Reading the Pictures produces two video programs. Chatting the Pictures is a biweekly, highly-edited 10-minute webcast featuring publisher Michael Shaw and visual academic Cara Finnegan analyzing 3 key news photographs. The Reading the Pictures Salon is a panel discussion concerned with how the media and social media visually frame key social and cultural issues.
Latest Video
Chatting the Pictures: World Press Photo of The Year, A COVID-19 Hug
World Press Photo of the Year depicts a patron embraced by a nurse at a care home, Sao Paulo, Brazil, through a curtain of clear plastic. Continue Reading
Chatting the Pictures: Riot Cop Photo Raises Question of “Who’s the Other?”
A prominent photo from the civil rights protests in Minnesota raises important questions about power and place.
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Chatting the Pictures: Lightning in George Floyd Square
Lightning strikes near the intersection of Chicago Avenue and 38th Street in Minneapolis, also known as George Floyd Square.
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Chatting the Pictures: A Photo that Gestures We’re Coming Out of Covid
You can't have humor without distance. Does this award-winning photo suggest the U.S. is finally emerging from the trauma of the pandemic?
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Chatting the Pictures: The Man for the Season
Though hardly photogenic, this powerful photo of President Biden captures his faith and focus to guide America out of the COVID-19 crisis.
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Chatting the Pictures: A Focus on the Neediest Covid Patients in L.A.
"Is this the end?" Written in Spanish on a white board, this question has a lot to say about class, race, ethnicity and COVID-19 in L.A.
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Chatting the Pictures is a lively, highly edited look at key news photographs. Co-hosts Michael Shaw, publisher of Reading the Pictures, and writer and historian, Cara Finnegan, meet to discuss three prominent photos in the recent news. You can find all the Chatting the Pictures replays here.
The Reading the Pictures Salon analyzes 8-9 carefully researched photos chosen for theme and depth of content. Each 90-minute panel is made up of leading photographers, photo editors, visual academics and other experts experienced in the subject.
Since 2008, we have produced 29 Salons working with sponsors such as Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and the Open Society Foundation. We have covered topics from social justice to political campaigns to foreign policy. For examples, take a look at: The Visual Representation of the US/Mexico Border Wall in the Media; How Science is Pictured in the Media and Public Culture; The Visual Framing of the Migrant Crisis; The Visual Framing of Surveillance; The Debate Over White House Photo Access; The Picture from Syria; or The War on Women. Each post contains a full replay of the broadcast, along with 2-3 minute highlight videos from each photo discussed. You can find all the full salons here.