africa.newyorktimes

NOUS COEUR OBAMA: Article on the resurrection of black pride and negritude in France in the wake of the rise and rise of Barack Obama.

BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL: Provoked by the paucity of black models (and other models of color) on the runways and in the ads of haute couturiers, Italian Vogue has decided to feature only black models in their July issue. From the article:

Under its editor, Franca Sozzani, Italian Vogue has gained a reputation for being more about art and ideas than commerce. Ms. Sozzani also doesn’t mind controversy.

She said that, as an Italian, she has been intrigued by the American presidential race and Mr. Obama, which was one source of inspiration when she and Mr. Meisel began discussing, in February, the idea of an all-black issue. Also, she was aware of the lack of diversity on the runways in recent years and the debate it fueled last fall in New York, where Bethann Hardison, a former model who ran a successful agency, held two panel discussions on the topic.

Slide show of images from article here.

TRAINSPOTTING: spotted this Candace Feit image, especially the black borders with the dual “v” notches on the left frame that indicate they were taken with a Hasselblad medium format FILM camera. Yes, film is not dead yet, digital supremacy notwithstanding.