I noticed an unusual bend in one of my spokes - see below. Some but not all of the spokes on that side of the wheel have a similar deflected profile, though not as pronounced. The other side, with the disc brake, looks more normal.
Is this indicative of a problem?

Pluck them and compare tone.
All the spokes on the same side should sound the same.
Disc side will be higher pitched.

A pic from the side may be useful because of depth perception issues with just one pic.

One of the steps in the wheel building process is to push down on the elbow-out spokes so that they incorporate an appropriate bend around the flange before heading out to the rim. The person (or more likely, machine) that built your wheel skipped this part. The result is a generally less durable wheel as the tension in the spoke is not held as constant during use. You can do the job yourself by pushing aggressively on the spokes just above the flange until they take a tight curve past the flange and a direct line out toward the rim, but this is best done by someone familiar with wheel building or at the very least wheel truing. The process will reduce spoke tension on those elbow-out spokes and the wheel will need to be re-tensioned and trued after being properly aligned.

*edited to add* - This process of aligning the spokes is best done earlier in the wheel building process, so that there is less tension in the spokes and they are more easy to align properly. This job will be harder now that the spokes are under high tension.

-Jeremy

If nothing has gotten between the spokes and fork I would guess that the spokes are not tensioned high enough.

Kind of hard to tell from that photo, but that wheel doesn't look like it's built correctly. More photos from different angles would be helpful.

And don't assume that the random mechanic behind the counter at your local bike shop is a competent wheel builder. Wheel building is a knowledge/experience set that only the nerdiest of mechanics will take seriously. Lots of bike mechanics have built wheels...but not all of them have built them well.

-Jeremy

The technique I read, probably in a Bicycling article on wheelbuilding, was to use a Philips screwdriver. Put the shank just outside the radius of the hub flanges before the first cross, over an outer spoke and under an inner spoke. Gently lever it until the outer spoke lies flat. Repeat around the wheel.

Another part of the procedure in the same article was to use pliers to bend the spoke just above the nipple so the nipple comes out of the rim as straight as possible rather than some extreme angle and poorly supported by the holes, but I haven't seen that recommendation repeated many other places. Does anyone around here actually do this?

I've never done it, but I might try that first part.