Canon Female Photojournalist Award

The Canon Female Photojournalist Award is an annual prize for women photojournalists. Women photojournalists worldwide are welcome to enter the competition, for which there is no age limit. The 8,000-euro award enables the winners to finance their projects and have their work exhibited at the festival in Perpignan and later in Paris at the Cosmos Galery. I’m grateful to have been a former recipient.

Fulbright National Geographic Digital Storytelling Fellowship

The Fulbright – National Geographic Digital Storytelling Fellowship is a new component of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program that provides opportunities for U.S. citizens to participate in an academic year of overseas travel and digital storytelling in up to three countries on a globally significant social or environmental topic. This Fellowship is made possible through a partnership between the U.S. Department of State and the National Geographic Society.

Ian Parry Scholarship

The Ian Parry Scholarship is an international photographic competition for young photographers who are either attending a full-time photographic course or are under 24. Entrants must submit a portfolio and a brief synopsis of a project they would undertake if they won the scholarship. The prize consists of £3,500 towards their chosen assignment £500 to those awarded Highly Commended and Commended, as well as a choice of Canon equipment, publication of the finalist’s work in The Sunday Times Magazine and admittance into the World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass. Reportage by Getty Images adds the winer to their Emerging Talent Group and Save the Children offers one of the finalists an all expense paid assignment. Deadline is typically in August. Watch the Ian Parry Scholarship website for more details.

It Takes A Village to Protect a Rhino

I am thrilled to be starting my first crowd funding campaign with the new site, IndieVoices and I’m incredibly grateful to The Photo Society, for selecting it to be among the first that they launch. The New York Times ran an interview about this project. Read more about it here.

This is an important story I began with The Nature Conservancy  about indigenous communities uniting to combat poaching in Northern Kenya. If this is an issue you support, please share this link.  My stories will focus on the indigenous nomadic communities of Northern Kenya on the frontlines of the poaching wars and their efforts to preserve community cohesion, ultimately the best immunization against forces that threaten their wildlife and their way of life.

Commercial poaching organized by sophisticated heavily armed criminal networks and fueled by heavy demand from newly minted millionaires in emerging markets is devastating the amazing mega-fauna of the African plains.  It is entirely possible, even likely, that if the current trajectory of death continues, rhinos, elephants and a host of lesser know plains animals will be functionally extinct in our lifetimes.

Much needed attention has been focused on the plight of wildlife and the conflict between heavily armed poacher and increasingly militarized wildlife rangers.  However, the compelling story of indigenous communities caught in the cross-hairs of the poaching wars, and who may hold the key to saving Africa’s great animals, is largely untold.

The vast arid landscape of savannah, thorn-scrub and forested sky islands is populated by 14 indigenous semi-nomadic ethnicities–  Bajun, Boni, Borana, Giriama, Maasai, Ntorobo, Njemps, Ormoa, Pokomo,  Pokot, Rendillie, Samburu, Somali, and Turkana. Healthy populations of elephants including some massive tuskers roam this region while endangered black rhino, Grevy’s zebra and Hirola antelope hold on in globally significant numbers.  But armed poachers taking advantage of the porous borders of Somalia, and South Sudan put wildlife and people at grave risk, increasing instability, inter-clan conflict, and lawlessness. While government and private conservation organizations fight to strengthen anti-poaching efforts, communal cohesion with and between communities is the fabric upon which conservation depend.

Twenty-six indigenous groups covering 2.5 million hectares of Northern Kenya have begun to lay down their guns, relying on dialogue rather than warfare to settle inter-tribal conflict and collectively manage wildlife within their lands. They are beginning to reap the benefits of their efforts as both conservation and tourism dollars flows into this extremely poor region.  And by managing grazing jointly they can better safeguard against the unpredictability of drought and climate change.  Poaching now threatens their recent successes and may rip apart fragile communities and permanently end a nomadic way of life.

Film for Ripple Effect Images

MediaStorm  created a beautiful film about my work with Ripple Effect Images. Our aim is to tell the stories that empower women around the world. Watch it HERE.

 

For photographer Ami Vitale, the pivotal moment occurred in Guinea-Bissau.

 

It was the start of her career and she was visiting her sister in the Peace Corp. Vitale expected Africa to be filled with war, famine, plague or the other extreme, exotic safaris.

 

Living in West Africa for six months showed her not only “how the majority of people on the planet live their day-to-day life,” but that people were not as hopeless as the newspapers portrayed. There was “a great deal of joy there.”

 

It is a revelation that has guided Vitale through 80 countries and a 13-year career.

 

Her original desire to take “beautiful pictures” was transformed into a desire to do justice to people and their stories. As a photographer Vitale’s focus has centered on issues surrounding women, poverty and health. The common denominator to all of her stories, she realized, is nature, specifically climate change. And it’s women who bare the brunt of those changes.

 

But when a woman is offered the tools to improve her situation, she runs with the opportunity. She transforms communities. “It’s a ripple effect,” says Vitale.

 

It’s the desire to see change that led Ami Vitale to join Ripple Effect Images, a photography organization started by Annie Griffiths that shares imagery with other changemakers.

 

“We are telling the stories that are so important and get lost in the headlines,” says Vitale. “They are the key to connecting things and allowing people to get engaged and make a difference.”]

