"My life has unfolded as a continuous conversation with photojournalism," writes Paula Bronstein in the introduction of her new book "Witnessing Life: A Retrospective." She has, she adds, "given herself entirely" to her work in order "to lend a visual voice to those whose stories might otherwise remain typically overlooked by the wider world." The book, being unveiled this week at the Visa pour l'Image photojournalism festival in Perpignan, France, "stands as a testament to the places I've immersed myself in, especially Afghanistan and Ukraine, where I have spent considerable time," Bronstein notes.

  Missouri native Thomas Hart Benton painted America Today, a 10-panel mural on canvas, to adorn a boardroom at the New School for Social Research, in NYCs Greenwich Village, New York. Eight of the America Today ten panels depict life in different regions of the United States based on studies he made from observation on various trips throughout the South, the Midwest, the West, and New York. Although the artist received no fee for his work on this commission, he was "pa...