the eyes of "I"nstagram. power and guns

How people see and want to  show themselves has always fascinated me. That, in a way, is what lies at the bottom of my photography battle about the right to represent oneself in photographs.

The surge of "power" that anyone holding a gun, feels is very sexual. Overpoweringly so.  And now social media like "I"nstagram gives everyone the space to project that feeling of over sexualised   "Pow"er.

Check out these two links. They are linked by the common attachment to guns and the power they project. The power of  two of the most gun driven societies in the world. Bonding and bonded by the barrels of guns. By the power they give to grab land and control  resources that  belong to Others.

Santa Claus came to town - and he was packing heat - as numerous Americans were seen on social networks posing in front of their Christmas trees with the same assault rifle used by the gunmen in three recent bloody killings.

Grinning from ear-to-ear, those who received AR-15 assault rifles took to sites like Twitter and Instagram, posting photos of themselves with their brand new toys.

One Twitter user posted: 'I got just what I wanted. An Armalite semi-automatic AR-15 rifle. It's like the Christmas Story, but I'll shoot more than my eye out.'

Santa Claus came to town - and he was packing heat - as numerous Americans were seen on social networks posing in front of their Christmas trees with the same assault rifle used by the gunmen in three recent bloody killings.

Grinning from ear-to-ear, those who received AR-15 assault rifles took to sites like Twitter and Instagram, posting photos of themselves with their brand new toys.

One Twitter user posted: 'I got just what I wanted. An Armalite semi-automatic AR-15 rifle. It's like the Christmas Story, but I'll shoot more than my eye out.'

Packing heat: Numerous Americans were seen on social networks posing in front of their Christmas trees with the same assault rifle used by the gunmen in three recent bloody killings

Just what I wanted: Grinning from ear-to-ear, those who received AR-15 assault rifles took to sites like Twitter and Instagram, posting photos of themselves with their new toys

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2253337/Americans-pose-Christmas-tree-guns-got-gifts.html

War sporno: How the Israeli army uses sex and Instagram to sell its racism and violence

Submitted by Benjamin Doherty on Wed, 12/26/2012 - 20:53

Note: This post contains discussion of obscenity and images which include partial nudity

הBFF החדש שלי

Nadav Peretz (user ifluffy) photographs his uniform-clad groin with his weapon suggestively poking up between his legs. (Source)

Nisim asis 22 year’s old. Jerusalem-Israel.. I like dead Palestinian ppl :-)

Israel’s use of Instagram for propaganda

In September 2012, the Israeli army announced that it would begin using Instagram as part of its propaganda operations.

During “Operation Pillar of Defense,” Israel’s eight-day bombing campaign on Gaza in November, which killed more than 170 Palestinians, including three dozen children, the Instagram outlet was exploited to disseminate photos of soldiers and square infographicsspecially formatted for Instagram.

Major media outlets including BuzzFeed, MSN, and CBC published photos from individual soldiers’ accounts which were ostensibly personal.

In the past, the Israeli army has regulated soldiers’ use of social media when soldiers’ posts exposed military secrets, embarrassed the army or hinted at abuses and crimes.

Using sex to sell Israel

Israel has in the past used sexuality to promote itself to western publics. For example, in 2007, Israel worked with men’s magazine Maxim to develop a photo feature titled “Women of the Israeli Defense Forces.” The BBC reported:

Israel has decided to reach out to young US men by publishing images of semi-clad female former soldiers in US men’s magazine, Maxim.

The pictures are part of a public relations drive to improve the image of the country within the US.

Maxim said it was “pleased” with the result of its collaboration with the Israeli consulate in New York, which came up with the idea.

In recent years, Israel and the Tel Aviv municipality have specifically promoted Israel as a destination for gay male sex tourism. The work of right-wing extremist Islamophobic pornographic filmmaker Michael Lucas has turned Israeli soldiers into an attraction for gay tourists while Omer Gershon — the gay flotilla hoaxer and hasbara activist — has said thattourists find Israeli men “very exotic.”

http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/benjamin-doherty/war-sporno-how-israeli-army-uses-sex-and-instagram-sell-its-racism-and