Outreach Program Spotlight: The Alexia

The Alexia Foundation

The Alexia Foundation promotes the power of photojournalism to give voice to social justice, to respect history lest it be forgotten and to understand cultural difference as our strength—not our weakness. Through grants, scholarships and special projects, The Alexia Foundation supports photographers as agents for social change.

At a time when many other resources have dwindled, The Alexia Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization, remains unwavering in its commitment to support photojournalism on academic and professional levels. The foundation believes that there is no stronger force in bringing us closer to the world we inhabit.

The Alexia Foundation was named in honor of Alexia Tsairis, a 20 year old student at the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, who was lost in the terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie Scotland in 1988. She was one of 270 innocent people who were lost that day.

 

 

PhotoWings was a proud partner with The Alexia Foundation on their project: Latin America: Stories That Drive Change Seminar at The University of Miami in Miami, Florida. Additional co-sponsors included The University of Miami School of Communication, The Knight Foundation, and Nikon.

The seminar shared and celebrated photojournalism by Latin American and Latino journalists. It helped visual journalists learn how to better develop and support their own work.

  • see the best photography by Latin American and Latino photographers
  • learn about developing relationships and working with photo editors at the world’s top publications
  • gain understanding about using Instagram to further reach
  • learn how VR can be incorporated into one’s own work
  • learn how to successfully apply for grant opportunities
  • be inspired to develop passion projects and find one’s own photographic voice

Speakers included National Geographic Photographer Ami Vitale, National Geographic Photographer and Quito Cultural Minister Pablo Corral Vega, Syracuse University’s Alexia Tsairis Chair of Documentary Photography Mike Davis, Photographer and Inaugural Getty Instagram Grant Winner Adriana Zehbrauskas, Managing Editor of LIFE VR, TIME Inc’s New Virtual Reality Brand, Mia Tramz and National Geographic’s Deputy Director of Photography Whitney Johnson.

The seminar was moderated by Rich Beckman, Director of the Graduate Program for Journalism and Media Management at the University of Miami School of Communication.

 

Related Videos:

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At Blue Earth Alliance's Collaborations for Cause 2014, PhotoWings sat down with Mike Davis, an award-winning Photo Editor who has worked with some of the world’s best photo staffs at National Geographic Magazine, the White House Photo Office and several of America’s leading newspapers. Davis was twice named newspaper picture editor of the year, and has edited the work of several photographers who went on to win Photographer of the Year. He is the Alexia Tsairis Chair for Documentary Photography at the Newhouse School, where he teaches and runs the Alexia Foundation Grants competition.

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Featuring (in order of appearance):
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