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New work from Montana

Aspiring photographers often ask me where they might go to find the best stories. My answer is always the same – get to know your own backyard, what’s close at hand, rather than traveling around the world just to capture images of something foreign or exotic.  My rationale is that if you can tell these stories of every day life and focus on what we have in common rather than the obvious differences, then you will succeed as a storyteller.

Ironically, I have rarely listened to my own advice and the past dozen years has seen me crisscross the globe playing witness to civil unrest, turmoil, and violence in over 85 countries.  I broke my pattern in 2010 when I moved to Montana and have tried to base myself in this beautiful but austere landscape.

The images I am now able to create tell the story about our deep connection to land, the importance we place in stewardship, and a vanishing way of life in the American West. The folks whom I have got to know are remarkable in their fortitude, work ethics, and the neighborliness they exhibit everyday.  It is not an easy story but one that requires patience and persistence to birth – and yet I believe it is as rewarding in the telling as the more sensational events I have had the opportunity to cover.

Check out this month’s Viewfinder in Orion magazine and the New Yorker lens blog to see some of my images from  home.

National Geographic Channel in Sri Lanka

The cameras have been turned and I’m on a new National Geographic Channel tv show called “Mission Covershot” shot in Sri Lanka!  The show captures the journey of eight photographers as they compete to get the perfect covershot  and the chance of having their photo on the cover of National Geographic magazine. I had the pleasure of being a lead judge on an esteemed panel that included leading Indian director Nagesh Kukunoor and National Geographic Magazine Traveler photography editor Ashima Narain. The lovely and charismatic Shibani Dandekar joined us as the host of the show.  I hope the series will not only be entertaining but also educate audiences and aspiring photographers about what it takes to make powerful photographs and stories. It may look easy to carry a camera and make beautiful images but there is a lot of hard work behind each photograph. And most of the time, working hard is much more important than raw talent. Millions of people can take nice pictures but you need to also have intelligence, ethics, sensitivity and know how treat people with respect. So tune in on the Nat Geo channel Monday nights at 10 pm from March 25. Click HERE to see a promo video.

Workshop in Sri Lanka August 9-18, 2013

Join renowned photojournalist Ami Vitale for an enlightening photography workshop on the island nation of Sri Lanka. She just finished a ten part TV series with National Geographic Channel that is currently airing in Asia. This summer she will lead a small and intimate workshop to “The Pearl of the Indian Ocean” with its abundant wildlife and ancient culture.  During the trip, you will have the opportunity to photograph and get daily critiques from Ami as she guides you to take your passion for photography and make a difference in your life’s work.  The workshop will focus on how to take strong still images and turn them into compelling stories that make a difference. CLICK HERE for a full itinerary.

One of the highlights of the trip will be exclusive photographic access to theKandy/Esala Festival. At this impressive festival, Buddhist traditions are performed in costumes with extravagant decorations and elegant detailing. In addition to front-row views for the festival processions, we will have private access to the dancers and performers as they prepare for the festivities.

We will also enjoy  exclusiveaccess in the Pinnewala elephant orphanage. A conservation project for orphaned and injured elephants, it is the only shelter of its kind in the entire world.  We will also visit Yala National Park, undoubtedly the best place to spot leopards in Asia, if not the world. We will meet locals, visit the centuries old Dutch Galle Fort and photograph the iconic stilt fisherman that Steve McCurry made famous.

If you are a photographer interested in how to create memorable photographic stories and multimedia presentations, make sure you attend Ami’s powerful and timely workshop. The location and knowledge gained will make this a once in a lifetime experience.

Montana Ranching, Redefined.

jblNew IMAGES HERE:More and more, people want to know where their steak comes from and how it was raised.  Spurred by growing concern over beef’s environmental impact and the long-term viability of their livelihood, a cohort of Montana ranchers is working to integrate ecological practices into livestock management.

Over the last year, I’ve been spending time with ranchers to understand what it means to ranch in this day and age. Is it possible that cows can be good for the landscape and ranching can still respect the animal, wild or domestic? The ranchers share a deep love of their livelihood and the land. Together, they work with The Nature Conservancy on an integrative conservation effort in the Centennial Valley, to preserve the integrity of the land in a way that benefits both people and wildlife.

The folks at Yellowstone Grassfed Beef believe that by mimicking the behaviors of wild herbivores, calving in the spring and intensely grazing an area for a brief period, before moving on—rangeland health will improve.  These practices reveal a deeper story—one of layered realities and changing times. Resilience, inventiveness and adaptability are not foreign concepts to these ranchers, nor is living at the interface of wilderness. Yet, does the value of what they know and the work they do translate to the dinner plates of those they feed?

The website of J-L Ranch here.

Check out the photos at NBC.com HERE

New Work from Turkey

I had the privilege to work on a book and exhibit project in Cappadocia, Turkey. It’s rare to have these kinds of opportunities, especially in today’s climate. I am grateful to Zaman for commissioning us, Selahattin Sevi who edited the project and photographer Kürşat Bayhan patiently guided me through Cappadocia. The book is gorgeous! Twenty-four of my favorite living photographers and I documented different aspects of life, culture and the beauty of Turkey. The exhibit and book includes the stunning work of Jane Evelyn Atwood, Bruno Barbey, Carolyn Drake, Nikos Economopoulos, Ed Kashi, Anthony Suau, Reza, Steve McCurry and so many other truly great photographers. There are also interviews of all the photographers online.

http://timeinturkey.org/?p=photographer&l=24