Outreach Spotlight: VII Events

Visual Storytelling Techniques with Acacia Johnson

There’s a difference between documenting a topic and telling a story. In a world with abundant imagery, standing out as a photographer requires more than great pictures. Visual storytelling can turn single photographs into compelling narratives that reach broad audiences. But how do you create a story that truly resonates?
Join award-winning photographer Acacia Johnson for an insightful webinar on visual storytelling techniques. A 2023 National Geographic Explorer, TEDx speaker, and ICP Infinity Awards winner, Acacia will share a behind-the-scenes look at her process on assignments—from developing an idea to structuring a complete photo story. Learning how to think about pictures as stories can take your photo career to the next level, opening up a world of opportunities like publications, exhibitions, commissions, and more.
Join us for her presentation on February 27 at 17:00 EST, followed by a Q&A session.

Visual Storytelling for Positive Change in Wildlife Conservation, with Jasper Doest

“Traditionally, nature photography has been about celebrating the stunning beauty of the natural world. This often means that any human element is avoided. I realized that I shouldn’t leave us out of the equation while telling these stories.”
Dutch photographer Jasper Doest explores the relationship between people and the natural world in his work. With a background in ecology, he focuses on conservation issues and the ways in which photography can raise awareness about environmental challenges. His images highlight both the beauty and fragility of our planet, showing how human activity shapes the landscapes and wildlife around us. A regular contributor to National Geographic and a Senior Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers, Jasper believes in the power of photography to drive positive change.
In this event—hosted by The VII Foundation contributing photographer Ilvy Njiokiktjien—Jasper will discuss his approach to photography and the role of photojournalism in addressing environmental issues.
Join us for a presentation on February 20 at 12:00 EST / 18:00 CET. Jasper’s talk will be followed by a Q&A session.
A recording of the conversation will be available in our Video Collection shortly after the event.

Documenting Women’s Rights in Afghanistan, with Kiana Hayeri and Mélissa Cornet

What does life look like for women in Afghanistan today, following twenty years of U.S. occupation and the Taliban’s rapid return to power?
In just over three years, Afghan women have been systematically excluded from nearly every aspect of public life: they are barred from schools, universities, most workplaces, and even parks and bathhouses. They must cover their faces in public, always be accompanied by a man, and never let their voices be heard in public.
In this event, we will speak with women’s rights researcher Mélissa Cornet and photographer Kiana Hayeri, who have spent years living and working in Afghanistan, witnessing firsthand the increasing suppression of women’s rights. After becoming laureates of the Carmignac Photojournalism Award in 2024, Cornet and Hayeri traveled across seven provinces over ten weeks, interviewing over 100 Afghan women and girls about how their lives have transformed under these harsh restrictions. Their stories reveal a complex mix of resilience, defiance, and despair.
How did Cornet and Hayeri connect with Afghan women amidst such challenging circumstances? Did their status as foreign women impact their interactions? What steps did they take to create a safe environment and ensure everyone’s security? And how has the global community reacted to the stories they’ve shared?
Join us on January 30 at 12:00 EST / 18:00 CET for their presentation, followed by a Q&A session.

Present Your Work - Public Speaking Tips from Smita Sharma

Standing out in photography takes more than great images—it requires the ability to share your work effectively. Knowing how to present your work can open doors to commissions, publications, and meaningful connections.
Join award-winning photojournalist Smita Sharma for an inspiring webinar. A TED Fellow, TED Speaker, and IWMF Reporting Fellow, Smita will share practical tips to help you present your work and improve your public speaking skills. Learn how to create impactful presentations and tell your story in a way that resonates.
Join us on January 23 at 12:00 EST / 18:00 CET for her presentation, followed by a Q&A session.
A recording of this conversation will be available in our Video Collection shortly after the event.

