The Visual Representation of the US/Mexico Border Wall in the Media

Highlight clip: U.S. Border Patrol agent chases an undocumented immigrant

Photo: John Moore/Getty Images. Caption: A U.S. Border Patrol agent tries to tackle an undocumented immigrant in dense underbrush on September 9, 2014 near Falfurrias, Texas. He missed but the immigrant was later caught by a fellow agent. Thousands of migrants continue to cross illegally from Mexico into the United States, and Texas’ Rio Grande Valley has more traffic than any other sector of the U.S.-Mexico border.

A year ago, Reading the Pictures won the Howard Chapnick Grant from the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund to do a Salon looking at the media framing of the US/Mexico border wall. With new developments in the story, our focus expanded to include the “zero tolerance” policy, the family separation crisis, and “the caravan.”

This project consisted of four parts: extensive photo research, a live panel discussion, a live audience discussion, and additional imagery and analysis posted on Instagram. In our online discussion, co-produced with the Magnum Foundation, an expert panel examined the visual depiction of the wall, and how photographers and the news media use imagery to frame the politics and the human rights issues surrounding the wall.

This photograph of a border agent chasing a migrant has been widely distributed. Panelists Fonna Forman, Griselda San Martin, and Teddy Cruz analyze the action and provide necessary context.

See the full post, including the replay, audience chat, Instagram analysis, and other highlight clips here.

The Reading the Pictures Salon is an on-line, real-time discussion between photojournalists, visual scholars and other visual or subject experts. Each salon examines a set of images relevant to the visual stories of the day with a focus on the media and social media framing of a significant social issue. The photo edit is the key element and driver of each Salon discussion. These 9 photos are derived from an extensive review of the content and themes of published photos representing the depth and breadth of media representation.