Nobody moves faster than Daniella Zalcman. A big claim, but I'm pretty sure it's true. I'm old, I've met a lot of people, and, believe me, she's quick. The organization that she created, Women Photograph, went from idea to reality in no more than as year. And what a tremendously impressive reality -- an online database of female visual journalists in 87 countries, a mentoring program for younger visual journalists, and a source of funding for travel and for long-term projects. Along the way, she's continued to work on Signs of Your Identity, some of the most innovative and moving documentary photography that I've seen in years. (I'm not the only one. It's won a series of awards.)
Daniella Zalcman, Signs of Your Identity.
Women Photograph is Daniella's response to a problem that many people talk about, but few do anything to correct -- lack of gender diversity in journalism and photojournalism. (This is also a problem as far as people of color are concerned. Here's a good article on why diversity matters -- to all of us, no matter what gender or color we might be. Diversity means better reporting.)
This week -- less than a year after coming into existence -- Women Photograph announced its first grant winners. Alex Kay Potter received the Women Photograph/Pulitzer Center grant, and Luján Agusti, Gabriella Demczuk, and Néha Hirve were awarded Women Photograph/ONA grants.
As you can see from names of the grants, Daniella has had help in building Women Photograph. Besides the Pulitzer Center and ONA (a maker of high-end camera bags), the organization gets help from the IWMF and World Press Photo.
The grant winners are an impressive group. I especially like the way that they represent a wide variety of approaches to photojournalism and documentary photography.
Alex Kay Potter, Once a Nation.
Here's how Women Photograph describes the work of Alex Kay Potter. She photographs in the Middle East, documenting...
...families whose lives have been thrown into chaos by ongoing war. Yet in spite of political and economic instability that are threatening to destroy what remains of the region's infrastructure, communities are banding together to help each other through the crises as they come. Alex's work will follow individuals in their struggle to make life work amidst war, contrasting that with images of the very systems that are failing: healthcare, education, tourism, and more.
Gabriella Demczuk
Gabriella Demczuk will...
...begin a new project to look at immigration enforcement techniques and the culture of security along Texas border communities, and how it contrasts with the life and policing of sanctuary cities. It will also look at how communities are preparing to oppose Texas Senate Bill 4 through both legal action and changes in perceptions of immigrants, as well as how organizations like Faith in Texas are trying to bridge the economic and racial divide.
Luján Agusti, Payasos Danzantes.
...ongoing project Payasos Danzantes aims to explore Mexican syncretism — the merging of traditional pre-Hispanic culture with that of evangelizing colonial forces — through the community of dancing holy clowns and the elements they create to build their identity.
Néha Hirve, Full Shade / Half Sun.
Full Shade / Half Sun, Néha Hirve's project...
...explores an experimental community living in the tropical dry forest of Tamil Nadu, India. Although their core purpose is reforesting the desertified land, they are also an experiment in collective, back-to-nature living. Her work investigates philosophical and existential questions about the ways in which we find meaning in our relationship to the land.
Women Photograph is off to a great start. Is it sustainable? I think so. The community of women visual journalists is committed to it, and funding agencies have stepped up to the plate. The organization has already gotten a lot attention in the larger world of journalism. Just this week, the New York Times ran a story on the grants.
So, brava, Daniella! Bravo, winners and funders! Let us all know how we can help.
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