Chatting Pictures of the Year Winners: Border Wall; Sutherland Springs Shooting; Arctic Cold War

The first picture was taken by Fabio Bucciarelli for Yahoo News. Titled “The Border Wall,” it won first place in the News Picture Story category. It’s the photo of a Central America migrant woman hugging her child on the beach in San Diego after crossing the Mexico-US border wall, December 14, 2018. We discuss the photo in terms of its powerful framing (you can credit the wall, itself for that), and its political and geographic impact.

The second photo, taken by Lisa Krantz for the San Antonio Express News, received an Award of Excellence in the Newspaper Local Picture Story category. (We are especially happy to discuss a photo by a local new photographer!) The story deals with the mass shooting at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, in November 2017, in which a young gunman killed 26 and injured 20 others. It was the deadliest mass shooting in Texas and in an American place of worship. We talk about the photo in terms of the impact on this Christian congregation, and as a commentary on gun violence. The shooting target also brings into play, and into our discussion, also bringing up gender and school shootings.

Finally, we discuss a photo by Louie Palu from the story “New Cold War.” Taken for National Geographic, it received an Award of Excellence in Issue Reporting Picture Story category. The work has to do with the new Cold War unfolding in the Arctic as countries lay claim to its territory and natural resources—the area having become more accessible and vulnerable as a result of climate change. We explore the fascinating visual and symbolic elements of the photo, as well as the way it marks time and political and environment acts in progress.

You can find all the Chatting the Pictures replays here.