Chatting the Pictures: College Entrance Scandal; Venezuela Black Out; Beto Leibovitz 2020

“The News” photo this week was distributed by Mega. Based on the college entrance scandal that broke this week, we see actress Felicity Huffman leaving court after her arraignment. We look at the irony of the crossover news/paparazzi photo, wonder where Bill Macy (Huffman’s husband is), discuss that classic grimace on the officer’s face, and muse about how well-heeled parents get their kids into college through the back or side door.

For “The Look,” we discuss an image by Carlos Eduardo Ramirez for Reuters Pictures. It shows a Venezuelan girl looking at her phone while San Cristobal, in the background, is largely in a blackout. The country is suffering from a lack of power during its political crisis. We discuss the power of the photo on multiple levels, as information, as a generational portrait, as a snapshot in the country’s slow motion breakdown.

“The Pick” this week features the cover photo of Vanity Fair taken by Annie Leibovitz. The image essentially launches Beto O’Rourke’s presidential campaign. We went to town on the photo, talking color, branding, gender (the boys are entering the race now), symbolism (the truck, the American West, the dog, America’s romance with the open road, Beto as middle ground)—and especially, Leibovitz’s photo directing moves that Beto wasn’t even thinking about.

You can find all the Chatting the Pictures replays here.