Photo Stories Exploring the Meaning of Home

Every few months, this series invites photographers from VII Community to present their stories. VII Community provides ongoing education and support to a network of The VII Foundation’s alums. VII Community is a program of The VII Foundation in partnership with PhotoWings.
In this episode, we explore three photography projects that examine the meaning of home.
We are delighted to welcome Romanian-Mexican photographer Ana Topoleanu, who will present her project “Dor.” This work explores the paradox of being physically present yet feeling distant, reflecting on the emotional and physical spaces that grow within a family as its members age.
Moldovan photographer Maria Gutu will discuss her series “Homeland,” which tells stories of youth in her country’s northern region. The project draws on Gutu’s upbringing in this area, where it is common for children to live with their grandparents while their parents temporarily emigrate abroad for work.
Syrian photographer Sara Kontar will showcase “Therefore I Cut,” a poignant portrayal of her mother cutting a friend’s hair. This work captures the lives of women in exile as they support one another in creating a transient home amidst displacement.
Join us on December 12 at 12:00 EST / 18:00 CET for the talk, followed by a Q&A session.
A recording of this conversation will be available in our Video Collection shortly after the event.
VII Foundation online events are brought to you by our partnership with PhotoWings.

Photo Editor Series - Fiona Shields

The Photo Editors Series is a series of conversations with well-known photo editors about how they view the media today, the role of visuals in reporting, the work they like to see, and advice for photographers on how best to connect with publishers.
Hosted by David Campbell and Ilvy Njiokiktjien, the series will combine an overview of the contemporary media landscape with practical tips. The editors in the series will speak as individuals rather than representatives of their organizations, and the event will be interactive with good opportunities for audience questions.
In this thirteenth episode, we will speak with Fiona Shields. She is an experienced picture editor who has worked across a range of newspaper titles. Fiona is currently the Head of Photography for the Guardian News and Media Group.

Join us on November 28, at 12:00 EST / 18:00 CET. The converstation will be followed by a Q&A session.
A recording of the talk will be available in our Video Collection, shortly after the event.

Curator Series - Nestan Nijaradze

The Curator Series presents engaging discussions with leading curators in the field of photography who represent diverse institutions worldwide. These conversations delve into the curator’s ongoing projects, the evolving role of curators in today’s photographic realm, and what they look for in preparing exhibitions, festivals, and museum shows.
Hosted by Heleen Peeters and Ilvy Njiokiktjien, the series provides insights into the curatorial process for exhibitions, festivals, and museum shows, offering practical advice for photographers looking to collaborate with curators.
In the fourth episode, we speak with Nestan Nijaradze, co-founder and Artistic Director of the Tbilisi Photography & Multimedia Museum as well as the Tbilisi Photo Festival in Georgia. Join us on November 21, at 12:00 EST / 18:00 CET. The talk will be followed by a Q&A session.
A recording of this conversation will be available in our Video Collection, shortly after the event.

Covering Sudan’s Refugee Camps: How Nicolò Filippo Rosso and Finbarr O’Reilly documented an overlooked humanitarian crisis

In April last year, Sudan was thrown into disarray when violent clashes erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The conflict has plunged the nation into what the UN has described as “one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in recent history.”
Tens of thousands have died, millions have been displaced, and hunger and disease are widespread. About 11.3 million people have been forced to leave their homes, with nearly 2.95 million crossing into neighboring countries like Chad and South Sudan. There, underfunded aid agencies are struggling to provide even the most basic necessities.
In August of this year, Nicolò Filippo Rosso and Finbarr O’Reilly documented the refugee camps in Chad. Rosso will present the work created for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Health Organization (WHO). O’Reilly, who also traveled to eastern Chad around the same time, will share his images of the sprawling camps along the Darfur border, captured for Avaaz. Rosso’s work was published in TIME, and O’Reilly’s series were featured by The Washington Post and CNN.

Curator Series - Iris Sikking

The Curator Series presents engaging discussions with leading curators in the field of photography who represent diverse institutions worldwide. These conversations delve into the curator’s ongoing projects, the evolving role of curators in today’s photographic realm, and what they look for in preparing exhibitions, festivals, and museum shows.
Hosted by Heleen Peeters and Ilvy Njiokiktjien, the series provides insights into the curatorial process for exhibitions, festivals, and museum shows, offering practical advice for photographers looking to collaborate with curators.
In the third episode, we speak with Iris Sikking, curator of photography at Fotomuseum and Kunstmuseum The Hague in The Netherlands. Join us on October 2, at 12:00 PM EDT / 18:00 PM CEST. The talk will be followed by a Q&A session.
A recording of this conversation will be available in our Video Collection, shortly after the event.

