public-facing work and media commentary
2022
On-camera interview subject for Episode 1 of the PBS Online documentary, The Bigger Picture: "Did this photo make Lincoln President?", Sept. 2022.
Selection jury, Ocean Visuals, a project sponsored by Climate Visuals, designed to create an evidence-based, diverse, impactful digital library of ocean-related climate imagery, Sept.-Oct. 2022.
Radio interview about Photographic Presidents, The 21st (Illinois Public Media), Feb. 2022.
"How the Biden Presidency Became a Cultural Black Hole," Politico Magazine, Jan. 2022.
Co-host of Chatting the Pictures, beginning our fifth year of producing short videos that analyze key news photos of the week.
2021
Web video, "Reading the Pictures: Climate Crisis Video Delivers More Than Instagram Moment," Vogue Italia, Dec. 2021.
Web video, "Reading the Pictures: Beyond Cute," Vogue Italia, Oct. 2021.
Podcast interview about Photographic Presidents, Plodding Through the Presidents, Sept. 2021.
Podcast interview about Photographic Presidents, History Unplugged, May 2021.
Podcast interview about Photographic Presidents, This American President, May 2021.
"How Photography and the Presidency Grew Up Together," lecture for International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum, May 2021.
Panelist, "Scholarship and Creative Work," Rhetoric Society of America's RSA Remote series, March 2021.
"Biden and Harris Keep Posting the Same Photo; Here's Why," The Independent (UK), March 17, 2021.
"Photography Always Needed the Presidents," History News Network, Feb. 28, 2021.
"Photographic Presidents: How Photography and the Presidency Grew Up Together," Illinois Alumni Association, Feb. 2021.
Co-moderator, "RBG: Virtual Conversation with the Filmmakers," Women and Gender in Global Perspectives panel discussion with Julie Cohen and Betsy West, Feb. 2021.
"New History of Photography Focuses on Presidents," UI News Bureau feature by Craig Chamberlain, Feb. 2021.
"Capitol Artwork a Symbolic Participant in Trump White Supremacist Riot," essay for Reading The Pictures, Jan. 10, 2021.
Co-host of Chatting the Pictures, a webcast that analyzes news photos of the week. (Multiple episodes' video at link.)
2020
Co-host of Chatting the Pictures, a webcast that analyzes news photos of the week. (Multiple episodes' video at link.)
"News Photography Expanded: Reading the Pictures with Michael Shaw and Cara Finnegan," part of the 2020 Photo Vogue Festival (sponsored by Vogue Italia), Nov. 2020. (Video at link.)
Moderator, "Documenting History: Protests, Ethics, and the Photograph," International Center of Photography, New York City, July 9, 2020.
"The Candid Camera Presidents: Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt," University of Southern California Visual Studies Institute, March 10-12.
"Scholarly Writing as Creative Work," keynote address, Midwest Winter Workshop, University of Illinois, Feb. 8.
2019
Co-host of Chatting the Pictures, a webcast that analyzes news photos of the week. (Multiple episodes' video at link.)
"From Daguerreotype to Digital Revolution: Presidents and Photography from Washington to Obama." DePauw Undergraduate Honors Conference, April 5, 2019.
"Barack Obama and the Age of Social Media." Brock Lecture, Wayne State University, March 28, 2019.
"The Last Photographs of William McKinley." Visual Rhetoric symposium, Northwestern University, Feb. 14, 2019.
2018
Co-host of Chatting the Pictures, a weekly webcast that analyzes news photos of the week. (Multiple episodes' video at link.)
"Painter Brushes Trump Into Seat at Exclusive Club," New York Times, Oct. 17, 2018.
Producer and co-host of Chatting the Pictures, a weekly webcast that analyzes news photos of the week, in conjunction with the non-profit media literacy site Reading the Pictures. (Multiple episodes' video at link.)
"What Studying Presidents Can Teach Us About the History of Photography," presentation to the University of Illinois Board of Trustees meeting, Sept. 26, 2018.
"Barack Obama's Visual Archive," Penn State Information and Humanities Conference, Sept. 2018.
"Photographic Archives for Our Times: Barack Obama in the Age of Social Media," J. Jeffrey Auer Lecture at Indiana University, April 5, 2018.
2017
"The Timeless Lessons of Photography." LAS News, November 2017.
"The Candid Camera and the Changing Visual Values of Political Space." International Society for the History of Rhetoric conference, London, July 2017.
"Visual Politics of Refugee Photography." Workshop for United Minority Relief (Univ. Illinois Student Group)'s Refugee Awareness Week, April 25, 2017.
"Key Pictures from Trump's First 100 Days." Reading the Pictures Salon. April 7, 2017. (Video archived at link.)
"What Melania Trump's Portrait Says About Her, as petitions call for her to move to the White House." News.Com Australia. April 5, 2017.
