August 30, 2024
Chatting the Pictures

Chatting the Pictures: A Single Image Tells the Story of the 2024 DNC

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.

By Staff
About the Video

In this photo by Todd Heisler for The New York Times, we see Amara Ajagu watching her great aunt, Vice President Kamala Harris, deliver her acceptance speech from the front row at the Democratic convention in Chicago on August 24, 2024. Besides distilling the essence of four days of expressed values and aspirations into a single generational moment, the photo represents a masterclass in visual perception.

In the video, we trace the connections between this photo and a famous civil rights image. We explore the photo through the lenses of gender, femininity, and intergenerational relationships beyond motherhood. Finally, we take a grand tour of the picture’s composition.

You can find all the Chatting the Pictures replays 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

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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