Adventure Travel cover my airfare for a canceled pretrip excursion?
United States Supreme Court
A Nice WordPress Gallery Plugin
My hobby is photography and I’ve been looking for a WordPress gallery plugin I like to display image galleries in blog posts. I’ve tried many but they would not do everything I want or were cumbersome to use.
I just found GT3 Photo and Video Gallery Pro and it does everything I want it to do. It’s also easy to use. The free version does a nice job but the Pro version adds a lot of nice features and cost $19 for a one year license. This is an example of a gallery I created with the plugin. And I think the gallery looks great on mobile as well. All the settings are available in the block editor which I find ideal for me. This post includes another example a GT3 gallery.
A complete guide to Bluesky 🦋 – mackuba.eu
A complete guide to Bluesky 🦋 – mackuba.eu
I want to thank Kuba Suder of Poland for this well written and detailed guide to Bluesky, which he periodically updates. I have a much better understanding of what Bluesky is all about because of it. I learned about it by reading Michael Tsai’s excellent tech blog.
’Photography is a way to be in life’
I have long admired the work of Sam Abell. This video is not just about promoting a new camera. It’s about life.
Abell is on Canon’s website as a Canon Explorer of Light so I was surprised to see him promote another brand of camera.
Books About Paris
Gregg Rutter, a photographer from Minnesota, recommends these books about Paris on episode 478 of the Join Us in France podcast:
- Paris, the Novel, by Edward Rutherford, historical fiction
- Seven Ages of Paris, by Alistair Horne, history - I listened to this sweeping history of Paris and enjoyed it very much. It’s 20 hours and 49 minutes long and worth every minute. The narration by Derek Perkins is superb.
- In Montmartre, by Sue Roe about the art scene
- In Montparnasse, by Sue Roe about the art scene
- The Paris Bookseller, by Kerri MaherEve, about the writing scene in Paris
- My Life in France, by Julia Child with Alex Prudhomme
- A Moveable Feast, by Ernest Hemingway
Gregg later recommended the following books:
- Dawn of the Belle Epoque - The Paris of Monet, Zola, Bernhardt, Eiffel, Debussy, Clemenceau, and Their Friends by Mary McAuliffe
- Paris, City of Dreams - Napoleon III, Baron Haussmann, and the Creation of Paris by Mary McAuliffe
- Twilight of the Belle Epoque - The Paris of Picasso, Stravinsky, Proust, Renault, Marie Curie, Gertrude Stein, and Their Friends Through the Great War by Mary McAuliffe
Harvard Antisemitic Cartoon
Harvard University Interim President Alan M. Garber:
A few groups purporting to speak on behalf of Harvard affiliates recently circulated a flagrantly antisemitic cartoon in a post on social media channels. The cartoon, included in a longer post, depicted what appeared to be an Arab man and a Black man with nooses around their necks. The nooses are held by a hand imprinted with the Star of David, and a dollar sign appears in the middle of the star. Online condemnation of this trope-filled image was swift, and Harvard promptly issued a statement condemning the posted cartoon. While the groups associated with the posting or sharing of the cartoon have since sought to distance themselves from it in various ways, the damage remains, and our condemnation stands.
Alan Garber, assumed the office on January 2, 2024, following the resignation of Claudine Gay.
David Wolpe, from Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, is a visiting scholar at the Harvard Divinity School. Rabbi Wolpe shared the post in question. It’s clearly antisemitic.
A group of pro-Palestinian faculty and staff at Harvard University later apologized. But The Times of Israel reported that the group:
then republished the post but replaced the antisemitic image with one of radical civil rights activist Kwame Ture — formally known as Stokely Carmichael — famous for saying the “only good Zionist is a dead Zionist.”
See also, WSJ.
The Value of Having Your Own Domain
I have always preached using your own domains for all vital email. Sure, we all have burners with various providers for all of the junk, but I would never use a Proton Mail, Tuta, or Fastmail domain for anything which is important to me, such as a financial institution or work communications. ANY service could shut down or kick you out tomorrow. When you use your own domain, you can easily forward it to another service within an hour.
The post also stresses that redundancy is also important:
I maintain a paid package through Proton Mail, Tuta, and Fastmail at all times. I can store all of my domains at any of them whenever needed. While I doubt any of them are going away any time soon, I have redundancy.
I have paid email accounts at both Protonmail and Fastmail. I’m glad I do.
Pan Am ‘First Moon Flights’ Club
Between 1968 and 1971, Pan American World Airways issued over 93,000 “First Moon Flights” Club cards to those eager to make a reservation for the first commercial flight to the Moon. The cards were free. I was a proud member.
The Club originated from a waiting list that is said to have started in 1964, when Gerhard Pistor, an Austrian journalist, went to a Viennese travel agency requesting a flight to the Moon. The agency forwarded his request to Pan Am, which accepted the reservation two weeks later and replied that the first flight was expected to depart in 2000.
On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first human to step foot on the moon.
On September 9, 1969, the United States Postal Service issued a 10 cent postage stamp showing an astronaut walking on the surface of the moon. It was called the “First Man on the Moon” postage stamp. According to the National Postal Museum, the stamp was made from the same master die that the astronauts took with them to the moon. Additionally, it was the largest stamp the United States had issued up to that point.
Pan Am sent members of the “First Moon Flights” Club “First Day of Issue” envelopes. I was excited to get mine and still have it. I now doubt I will make it to the moon. But it was an exciting thought.
Unfortunately, Pan Am did not survive. It went bankrupt in 1991.
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress in Washington, DC is the largest library in the world, with millions of books, films and video, audio recordings, photographs, newspapers, maps and manuscripts in its collections. The Library is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office.
Congress moved to Washington, D.C. in 1800 after holding sessions for eleven years in temporary national capitals in New York City and Philadelphia. Also in 1800, as part of an act of Congress providing for the removal of the new national government from Philadelphia to Washington, President John Adams approved an act of Congress providing $5,000 for books for the use of Congress—the beginning of the Library of Congress.
However, in 1814, the British burned Washington, destroying the Capitol and the small congressional library in its north wing. Former President Thomas Jefferson offered to sell his comprehensive personal library of 6,487 books to rebuild the Library of Congress. Congress accepted his offer in 1815. Jefferson’s concept of universality is the rationale for the comprehensive collecting policies of today’s Library of Congress.
The Library of Congress is among Washington’s top attractions. Every Library of Congress visitor must reserve timed-entry pass. Passes are available here. It’s worth planning ahead as slots fill up.
Sources: Library of Congress, Wikipedia