This month’s Web Roundup is focused loosely around the theme of the visual. How do we use photography and other mediums to tell stories, and what stories do those technologies tell about us?

The New York Times Magazine did a feature on travel photography, called Voyages. The online version of the 6 highlighted pieces is both interesting and visually stunning. The introduction, by Gideon Lewis-Kraus, is also worth a read., referencing Claude Lévi-­Strauss’s “Tristes Tropiques.” “‘Travel and travellers are two things I loathe — and yet here I am, all set to tell the story of my expeditions.’”

Geoff Dyer in the NY Times writes about what makes a great documentary photograph and why these photos linger on. And NPR details the story of a particular iconic photograph. The Atlantic’s CityLab has a list of 7 documentaries about cities that are available to stream now. They also profile the company Mapbox, which uses open source mapping platforms to help cities visualize vast amount of open-source and complicated data in order to solve complex urban problems.

The contest for the Sony 2017 World Photography Awards is now open. Take a look at a few of the contenders. And, a new book explores how the California School of Fine Arts “turned photography into art.” And yet, our relationship to photography is changing rapidly—how does that impact us, our use of photographs, and our understanding of art? From The New Yorker: “In the Future, We Will Photograph Everything and Look at Nothing.” Meanwhile, the Guardian attempts to break down the financial impact and worth of the “selfie industry,” that is to say, is the selfie industry driving up sales of lipstick and the popularity of cosmetic surgery?

This is an excellent piece on funeral photography: “It is as if by standing right next to the coffin and having our photo taken, we are all participating in this little dance between life and death. One moment you are in front of the curtain, the other moment the curtain falls on you.”

International Week of the Deaf was last week, and, in a different gesture towards the visual, Rachel Kolb writes about “The Deaf Body in Public Space.” And, PBS interviews Rebecca Sugar about what it is like to write a children’s show with LGBTQ themes.

 

 

In unrelated science and tech news:

Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan have pledged USD 3 billion to cure “every disease.” Watch the video of their announcement here.

If you’re in the New York City area, The New Yorker’s TechFest is happening on October 7^th, “a full-day program exploring the most compelling stories in technology today.”

 

And, on the evolving ethics of artificial intelligence:

‘This is awful’: robot can keep children occupied for hours without supervision

The rise of robots: forget evil AI – the real risk is far more insidious

Tech Giants Team Up To Tackle The Ethics Of Artificial Intelligence