Chatting the Pictures
Chatting the Pictures: A Border Photo Equally Informed by Hope and Policy
Welcome to Chatting the Pictures. Every two weeks, we present a short, lively video discussion between Michael Shaw, publisher of Reading the Pictures, and writer, professor, and historian, Cara Finnegan, examining a significant picture in the news. Chatting the Pictures is produced by Liliana Michelena.
In this photo taken by Kirsten Luce for The New York Times, we see fourteen-year-old twins from Guatemala, travelling without adult family members, on their way to Roma, Texas. Here, they cross a river in the middle of the night before surrendering to U.S. authorities and presenting their documents. As migrants find ways around Title 42, the Trump Covid regulation that required automatic expulsion for asylum seekers, the number of unaccompanied minors crossing the border has spiked.
In the video, we discuss the unique informational value of the photo and how much that context heightens the image’s personal and humanitarian impact.
You can find all the Chatting the Pictures replays here.
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Panelists
An analyst of news photos and visual journalism, and a frequent lecturer and writer on visual politics, photojournalism and media literacy, Michael is the founder and publisher of Reading the Pictures.
Cara Finnegan is a writer, photo historian, and professor of Communication at the University of Illinois. She has been affiliated with Reading The Pictures for nearly 15 years, most recently as co-host of Chatting The Pictures. Her most recent book is Photographic Presidents: Making History from Daguerreotype to Digital.
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