"Melania Trump's Official White House Portrait Was Released. And people are talking." Boston Globe. April 4, 2017.
"What Melania Trump's Official Portrait Says About the First Lady." BBC Newsbeat. April 4, 2017.
Interviewed for article about visual politics of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's photos. Le Monde. March 2, 2017.
"Presidential Art." WCIA-TV. Feb. 21, 2017. (Video archived at link.)
Interviewed on WDWS radio about presidents and photography. Feb. 7, 2017. Audio here.
"What's So Strange about Trump's White House Portrait? Experts Explain." Vox.com. Jan. 26, 2017.
2016
"Will the White House Continue to Use Photos as a Social Media Tool?" Illinois News Bureau feature, Dec. 20, 2016.
"The Camera Politic: American Presidents and the History of Photography from the Daguerreotype to the Digital Revolution." Keynote address for the University of St. Thomas Undergraduate Communication Research Conference, St. Paul, MN, April 22, 2016. (Here's a nice story about the conference.)
"Fortune Magazine and the New Visual Politics of the Candid Camera." Print Matters: Histories of Photography and Illustrated Magazines workshop, CUNY/Rutgers/New York Public Library, April 9, 2016.
"Photographing George Washington: Presidents, Portrait Photography, and the Building of National Memory." Center for Advanced Study fellows' symposium, April 5, 2016.
"A Look at Early Campaign 2016." Reading the Pictures Salon, March 20, 2016. (Video archived at link.)
"The Fleeting Visual Politics of the Candid Camera." Bruce Gronbeck Lecture, University of Iowa, Feb. 16, 2016.
"The Visual Framing of the Migrant Crisis." Reading the Pictures Salon, Jan. 10, 2016. (Video archived at link.)
2015
Interviewed about Making Photography Matter, WORT's "A Public Affair," (Madison, WI), Dec. 2, 2015. (Audio at link.)
"A Presidency in Pictures." Chicago Humanities Festival, Nov. 1, 2015. Rubloff Auditorium, Art Institute of Chicago.
"Herbert Hoover and the Fleeting Visual Politics of the Candid Camera." Texas A&M University, Sept. 18, 2015.
"How We View Lincoln May Say More About Us Than About Him." University of Illinois News Bureau Feature, April 2, 2015.
"The Lens in the Mirror: How Surveillance is Pictured in Media and Public Culture." BagNews Salon, March 2015.
On-camera interview subject for Episode 1 of the PBS Online documentary, The Bigger Picture: "Did this photo make Lincoln President?", Sept. 2022.
Selection jury, Ocean Visuals, a project sponsored by Climate Visuals, designed to create an evidence-based, diverse, impactful digital library of ocean-related climate imagery, Sept.-Oct. 2022.
Radio interview about Photographic Presidents, The 21st (Illinois Public Media), Feb. 2022.
"How the Biden Presidency Became a Cultural Black Hole," Politico Magazine, Jan. 2022.
Co-host of Chatting the Pictures, beginning our fifth year of producing short videos that analyze key news photos of the week.
2021
Web video, "Reading the Pictures: Climate Crisis Video Delivers More Than Instagram Moment," Vogue Italia, Dec. 2021.
Web video, "Reading the Pictures: Beyond Cute," Vogue Italia, Oct. 2021.
Podcast interview about Photographic Presidents, Plodding Through the Presidents, Sept. 2021.
Podcast interview about Photographic Presidents, History Unplugged, May 2021.
Podcast interview about Photographic Presidents, This American President, May 2021.
"How Photography and the Presidency Grew Up Together," lecture for International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum, May 2021.
Panelist, "Scholarship and Creative Work," Rhetoric Society of America's RSA Remote series, March 2021.
"Biden and Harris Keep Posting the Same Photo; Here's Why," The Independent (UK), March 17, 2021.
"Photography Always Needed the Presidents," History News Network, Feb. 28, 2021.
"Photographic Presidents: How Photography and the Presidency Grew Up Together," Illinois Alumni Association, Feb. 2021.
Co-moderator, "RBG: Virtual Conversation with the Filmmakers," Women and Gender in Global Perspectives panel discussion with Julie Cohen and Betsy West, Feb. 2021.
"New History of Photography Focuses on Presidents," UI News Bureau feature by Craig Chamberlain, Feb. 2021.
"Capitol Artwork a Symbolic Participant in Trump White Supremacist Riot," essay for Reading The Pictures, Jan. 10, 2021.
Co-host of Chatting the Pictures, a webcast that analyzes news photos of the week. (Multiple episodes' video at link.)
2020
Co-host of Chatting the Pictures, a webcast that analyzes news photos of the week. (Multiple episodes' video at link.)
