At the dawn of the third millennium; planet Earth entered a zone of turbulence. The 2008 crisis added economic uncertainty to the threat of global warming and extreme events such as droughts; floods and cyclones; the persisting crisis of p- erty and the spectrum of pandemics and terrorism. Against this global landscape in an era of fragility; cities; already sheltering more than half of humankind; appear as Janus-faced realities; the best and worst of places; vulnerable but still full of hope and will to overcome the crisis of societal values and progress in the path of susta- able development. This book addresses the most critical challenges for cities; humanityrsquo;s collective masterpieces in danger; and analyses breakthrough responses for sustainable dev- opment; a globalisation with human face and the transition to inclusive post carbon communities. The ultimate wish is that experts; city planners; decision-makers and citizens in search of sustainable cities could find here some sources of information and inspiration to enhance the immense possibilities of cities and embrace the best possible trajectories of change.
#665600 in eBooks 2011-05-27 2011-05-27File Name: B0085WCUGM
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. An interesting take on photography criticism and "photography-criticism criticism"By TheRightReviewThis is one of the must-reads for anyone that deals with photography. whether you are creating images behind the camera. analyze them for a critique perspective or use and distribute them for publications. I personally fall within one of these categories and. while the first part of the book is a bit of a slower historical retrospective on photography criticism and why critics hate photography. it gets very interesting the more you read on.The main concept around which Susie Linfield writes in The Cruel Radiance is that photographs of political violence dont necessarily exploit their subjects and fulfill some voyeuristic tendencies of the ones who look at those images. The author goes on arguing that it is a necessary ethical and political act to look at those images and learn about the people in them. in order to connect the viewer with the history of violence. which could make us realize the wrongfulness of the human capacity for cruelty. Linfield takes from scholars and critics such as Susan Sontag and Walter Benjamin and looks at major historical events such as Chinas cultural Revolution. terrorism and the Holocaust while looking at the connection between photojournalism and the beginning of the concept of human rights. The author moves on to analyze the work on some of the major photographers in contemporary history such as Robert Capa and James Nachtwey and thinks on how photographs should adapt to todays way of making war.A really interesting take on the book comes from The Guardians Sean OHagan. who writes the following:"Contemporary photojournalism is problematic. both in the increasingly explicit nature of its images of suffering and degradation and its uncertain role in a world where. as Linfield puts it. "we no longer have the same kind of moral and political framework" that governed our responses to the war photography of the past. For these reasons. her book only really comes alive when she moves beyond the narrow world of theoretical criticism and tackles the photography itself ndash; specifically. the role of photojournalism in a world where the old certainties no longer apply and the violence of faraway wars often seems nihilistic."11 of 12 people found the following review helpful. Daring to lookBy Marcos LopesLinfields book is well done account of photographs which represent things that. usually. we dont want to look at. The author brings into discussion the very ethics of looking. gazing and staring. criticizing opinions that affirm that to look at the pain of others is participate in the intentions of perpetrators of politic crimes. specially against human rights. The principal targets of her critics are Susan Sontag. Roland Barthes. Alan Sekula and John Berger. as well as Benjamin and Krakauer. For Linfield. this authors are not essentially wrong. but we should place their writings in perspective and not make gospels of them. In reading this interesting book. we come to know that "to look or not to look" is not merely a question of transcendental ethics. but a political act regarding the suffering of human people. Linfield not only invites us to be daring to look at the pain of others. but also to look into it. its testimonies. its visual existence. and try to make of the gaze a means of amelioration of our chaotic world.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. AMAZINGBy elin oHara slavickAmazing! While arguing against my cultural heroes - John Berger. Roland Barthes and Susan Sontag - Linfield manages to respect their genius while reinstilling belief and hope into the photographic practice of documenting this world - in all its beauty and horror. A great and painful read. post-Sontags Regarding the Pain of Others. I plan to use this book in my Conceptual Photography Seminar at UNC. Chapel Hill.