Born Free: Generation of Hope

This year marks the thirtieth anniversary since Nelson Mandela became president of South Africa, initiating a new chapter for the country. Since 2007, VII contributing photographer Ilvy Njiokiktjien has chronicled South Africa’s first post-apartheid generation. She became intrigued by these young adults and has followed the stories of more than 30 so-called ‘Born Frees’, portraying their daily lives in her distinctive and intimate style.
On Saturday, September 14th, 2024, the Apartheid Museum will open Ilvy Njiokiktjien’s exhibition Born Free: Generation of Hope. Photographs and short films of young South Africans born around 1994 – 30 years later. Join us for a panel discussion with the photographer and curators of the show.
This event is organized by the Apartheid Museum and VII Insider (a program of The VII Foundation in partnership with PhotoWings). It takes place at the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Saturday, September 14th, 2024, starting at 15:00 SAST (15:00 CEST / 09:00 EDT).
You can attend in-person, or online. For those attending online, please register via the link on this page to receive the login information for the online streaming.
Speakers:
Azu Nwagbogu p rovided curatorial oversight and will talk about his efforts to challenge stereotypes and promote authentic storytelling about Africa. Through his work, he emphasizes the importance of understanding cultural contexts and encourages both African and non-African photographers to engage deeply with the communities they document.
Neo Ntsoma co-curator of the exhibition will offer her perspective on the born free generation, drawing from her unique vantage point as someone from the preceding generation who has observed their development and impact on South African society.
Ilvy Njiokiktjien photographer and videographer (whose photographs and films are being showcased in this exhibition) will focus on the experiences she has had with the born frees over the past 17 years, sharing insights from her extensive work documenting their lives and aspirations.
Moderator:
Kneo Mokgopa of the Nelson Mandela Foundation writes about socio-economic politics, human rights and African political movements.

Photo Stories Documenting Abuse

This series showcases recent work from members of VII Community, in partnership with PhotoWings.

Every few months, VII Insider invites photographers from VII Community to present their stories. In this episode, we look at three photography projects that documenting human rights violations.
VII Community provides ongoing education and support to a network of VII Academy alumni and Foundry Photojournalism Workshop participants. VII Community is a program of The VII Foundation in partnership with PhotoWings.
We are delighted to be joined by Ecuadorian photographer David Diaz Arcos, who presents his project “Bird’s Nest” telling the stories of young adolescent women who are survivors of sexual exploitation in Ecuador.
Italian photographer Viviana Peretti, currently based in Colombia, discusses her series “Searching for Lost Lives” sharing a light on the people who forcibly disappeared in Colombia.
Iranian photographer Shirin Abedi, who grew up and lives in Hanover, shows “Invisible Students” which investigates the long-term effects of school bullying in Germany.
The event is moderated by The VII Foundation contributing photographer Anush Babajanyan.

How to Edit Your Story, by Marc Prüst

Have you ever wondered why certain photographs catch our eye in print, on social media, in museums, or on billboards?

In this webinar, visual story editor Marc Prüst will share his expertise on how to edit your photographic stories and will explore these questions and more.

Marc Prüst has extensively researched the workings of the photographic industry, focusing on how and why photographs circulate. Recently, he published the booklet Edit Your Story, which emphasizes the importance of editing. He will discuss different editing outcomes and demonstrate various storytelling formats.

Join us on September 5th at 12:00 PM EDT / 18:00 CEST. Marc’s presentation will be followed by a Q&A session.

A recording of this conversation will be available in our Video Collection, shortly after the event.

Latin American Photobooks: A Curator’s Perspective

In this event, Mexican photographer and writer Arturo Soto will be in conversation with Colombian curator Laura Carbonell about her latest curatorial endeavor, Photobooks from Latin America.

