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I am a clinical psychologist, an analyst of visual journalism, an interpreter of political images, and publisher of the political blog BAGnewsNotes.

BAGnewsNotes is the only blog dedicated 100% to visual politics and the analysis of news images. The site is followed closely by the political and visual media, the political blogosphere, and the photojournalism community and it is widely referred to in university visual studies and communications programs. BNN also features original photojournalism from top-name photographers. Current contributors include Alan Chin, Nina Berman, Lori Grinker and Zoriah Miller.

My clinical training — which is woven into my commentary — involves the psychology of character and the presentation of self in everyday life, and my research has dealt primarily with the psychological function of metaphor.

The BAGnewsNotes blog began in June 2003. Originally, it was the home for a civics tool/ visual experiment/political cartoon called BAGnews. Beginning in mid-2004, however, spurred by the photo coverage of the Bush-Kerry presidential campaign, I turned my attention to this new “discipline” — the visual analysis of political images.

I have been a regular contributor to the Huffington Post since September ’05, writing a blog feature called “Reading The Pictures.”

I’m alway interested in comments and feedback. To reach me, please write to: openbag AT bagnews (dot) com. Click here to read all my posts on RESOLVE. Click here to read my ongoing discussion with Alan Chin about paid photo assignments for blogs.