Newspapers don’t publish photo essays often enough, which is odd, because the still photograph has an ability to communicate to the gut much more effectively than words can. Good writing invites you in, draws you along, carefully and slowly, and maybe makes an emotional connection, possibly even bringing you to tears. A powerful photo will knock the wind out of you, leaving you blinking through tears until you recover. Humor writing takes the highest level of skill, and takes time to set up the context so the punch line can do its job. A photo, taken with equal skill, delivers the setup and punch line all at once. Stories usually report planned moments; photos can capture the found moment.

On Sunday we plan to publish a photo essay by David Bitton, who’s in Iraq covering elements of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team from Fort Carson. He has assembled a collection of images of Iraq as seen through the frame of the window of the Humvee that has hauled him all over Baghdad. The parade of seemingly disconnected, random images from a cohesive vantage add up to a reflection of the often disconnected, random life and events of a country trying to hold itself together.

Many more of his photos will appear in an online gallery.

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