How do you show emotion without showing someone’s face? How can viewers connect with the subject of a photograph if you can’t see their eyes? How do you connect on a human level with someone who is hidden, obscured?

This is what I’m grappling with right now. As a journalist, I tend to think about the story first and the visuals second. As a photographer, I often dig myself into weird visual conundrums with said pattern.

I’m here in Tijuana working on a story about migration, about people hanging in the balance. For people whose future is uncertain, agreeing to be photographed is a hard sell. The last thing I want to do is push someone in to a situation they’re uncomfortable with, so I’m looking for ways to get creative. To catch moments where identity is obscured but humanity is front and center. We’ll see how it looks when the film comes back….

#Tijuana

-Meghan Dhaliwal