Borderless Magazine’s Favorite Visuals of 2024 — and the Stories Behind Them

Much like our reporting, Borderless Magazine centers visuals of immigrant communities in our stories. Our photographs and illustrations allow readers to see the world through the lens of people whose stories we highlight.

Our visuals team and contributors documented conditions for day laborers, made portraits of Venezuelan migrants navigating the Chicago shelter system, documented a religious procession in the northwest suburbs and captured the joy and camaraderie at a Filipino community center and a lowrider meetup at a drive-in theater.

The following images are an unranked selection carefully curated by Borderless Magazine from the past year as we look to 2025.

Our team was thoughtful with this portrait assignment for the as-told-to story with Nekbahkt, a refugee and double amputee from Afghanistan. Photographer Mustafa Hussain joined the interview for the story. Afterward, Hussain set up a backdrop at Refugee One, a familiar location for Nekbahkt.  During the session, Hussain made both black and white film and color digital images. The backdrop he created helped eliminate distractions and bring complete fo​​cus on Nekbahkt. The final selection of photos offers a striking portrait of Nekbahkt.

As the Filipino American community continues revitalizing the Rizal Center, Borderless was there to capture the joy and camaraderie during a social hour earlier this year. Contributing photographer Jack X. Li joined engagement reporter Katrina Pham. During the social hour, Li captured a moment between two friends who stopped to talk during a line dance class. Li’s ability to highlight this moment of friendship showed a glimpse of how important this space is to the local Filipino community. 

For years, I’ve spent a lot of time around Chicago’s lowrider community. Pedro Cisneros and the Amistad Car Club Chicago Chapter became familiar faces at meetups around Chicago and nearby suburbs. When I found out they began meeting at a drive-in theater, I jumped at the opportunity to document the event and learn more about the history of the Amistad Car Club. 

I met with Cisneros to interview him about Amistad and see his garage, where he builds lowrider bikes, adds hydraulics to other cars, and stores his Lincoln Continental. After the interview, Cisneros brought his lowrider out to the alley, where I captured a portrait of him leaning on his ranfla.

Borderless creates several resource guides for our readers. In making a landing page, artist Mike Centeno illustrated the many hurdles immigrants face navigating a new country and highlighted some available resources. In the final piece, Centeno depicted people reaching solid ground using different means. The illustration is featured on our resource landing page.

Longtime photojournalist Abel Uribe joined veteran reporter Stephen Franklin to report on the plight of day laborers at three Home Depot parking lots across the city. The lead photo from this story depicts the steep competition they face when looking for work. Despite risks, dangerous conditions, and sometimes wage theft, they swarm around the car, showcasing their eagerness to find work.

Pathways photo intern Oscar Gomez and reporter Aydali Campa worked together to capture the story behind a horseback procession from the forest preserves to the Shrine of Our Lady Of Guadalupe in Des Plaines. The featured photo shows a close formation as faithful followers attend an opening ceremony before making the six-mile trek. The story captures the communal dedication to honoring the Virgin of Guadalupe.

This portrait, made by former Pathways Intern Efrain Soriano, became the lead photo for an investigation into Favorite Staffing. For this partnership with the Investigative Project on Race and Equity, Reina Jerez Garcia was a featured voice, highlighting poor conditions at Chicago’s migrant shelters run by Favorite. Soriano met with Jerez and her family on the Far South Side at the historic Pullman Park.