Paul Ratje is a visiting assistant professor teaching photojournalism courses in the Department of Journalism and Media Studies at New Mexico State University. Originally from Las Cruces, he studied photojournalism and foreign languages at NMSU, after which he lived in Taiwan and started his career in photojournalism. After six years in Asia, he returned home to the Southern New Mexico and El Paso area, where he devoted himself to documenting stories of immigration and border issues in the Southwestern United States and region of El Paso and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. A frequent contributor to The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, and other publications, he strives to show humanity in the topics he covers. He speaks Spanish and Mandarin, which he utilizes in his work, and maintains a curiosity for stories in his backyard and the world around him.