"News Photography Expanded: Reading the Pictures with Michael Shaw and Cara Finnegan," part of the 2020 Photo Vogue Festival (sponsored by Vogue Italia), Nov. 2020. (Video at link.)
Moderator, "Documenting History: Protests, Ethics, and the Photograph," International Center of Photography, New York City, July 9, 2020.
"The Candid Camera Presidents: Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt," University of Southern California Visual Studies Institute, March 10-12.
"Scholarly Writing as Creative Work," keynote address, Midwest Winter Workshop, University of Illinois, Feb. 8.
2019
Co-host of Chatting the Pictures, a webcast that analyzes news photos of the week. (Multiple episodes' video at link.)
"From Daguerreotype to Digital Revolution: Presidents and Photography from Washington to Obama." DePauw Undergraduate Honors Conference, April 5, 2019.
"Barack Obama and the Age of Social Media." Brock Lecture, Wayne State University, March 28, 2019.
"The Last Photographs of William McKinley." Visual Rhetoric symposium, Northwestern University, Feb. 14, 2019.
2018
Co-host of Chatting the Pictures, a weekly webcast that analyzes news photos of the week. (Multiple episodes' video at link.)
"Painter Brushes Trump Into Seat at Exclusive Club," New York Times, Oct. 17, 2018.
Producer and co-host of Chatting the Pictures, a weekly webcast that analyzes news photos of the week, in conjunction with the non-profit media literacy site Reading the Pictures. (Multiple episodes' video at link.)
"What Studying Presidents Can Teach Us About the History of Photography," presentation to the University of Illinois Board of Trustees meeting, Sept. 26, 2018.
"Barack Obama's Visual Archive," Penn State Information and Humanities Conference, Sept. 2018.
"Photographic Archives for Our Times: Barack Obama in the Age of Social Media," J. Jeffrey Auer Lecture at Indiana University, April 5, 2018.
2017
"The Timeless Lessons of Photography." LAS News, November 2017.
"The Candid Camera and the Changing Visual Values of Political Space." International Society for the History of Rhetoric conference, London, July 2017.
"Visual Politics of Refugee Photography." Workshop for United Minority Relief (Univ. Illinois Student Group)'s Refugee Awareness Week, April 25, 2017.
"Key Pictures from Trump's First 100 Days." Reading the Pictures Salon. April 7, 2017. (Video archived at link.)
"What Melania Trump's Portrait Says About Her, as petitions call for her to move to the White House." News.Com Australia. April 5, 2017.
"Melania Trump's Official White House Portrait Was Released. And people are talking." Boston Globe. April 4, 2017.
"What Melania Trump's Official Portrait Says About the First Lady." BBC Newsbeat. April 4, 2017.
Interviewed for article about visual politics of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's photos. Le Monde. March 2, 2017.
"Presidential Art." WCIA-TV. Feb. 21, 2017. (Video archived at link.)
Interviewed on WDWS radio about presidents and photography. Feb. 7, 2017. Audio here.
"What's So Strange about Trump's White House Portrait? Experts Explain." Vox.com. Jan. 26, 2017.
2016
"Will the White House Continue to Use Photos as a Social Media Tool?" Illinois News Bureau feature, Dec. 20, 2016.
"The Camera Politic: American Presidents and the History of Photography from the Daguerreotype to the Digital Revolution." Keynote address for the University of St. Thomas Undergraduate Communication Research Conference, St. Paul, MN, April 22, 2016. (Here's a nice story about the conference.)
"Fortune Magazine and the New Visual Politics of the Candid Camera." Print Matters: Histories of Photography and Illustrated Magazines workshop, CUNY/Rutgers/New York Public Library, April 9, 2016.
"Photographing George Washington: Presidents, Portrait Photography, and the Building of National Memory." Center for Advanced Study fellows' symposium, April 5, 2016.
"A Look at Early Campaign 2016." Reading the Pictures Salon, March 20, 2016. (Video archived at link.)
"The Fleeting Visual Politics of the Candid Camera." Bruce Gronbeck Lecture, University of Iowa, Feb. 16, 2016.
"The Visual Framing of the Migrant Crisis." Reading the Pictures Salon, Jan. 10, 2016. (Video archived at link.)
2015
Interviewed about Making Photography Matter, WORT's "A Public Affair," (Madison, WI), Dec. 2, 2015. (Audio at link.)
"A Presidency in Pictures." Chicago Humanities Festival, Nov. 1, 2015. Rubloff Auditorium, Art Institute of Chicago.
"Herbert Hoover and the Fleeting Visual Politics of the Candid Camera." Texas A&M University, Sept. 18, 2015.
"How We View Lincoln May Say More About Us Than About Him." University of Illinois News Bureau Feature, April 2, 2015.
"The Lens in the Mirror: How Surveillance is Pictured in Media and Public Culture." BagNews Salon, March 2015.