A two-year-old Honduran asylum seeker cries as her mother is searched and detained near the US-Mexico border in 2018 in McAllen, Texas. The asylum seekers had rafted across the Rio Grande from Mexico and were detained by U.S. Border Patrol agents before being sent to a processing center for possible separation. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
ViewPoint
John Moore on Immigration & the US-Mexico Border
John Moore is a senior staff photographer and special correspondent for Getty Images. He has photographed in 65 countries on six continents. He was based internationally for the Associated Press for 17 years in Nicaragua, India, South Africa, Mexico, Egypt and Pakistan. Since returning to the U.S. in 2008 he has since focused on immigration and border issues.
Moore has won many awards throughout his career including the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography, multiple World Press Photo awards, the John Faber Award, the Robert Capa Gold Medal from the Overseas Press Club, Photographer of the Year (and other awards) from both Pictures of the Year International AND NPPA’s Best of Photojournalism contest and the Iris D'Or from the Sony World Photography Organization.
In March 2018 powerHouse Books published his book Undocumented: Immigration and the Militarization of the United States-Mexico Border. This work represents ten years of Moore's photojournalism on the issues of immigration and border security in the United States. The goal of the project was to take a comprehensive approach in humanizing the issue of immigration, which is often related in terms of statistics. Moore is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied Radio-Television-Film. He lives with his family in Stamford, Connecticut.
The interview was lightly edited for clarity and length.
JW: How did you get interested in the Border story?
JM: I lived in Latin America earlier in my career, both in Mexico and in Nicaragua, so I have had a long-term interest in the region from where most immigrants to the US come. I think that immigration is and will increasingly become the defining issue of our time. The political consequences of uncontrolled immigration, for instance, have fueled the increased popularity of right wing political movements in the United States and Europe, with wide-ranging consequences.
JW: How long have you been working on stories involving the Border and immigration?
JM: I’ve covered immigration issues regularly for more than 15 years within the United States and Latin America. I'm often flying back and forth between the US-Mexico border and my home in Connecticut.
JW: What are your goals for the work?
JM: My goal is always to increase public understanding of complex issues that govern this flow of humanity. I never want to portray this phenomenon as an "invasion," because I don't think it is that. The United States is almost totally populated by people from other places, with the exception of Native Americans. Many Americans, then as now, have been upset with the sudden arrival of new folks, especially when they arrive in large numbers. I consider it part of my responsibility to help the viewers of my photos see all people as human beings—many just trying to make the best of the disastrous hand they were dealt. If not for the accident of birth, many of us would be dealing with the same issues.
JW: What has been the best and the most difficult parts about the work?
JM: The best part is that I get to interact with people from everywhere. It's a privilege to be able to document at least a small part of their story. I travel to places I would have never seen otherwise. The most difficult part is viewing children in distress and pain. That's not always the case in my work, for sure, but when it is, it's hard for me.
JW: Are there any outcomes (good or bad) from the work that you can share?
JM: Some say that a photo I took of a little girl crying at the border in 2018 (shown above) may have had some impact in forcing the Trump administration to reverse its "zero tolerance" policy for people seeking asylum at the US southern border. I don't know if that image had that effect exactly, but the so-called "Crying Girl at the Border" photo definitely had an outsized effect on public opinion at the time.
JW: What advice can you give students who are interested in covering long-term news stories?
JM: Do the work that you need to do in order to remain employed and successful financially. The scarcity of staff jobs in the photojournalism profession has made it hard for so many in the business, including many of my friends. In order to do the long-term stories you enjoy, you may have to sometimes take on corporate assignments and other good paying assignments, weddings for instance, that help pay the bills. That's ok if you start your profession with some flexibility. Find a long-term project that you are uniquely suited to do and that you are passionate about. Be creative and curious in the way you approach it. Always try new ways to look at it and it will never bore you. Treat people well and they will let you into their lives.