November 1, 2018
Chatting the Pictures

Chatting the Pictures: Blue Wave; Pittsburgh Gaze; Brazil’s New Trademark

Welcome to the latest edition of Chatting the Pictures, a weekly, micro-edition of the Reading the Pictures Salon. In each 20-minute webcast, co-hosts Michael Shaw, publisher of Reading the Pictures, and writer and historian, Cara Finnegan, discuss three prominent photos in the news.

By Michael Shaw
About the Video

The program is broken into three segments: “The News,” “The Look,” and “The Pick.” “The News” examine a hard news image for its content value. “The Look” focuses on a news photo for its artistry and style. And “The Pick” asks what made a high profile photo so unique to editors or the public.

“The News” photo this week was taken by Rose Marie Cromwell. It was featured on the cover of England’s Financial Times and shows Florida Democratic candidate for Governor, Andrew Gillum, hugging a supporter. We saw the elements in this possibly wishful “blue wave” image loaded with symbolism—in dramatic departure with tones, gestures and hues of the Trump status quo.

For “The Look,” we discuss a photo by Brendan Smialowski for AFP. It was taken during a memorial service in Pittsburgh in the aftermath of the shooting massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue. We discuss how the photo does and doesn’t distinguishes itself in the face of so many mass shooting in America.

“The Pick” this week features a photo from Sao Paolo by Reuter’s photographer, Nacho Doce. The scene captures supporters of the radical-right, newly-elected president, Jair Bolsonaro, react during a runoff election in Sao Paulo. The fact this shooting gesture is his trademark—and it is being mimicked by so many Brazilians—already tells you a lot.

You can find all the Chatting the Pictures replays here.

The Full Edit

Take a closer look at some of the images from our larger photo edit.

Photo: Rose Marie Cromwell/Getty.

Caption: Democratic candidate Andrew Gillum hugs a supporter at a rally in Siesta Key, FL.

Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images.

Caption: People arrive to pay their respects in front of a memorial on October 28, 2018 outside of the Tree of Life synagogue after a shooting there left 11 people dead in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh on October 27, 2018.

Photo: Nacho Doce/Reuters.

Caption: October 28, 2018. Supporters of Jair Bolsonaro react during a runoff election in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Post By

Michael Shaw
See other posts by Michael here.

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Panelists

Michael Shaw

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

Communication Professor, University of Illinois. Author of Making Photography Matter: A Viewer’s History from the Civil War to the Great Depression and Picturing Poverty: Print Culture and FSA Photographs. Moderator, Reading the Pictures Salon.

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