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Nov. 17: Week in Photography
Welcome to your weekly JPG newsletter! 📸Your lens to the internet's most powerful photographs 📸 MOST POWERFUL PHOTO OF THE WEEK Thomas Peter / Reuters This striking image comes to us from Hong Kong, where anti-government protesters continue to demonstrate against mainland China’s influence over the city. In this Nov. 12 picture, employees of the Festival Walk mall attempt to extinguish a Christmas tree that has erupted into flames after protesters set fire to the mall’s holiday decorations and continued to smash storefront windows. SEE THE FULL STORY
In honor of Veterans Day, take a trip back to 1982 and see how Americans first responded to the dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Next, pictures of historic flooding in Venice and the raging bushfires in Australia paint a stark picture of the very real effects of climate change on the environment today.
Here are more photo essays published by our friends elsewhere.
A SCAR OF REMEMBRANCE: HOW AMERICANS FIRST REACTED TO THE VIETNAM MEMORIAL Chuck Fishman / Getty Images In 1981, a 21-year-old undergraduate student won a national contest to design what would become one of the most iconic war memorials in the country. SEE THE FULL STORY
SINKING CITY: HISTORIC FLOODING IN VENICE Flavio Lo Scalzo / Reuters The highest tide in decades has submerged more than 85% of Venice in floodwaters, causing catastrophic damage to the historic Italian lagoon city and its monuments. SEE THE FULL STORY
HELL DOWN UNDER: RAGING BUSHFIRES IN AUSTRALIA Three people have died and more than 100 homes have been destroyed as bushfires continue to push closer to Sydney. SEE THE FULL STORY
FOR YOUR 👀 ONLY: AMERICAN GUN RANGE WITH OK MCCAUSLAND 📸 In September, following a summer marked by a horrific wave of mass shootings, BuzzFeed News published a photo essay on the Westside Rifle & Pistol Range — an underground gun club located in the heart of Manhattan’s Flatiron District. In the original story, photographer Ok McCausland shared a raw and candid perspective on gun culture in America today. Sadly, shootings are still a regular occurrence, the latest happening this past Thursday.
Here, McCausland returns with a selection of unpublished photographs from the original piece and shares with us her motivations behind taking on this haunting photo essay:
In July, I had a dream about guns. Bullets firing off, specifically. There’s so much about violence on the news these days, something must have trickled in. When I woke up I researched gun ranges in New York City — turns out there’s only one commercial range in Manhattan. It’s called the Westside Rifle & Pistol Range. Ok McCausland I called, and the manager, John Aaron, answered. I introduced myself as a photographer and asked if I could come by sometime. He laughed, and told me some reasons why it wasn’t a good idea — people are reticent to have their photos taken at the range, understandably. Unsatisfied, I decided to head to the Flatiron District and see the place for myself.
Forty-five minutes later, I was in the basement of the nondescript office building that houses the range. I walked past curling and faded photos on the walls boasting images of Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver and yesteryear’s cast of Law & Order, both of which had filmed at Westside. Paint is chipping off the walls, dust is accumulating on every surface, and the lights flicker a fluorescent green — all in stark contrast to the sleek, modern, soft lightbulb upheaval of the world above us. There’s more history here than I anticipated, and I have a lot of questions. Ok McCausland John is behind the desk next to the phone; I introduce myself as the person he spoke to under an hour before. It’s a Tuesday and it’s slow, so John takes me into the range to show me around. This is my first time ever in a gun range; now I’m surrounded by bullets and shells and projectile debris on the concrete floor. “Bullets are fascinating,” John says. “They’re like water. They will find any and every avenue of egress.”
We walk back into the lobby and he pulls out a handgun and a target, loads a couple clips, and gives me some ear muffs. We go back into the range and I’m terrified. At this point I’m uneducated about guns, so they scare me, and I know it’s going to be so loud. The only people I see with guns in New York are cops and military personnel in Times Square. Ok McCausland As he loads a clip, John explains every move he makes with precise detail: the safety precautions, the permits needed to have a gun in New York, how and where to place your gun when you’re out on the range. It’s clear that safety is of the utmost importance to him and that ranges like this can’t function unless everyone is taking every precaution. This city has some of the strictest gun regulations in the country, and Westside mirrors this strictness in its own rules and regulations.
In the months I return to the range to photograph or to just hang out, it becomes apparent that everyone, members and employees alike, are extremely serious about gun safety. Whether it’s a hobby or part of the job, no one takes the power of their firearms lightly. On the other hand, everything else is fun and games — jokes, tattoos, yelling at the TV during animal rescue shows, bottomless coffee and snacks, and countless stories. Ok McCausland To an outsider, a non–permit holder, and a New York transplant, I can see that this community is home to a wealth of information. The people who come down here tell stories about the city they lived in, the New York in storybooks and movies: Studio 54, disco parties at abandoned warehouses downtown, getting tattoos before parlors were legal, aftermaths of mob hits, money train thieves, playing jazz at the Knitting Factory in the ’80s, debauchery of Times Square in the ’70s. It’s apparent that this place is an iconic and clandestine community center.
—OK McCausland
📸YOUR WEEKLY PALATE CLEANSER: UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood when Joanne Byrd, wife of the late Mr. Rogers, visited Pittsburgh’s Magee-Womens Hospital on Nov. 13 and was surprised by six newborn babies dressed as Mr. Rogers in little red cardigans.
"That's it from us for now. See you next week! —Gabriel and Kate “The more pictures you see, the better you are as a photographer.” —Robert Mapplethorpe
đź“ť This letter was edited and brought to you by the News Photo team. Gabriel Sanchez is the photo essay editor based in New York and loves cats. Kate Bubacz is the photo director based in New York and loves dogs. You can always reach us here.
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