The Visual Style of ‘The Wire’: Video

Lindsay Beyerstein April 13, 2012

Fans of HBO’s The Wire will enjoy Erlend Lavik’s in-depth visual essay, “Style in The Wire.” Lavik argues that critics have unfairly dismissed the beloved urban crime drama as visually artless.

Lavik argues that, unlike a lot of prestige TV shows, The Wire is admirably restrained in its visual storytelling and therefore more effective.

Documentary filmmaking is a major influence on the look of The Wire, particularly the work of Frederick Wiseman. Wiseman is famous for his films exploring public institutions like welfare offices, high schools, and a hospital for the criminally insane.

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Lindsay Beyerstein is an award-winning investigative journalist and In These Times staff writer who writes the blog Duly Noted. Her stories have appeared in Newsweek, Salon, Slate, The Nation, Ms. Magazine, and other publications. Her photographs have been published in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times’ City Room. She also blogs at The Hillman Blog (http://www.hillmanfoundation.org/hillmanblog), a publication of the Sidney Hillman Foundation, a non-profit that honors journalism in the public interest.