Write to us at startingpoint@globe.com. To subscribe, sign up here.

Pictures have been defining presidencies practically since the medium was invented.

An 1898 photograph of Teddy Roosevelt bestride a horse in his Rough Riders uniform helped cement the rugged persona he carried into the White House. There’s a delighted Harry Truman triumphantly holding up a Chicago newspaper that erroneously reported he’d lost reelection, Richard Nixon grinning and throwing out “V for victory” signs after resigning in 1974, and Barack Obama beside a dancing Virginia McLaurin, born under Jim Crow, who lived to see America’s first Black president.

Sometimes the photos that define an administration don’t feature the president at all. Think the image of a man falling from the Twin Towers or, nearly two decades later, the US Capitol lit by a flash-bang grenade as police clashed with pro-Trump rioters on Jan. 6.

Presidents are hyperaware that their legacies are partially written in pixels. Lyndon Johnson personally stage-managed the photograph of himself taking the oath of office after John F. Kennedy’s assassination, a blood-spattered Jackie by his side. A version of the instantly famous photo of Donald Trump raising his fist after the first attempt on his life last year now hangs in the White House.

That said, it’s hard to know in real time which images will end up becoming lasting monuments to a given political moment. Still, when I saw the photo that sits atop today’s newsletter, I wondered if it might one day join their ranks.

The image shows a Leominster woman and her two older daughters protectively holding a third girl, a 5-year-old US citizen, who looks at the camera after federal immigration agents detained her father, a Guatemalan man named Edwards Hip Mejia, last month.

After the family told the Globe their story, photographer Craig Walker drew the assignment to take their portrait. The more he learned, the worse it sounded. The girls’ mother, who gave her middle name as Jeannette, says that immigration agents held her youngest daughter, who has autism, in their driveway to lure Hip Mejia outside. Video shows armed agents towering over the girl. “You’re more than welcome to come pick her up,” one tells Hip Mejia, who had run into the house as agents closed in.

The planning behind Craig’s photo speaks to the tensions of the moment as the Trump administration escalates its immigration crackdown in Massachusetts. Jeannette didn’t want to show her face, so Craig got to Leominster early and sat in a parking lot to strategize. “I get a little bit of anxiety in situations like this because I never really know how it’s going to pan out until I get there.”

Then a solution hit. “Thinking about how helpless the mother must have felt at that time, I thought, ‘She’ll probably never let her daughter go again,’” Craig says. “I thought the picture should be about protection.” (Trump officials say that Hip Mejia, who was taken to a correctional facility in Plymouth, unlawfully entered the US in 2000 and abandoned his daughter. “ICE agents NEVER used a 5-year-old girl as ‘bait,’” a Homeland Security official said. Agents later brought the girl to a police station, where her grandmother picked her up.)

When Craig reached their home, the family welcomed him. “I explained my idea and things came together,” he says. “Soft light, caring hands, and an innocent face.”

Craig’s image is among the best the Globe published last month, as selected by our photo editors. You can see the rest here. And I highly recommend reading the full story about the family’s ordeal, which my colleagues Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio and Samantha J. Gross reported.

🧩 5 Across: Packing box | ☂️ 69° Soggy

A Boston police cruiser burned at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Tremont Street in Boston over the weekend.Charlotte Aunger

‘Street takeovers’: Governor Maura Healey pledged to crack down on the unruly events, during which cars and crowds confronted police in Boston and other Massachusetts communities over the weekend. Here’s what we know about the incidents.

Boston protest: Police arrested 13 people after a pro-Palestinian demonstration on Boston Common spilled onto nearby streets and protesters assaulted officers, the authorities said.

Transgender rights: Wellesley, Mount Holyoke, and other women’s colleges welcomed trans women students years ago. Despite Trump’s attacks, they’re fighting to keep doing so.

Changing gears: Boston has cordoned off a stretch of bike lane along Arlington Street with dozens of short, oblong mounds, City Hall’s latest effort to expand bike infrastructure.

Boston sports: It’s too soon to think about the Patriots making the playoffs this year, but Dan Shaughnessy says their soft regular season schedule offers hope. Meanwhile, the Globe’s Christopher L. Gasper is skeptical that Red Sox executives will actually try to compete next season.

Pam Bondi: During a tense hearing, Trump’s attorney general dismissed Senate Democrats’ questions about Jeffrey Epstein, the prosecution of James Comey, and whether she’s turned the Justice Department into a tool of the White House. (WashPost 🎁)

Conversion therapy: During arguments, the US Supreme Court sounded likely to side with a Christian counselor challenging Colorado’s ban on treatments meant to change a child’s sexual orientation or gender identity. (SCOTUSblog)

Last word: Jane Goodall, the famed primatologist who died last week at 91, conducted a Netflix interview before her death in which she said she’d like to see Trump, Elon Musk, Vladimir Putin, and others launched into space.

Hurricane season continues: Tropical Storm Jerry became the 10th named storm so far and is expected to strengthen into a hurricane.

All that glitters: The price of a troy ounce of gold surpassed $4,000 for the first time as investors seek alternative assets amid a weakening US economy. (WSJ 🎁)

By David Beard

🦰 Conan O’Brien: A new documentary about John Candy reveals that he gave the future talk show host — and Brookline native — invaluable advice. O’Brien has something to promote, too: an A24 film that features his first major dramatic role.

🍫 Whodunit? Something weird is happening to Halloween chocolate. (Atlantic 🎁)

🚚 Unpacking (and packing): Who knows a lot about relationships? Movers, who see us at our most vulnerable, says Meredith Goldstein.

🏈 Big game: Taylor Swift finally told us why she isn’t headlining the Super Bowl. But clearly she’s thought about it. (NBC)

😱 Retro fright night: Halloween-themed movies don’t all have a dude in a mask with a knife. Here are seven upcoming movie showings in the area, from “Hotel Transylvania” and “The Mummy” to, um, more extreme terrain.

🧒 Kids menu, please: A study shows 74 percent of diners want smaller portions — and P.F. Chang’s, The Cheesecake Factory, and Olive Garden are obliging. Who wants less? Budget seekers, GLP-1 takers, and folks dining alone. (Morning Brew)

🌝 A supermoon haiku: The orb rose orange / A skyward Halloween treat / Do these pics get it?

Thanks for reading Starting Point.

This newsletter was edited by David Beard.

❓ Have a question for the team? Email us at startingpoint@globe.com.

✍🏼 If someone sent you this newsletter, you can sign up for your own copy.

📬 Delivered Monday through Friday.

Ian Prasad Philbrick can be reached at ian.philbrick@globe.com.