The best art is said to take us not further from, but instead closer, to reality. Chinese artist and activist Ai Wei Wei is a prime example. His artistic statements demonstrate a rare boldness, often pointing to the repressive underside of his society, and put him dangerously at odds with the Chinese communist state. A key element of his remarkable career has been powerful use of the internet.

A crowd was assembled around St. Paul’s Chapel on Broadway. One block west, behind the chapel, the tenth anniversary ceremony to honor the victims of 9-11 was taking place; its sound system spreading indistinct reverberations through the blocks. Only the 9-11 families and government dignitaries, including Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, were admitted to ground zero. The rest of the public milled around the perimeter of St. Paul’s to be nearby the epicenter of remembrance.

The engine of globalization is a remarkable phenomenon. Enormous talent is being unleashed across the developing nations. But in its wake, a spectacular number of people are being left behind. They have little or no access to healthcare, education or public debate on issues affecting their lives. Ever wonder how the future will look…

Who is Vivian Maier? It just might be, that she herself didn’t really know. Maier was completely unknown until a young Chicago real estate agent, John Maloof, discovered her work in an attic space after her death at age 83. Many are saying that the treasure trove of street photography she…

The towers of fear, erected upon six decades of dictatorship, were cracked and giving way on Cairo Egypt’s Tahrir Square.

The year’s end brings reflection on the power of great creative work. This December, I spoke with Egyptian-American filmmaker Jehan Harney about her film “Dream of America,” which documents Iraqi men who fled to America after risking their lives in defiance of Saddam Hussein.

For his project “Aftermath: The World Trade Center Archive,” photographer Joel Meyerowitz created an historically relevant and poignant record of ground zero. To photograph at the site was prohibited, so his project was resisted from he beginning. Had Meyerowitz not persisted in his vision, the 8000 image archive, traveling and touching others across the world, would not exist.

JR is a young innovative French photographer who stays below radar. He offers few words about his work, but his enormous black and white portraits loom large in highly populated public communities. He directs his subjects to make exaggerated facial expressions that somehow, amidst the amusement, raise questions about identity, poverty, sexism, boredom or violence.

Loss and creative power seem to be inextricably connected. This month of October marks the 9th year of concerts performed globally in memory of Daniel Pearl, a journalist (and musician) who was brutally murdered by terrorists in Karachi, Pakistan, in early 2002.

The high octane debate over Park 51, the proposed Islamic community center of lower Manhattan, rages on. The Americans I know have only compassion in their hearts for the devastating losses of September 11. In fact, one Muslim-American friend of mine, born in Cairo, was especially grief-stricken on that day, due to her love of America and the provence of those terrorist acts.