Photos

Multimedia is all about sounds and pictures and movement and interaction. The following CD-ROMs have their share of those - but the emphasis this week clearly is on pictures. "LEARNING TO SEE CREATIVELY" AND "UNDERSTANDING EXPOSURE" DiAMAR Interactive $79.95 each (with book) or $59.95 each (without) Windows & Mac A beautiful photograph appears on your computer screen. "Wow!" you say. "I wish I could take a picture that nice!" Five seconds later you discover the photo you liked so much is the "before" of a "before-and-after" set. Yes, even Bryan Peterson's "bad" pictures are great.

The national, juried photography show that the Painted Bride Art Center has organized as part of the "Voices of Dissent" festival marking the 200th anniversary of the Constitution is a poignant reminder that artists throughout our nation's history have asserted their right to free speech by means of their art. Many such images have cried out against injustice. No matter how certain these photographers are that their pictures carry special meaning in the context of this show, what always matters most is the artistry itself.

For reasons still unknown, Patricia McDermott was targeted by her killer, who followed her off a bus in Center City before dawn Tuesday, shot her in the head, then ran off into the still-dark morning, Philadelphia police said yesterday. Investigators released grainy, blurred photos culled from surveillance tapes of the suspect and of McDermott's last moments. Police also released a composite sketch of a "person of interest" they are seeking in the killing. The man in the sketch - an African American or Latino with a light to medium complexion and wearing a baseball cap, a light-colored jacket, faded dungarees, and dark sneakers - fits the description of the killer as seen on camera.

WHY PAY six digits for pictures of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie frolicking in the Kenyan surf when . . . you can just pretend. Haven't you ever heard of Photoshop? The Star has, that's why the mag saved its money on the real photos and merely doctored two separate oceanside pictures of each actor. The issue proclaims, "Brad & Angelina: Caught Together! On Vacation. " But tucked away on page 8 is a disclaimer noting the image is a "composite of two photographs. " Us Weekly won the bidding war for the actual pics, purchasing them from London-based photo agency Big Pictures for a reported $500,000.

THE TASK is going to be a hard one, but if anyone's up for it, it's these guys. Members of the Philadelphia Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund are trying to obtain photos of the 646 local soldiers who died in 'Nam, and whose names are on display at the shrine at Front and Spruce streets. The goal, said memorial-fund president Terry Williamson, is to ultimately install a kiosk on the grounds of the memorial that would allow visitors to see photos and read biographical information about each soldier who lost his life in the war. A similar effort to collect photos of soldiers who were killed in Vietnam is under way in Washington, D.C., where officials are planning to build a visitor's center and education facility near the national Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Last night, Philadelphia Daily News staff photographer Susan Winters (right in photo on left) was in Arlington, Va., to receive a 1994 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award in international photojournalism for her photos of black life in rural South Africa, including the two above. "These remarkable photographs are from a South Africa seldom seen," the judges said in presenting the award. "They depict the squalid township life of people whose pride ultimately has been more powerful than the insidious system of apartheid.

About 200 surveillance photographs of reputed mob boss Nicodemo Scarfo, his associates and some of his relatives were introduced into evidence yesterday by federal prosecutors. There were photos of Scarfo and some of those associates outside Scarf Inc., a concrete business in Atlantic City that was owned by reputed underboss Philip Leonetti. There were photos of them outside the former Cous' Little Italy restaurant in South Philadelphia - where assassinated mob leader Angelo Bruno ate his last meal.

DENVER - The grandfather of a 6-year-old girl killed during the Aurora theater shootings wants a thief to return pictures of the child that were stolen from his home in a burglary this week. "They're the last photos I have of her," said Robert Sullivan, grandfather of Veronica Moser-Sullivan, the youngest person slain in the July 20 attack that left 12 dead and dozens wounded. Sullivan said Wednesday that four cameras were stolen, including one that had a memory card with more than 40 photos of Veronica at a school celebration.

CARACAS, Venezuela - Sixty-seven days after Venezuelans last saw him, President Hugo Chavez reappeared Friday, when government officials televised photographs of him recuperating in Cuba with two of his daughters at his side. The images were the first evidence presented to Venezuelans that Chavez, who was last seen Dec. 10 when he boarded a plane to Cuba for a fourth surgery to remove cancerous tissue, was alive and convalescing. In the photos, Chavez smiles from a hospital bed while flanked by daughters Maria Gabriela and Rosa Virginia.

On a recent morning, a small group of refugees from Bhutan proudly pointed to a laptop screen displaying photos they had taken of Philadelphia, their new home. Karna Karki had taken pictures of a Hindu priest, seated on the floor with an array of bowls and a flame that symbolized life before him, part of a naming ceremony for a new baby. He also snapped a solemn group in the midst of 13 days of mourning. The dominant Buddhist culture in Bhutan had tried to extinguish such rituals, Karki, 41, said with the help of a fuzzy interpreter on a cellphone speaker.