News

Slate's top story today dissects the ways that cellphone cameras have changed our collective lives for the better and for the worse—although mostly for the worse. Michael Agger's piece includes several insightful musings, although I wish a few of them had been drawn out into complete thoughts. Like this intriguing idea: The more difficult question, the one that lurks outside the media glare, is how the cell phone camera is altering our private lives.

Bradford Washburn, one of the great names in 20th century geography, photography, and mountaineering, died last Wednesday at age 96, according the New York Times. Washburn, who for years served as director of the Museum of Science in Boston, will undoubtedly be best known for his contributions to cartography. Often working with the National Geographic Society, he used innovative approaches to measuring and mapping large-scale areas, such as the Grand Canyon and Mount McKinley (also known as Denali) in Alaska.

The latest group to join the debate over super-skinny fashion models is Academy for Eating Disorders, an international organization based in Northbrook, Illinois. The group is releasing recommendations that would set up strict age and weight requirements for all models. The recommendations are very different from those put forth last week by the Council of Fashion Designers of America. That group’s recommendations were (as summed up by the New York Times) to focus on “education reform and better working conditions” for models.

The Rencontres D’Arles Awards has announced the five nominators invited to curate its 15 exhibitions for the Discovery Award in 2007, which honors Prize money for the award is 25,000 euros. From five different countries, but all intimately linked to photography, these heavyweights are, as usual, the créme de la créme, and are sure to skim off only the best for the 2007 exhibitions, which run from July to September in Arles, France.