Getty Images photojournalist John Moore presents his work documenting immigrants

Pulitzer Prize winner and author of the photograph that captured Donald Trump’s zero-tolerance policy of separation of parents and children on the US-Mexico border, photojournalist John Moore was in Brazil for a Getty Images event. He’s been a special correspondent for Getty Images for 14 years.

John Moore’s trajectory as a photojournalist

As a photojournalist, Moore has photographed in over 64 countries and documented conflicts such as the Iraq War, the Ebola crisis in Africa, the Arab Spring and the assassination of Pakistan’s former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

In the past 10 years, John Moore focused his work on documenting the Mexico-US border and has gathered these photographs for the book “Undocumented”. His interest in immigrants issues began after he lived in Mexico for 17 years at the beginning of his career. He saw the reality on the other side of the border and when he got back to the US he started taking pictures of the immigrants with a responsibility of being fair to the reality.

Humanity through John Moore’s lens

John Moore is always cautious with the humanity of his photographs and how he relates to the people he is about to document. He connects with them on a personal level before taking their pictures so they feel they’re actively participating in the storytelling and being truthfully pictured.

“Girl Crying in the Border”, the famous picture of a Honduran mother and daughter on the Mexico-US border is a 2019 World Press Photo Contest finalist, a top award in photojournalism.

John Moore has already won a Pulitzer Prize, a Robert Capa Gold medal, World Press Photo honours and News Picture Story awards for his important records of great worldwide impact.

John Moore for Getty Images

In São Paulo for the first time, John Moore discussed his work as a special correspondent for Getty Images. One of the talks was for Instituto Criar students and the moment was special for the photojournalist. He was impressed with the questions and also the interest of the students in the profession and humanitarian side of photography.

The photojournalist remembered stories from his nearly 30-year career, main coverages and talked about the challenges of having a profession that allows you to be face-to-face with unique situations.

Written by: Patricia Zylberman