January 11, 2022
Chatting the Pictures

Chatting the Pictures: Greenland’s Icy Undoing

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

This photo was taken by Mario Tama for Getty Image on September 3rd, 2021. It shows ice floating near boats in the main harbor in Ilulissat, Greenland. The town is situated in Disko Bay, sometimes called the world’s iceberg capital for its proximity to a 35-mile long ice fjord, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The harbor is now open year-round because winter is no longer cold enough to freeze it solid. Global warming is taking a terrific toll on Greenland. Enough ice was estimated to have melted in July from the ice sheet there to cover the entire state of Florida with two inches of water.

In the video, we discuss the visual power of the floating ice, some key metaphors, and how unique it is to see such a drastic and, at the same time, slow and domestic impact of global heating.

You can find all the Chatting the Pictures replays here. 

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Staff
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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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