The exhibition, recently presented at Fotofestiwal in Poland, featured a diverse selection of seventy photobooks published in the last five years, from more than ten Latin American countries. The range of works exhibited questioned whether any formal, material, and narrative characteristics distinguish them from those produced elsewhere while also pointing to the specific social and economic conditions faced by creators from the region.

Join Arturo Soto and Laura Carbonell on August 22nd at 12:00 PM EDT / 18:00 PM CEST. The talk will be followed by a Q&A session.

A recording of this conversation will be available in our Video Collection, shortly after the event.

Guardians of Gaia, by Oyewole Lawal

Each year, Nigeria generates 32 million tonnes of waste, of which a staggering 90% ends up in landfill, incinerated, or illegally dumped. This waste contributes significantly to methane emissions, a potent greenhouse gas.

In this event – hosted by The VII Foundation contributing photographer Finbarr O’Reilly – Oyewole Lawal presents his project Guardians of Gaia: The Unseen Eco-Warriors. For the last years, Oyewole has been documenting scavengers, who work on the streets, gutters, and landfills in Africa, salvaging what society discards. By doing so, scavengers reduce the environmental impact, recycling 10% of the waste.

Many of Oyewole’s images have been made in the Olusosan Landfill in Lagos. This landfill is the largest in Africa, covering over 40 acres of land and receiving at least 10,000 tons of waste daily.

Join Finbarr O’Reilly for a presentation on July 18th at 12:00 PM EDT / 18:00 PM CEST. Oyewole’s talk will be followed by a Q&A session.

A recording of this presentation will be available in our Video Collection, shortly after the event.

Monumental Photography: Investigating Representations of Colonialism and Nationalism

Using The VII Foundation exhibition, MONUMENTAL: The Dome of the Rock by Ziyah Gafić and Notre-Dame de Paris by Tomas van Houtryve, as a launch pad, this discussion will feature presentations on photography’s history and politics of representation in France and Israel/Palestine.

Taking a step back from these places in the present, this panel will explore how particular understandings of faith, identity, colonialism, and nationalism have been enabled by visual symbols.

Moderator:
Dr. David Campbell,
Education Director, The VII Foundation

Speakers:
Professor Jonathan Long
Co-director, Centre for Visual Arts and Culture, Durham University

Dr. Sary Zananiri
Cultural practitioner and theorist

Ziyah Gafic
Contributing photographer, The VII Foundation

Tomas van Houtryve
Contributing photographer, The VII Foundation

Artificial Intelligence and the Threat to the Real

The production of synthetic media by AI models is rapidly and radically transforming the visual landscape. Generative AI can produce increasingly realistic photographs and videos, and this capacity is expanding exponentially.

Given the danger synthetic visual media poses to the power of images in reliably documenting events and issues, this session will address this question: what can independent practitioners and media organizations do to ensure authenticated visual content retains a central place in visual journalism?

Moderator:
Dr. David Campbell,
Education Director, The VII Foundation

Speakers:
Nicolas Jimenez
Director of Photography, Le Monde

Santiago Lyon
Head of Advocacy and Education, Content Authenticity Initiative

Mutale Nkonde
Leader, AI for The People

Photo Stories from the Square Mile Initiative

This series showcases recent work from members of VII Community, in partnership with PhotoWings.

Every few months, VII Insider invites photographers from VII Community to present their stories. In this episode, we look at three photographers whose work is featured in “Square Mile” at the Photoville Festival.

VII Community provides ongoing education and support to a network of VII Academy alumni and Foundry Photojournalism Workshop participants. VII Community is a program of The VII Foundation in partnership with PhotoWings.

Square Mile is an initiative that presents diverse photographic explorations by members of VII Community. It is a geographic framework, signifying a local focus on spaces where personal, local, and global influences intersect. The projects explore how themes such as climate change, identity, history, legacy, migration, gender, and environment appear within a local perspective.

We are delighted to be joined by Peruvian photographer Alejandra Orosco, who presents her project “ Only Memories Do Not Drown”, highlighting the 1978 story of El Peñol, a town whose residents were compelled to relocate because of a hydroelectric project that would eventually supply 30% of Colombia’s population with energy.

Doug Barrett is an American photographer who will discuss his series “Riley’s Cancel Journey.” