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The Badger Herald

Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

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Journalistic chronicles immigration in works

donbarletti_AF
Photojournalist Don Bartletti shared his experiences covering tensions at the border between the United States and Mexico in a talk on campus held Monday. Barletti won a Pulitzer Prize for his photo essays and said he strives to capture raw emotion.[/media-credit]

A renowned photojournalist who worked on the University of Wisconsin’s Go Big Read book “Enrique’s Journey” shared his experiences in capturing photographs along the border between the United States and Mexico in an event on campus Monday.

Beginning his career in 1968, Don Bartletti started taking photographs in San Diego and has since won a Pulitzer Prize and a Robert Kennedy Award for his work, “Photo Essays About Our Border.”

Bartletti said he found his passion for photography in Vietnam, but has since brought it over to practice in the U.S. and Mexico. He said his sole purpose in life is to use photographic journalism to inform Americans about immigration.

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“Migration is as natural as the wind blows. People have been crossing borders since the ancient caveman days when they would look for the herd. The quest has not stopped, though now people are not looking for the herd, but the almighty dollar,” Bartletti said.

Bartletti added the quest for the image will never go away. Even if the papers, magazines or books go electronic, he said the adventure will always be there because people must find it.

“There is so much in an image. Since we are in a visual world, we can easily get on electronic devices and look at images all day long. We often find that we don’t think of what we are actually looking at though. You have to really look with your eyes to see depth,” Bartletti said.

Bartletti’s “Photo Essays About Our Border” begins with photos he took in the 1970s of the border between the United States and Mexico. Then, the border was just like a schoolyard fence, he said.

“I like to capture pictures of the border because it is not the miles, or the people or the environment. It’s the emotion in everything. In photographs we strive to catch the raw emotion,” he said.

Bartletti returned to the border in 1985, when border enforcements were trying harder to control immigration.

Bartletti said he would walk up and down the freeway exits along the border where people were waiting for work to tell immigrants what they’re doing is historic and important in the history of the U.S. and Mexico.

He added his passion for photography journalism of immigrants came from the fact that there are not many other way to feel the emotions of those that wanted a better life.

“Photography is really the only ghost to help us see the past,” Bartletti said.

John Johnson, a junior at UW, was impressed by Bartletti’s passion for photography as well as his ability to tell a story through photographs.

“Bartletti has a way of keeping things sensitive in pictures. Though the photos he takes show signs of hardship and struggle, the emotions of the people shown in each photograph seem so hopeful and inspiring and tell a real story,” Johnson said.

Don Bartletti will be speaking about his work with “Enrique’s Journey” today in the Red Gym from 7-9 p.m.

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