Nichole Sobecki on Self-Care

Award-winning photojournalist Nichole Sobecki has been on assignment in conflict zones around the world, bearing witness to a variety of difficult situations and harrowing events. We sat down for a conversation with Sobecki at the 2019 Foundry Photojournalism Workshop, and in this video, she describes some of the techniques and practices she has developed to deal with the trauma that comes along with such work in healthy and productive ways.

Nichole Sobecki is a photographer and filmmaker based in Nairobi, Kenya. She is represented internationally by the photo agency VII. Nichole graduated from Tufts University before beginning her career in Turkey, Lebanon, and Syria, focusing on regional issues related to identity, conflict, and human rights. From 2012-2015 Nichole led Agence France-Presse’s East Africa video bureau, and was a Rory Peck Awards News Finalist for her coverage of the Westgate mall attacks in Kenya. In 2018 she was awarded by Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights prize in new media for her images documenting Europe’s response to the African migration crisis. Nichole’s work has been recognized by Pictures of the Year, the One World Media Awards, the Alexandra Boulat Award for Photojournalism, The Magenta Foundation, and The Jacob Burns Film Center, among others. She is also a contributor to Everyday Africa, a collection of images shot on mobile phones across the continent, and an attempt to showcase the moments missing from dramatic news images — everyday life that is neither idealized nor debased. Nichole aims to create photographs and films that demand consideration for the lives of those represented – their joys, challenges, and ultimately their humanity. She has completed assignments throughout Africa, the Middle East and Asia for National Geographic, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Newsweek, Time, Foreign Policy, The Financial Times Magazine, The Guardian, and Le Monde, and her work has been exhibited internationally.

The Foundry Photojournalism Workshop offers majority world students who could not otherwise afford it a chance to learn from some of the world’s most well respected photojournalists and photography professionals. All of the instructors volunteer their time and talent, coming from the workshop region and abroad, bringing with them a commitment to a better future through responsible visual journalism.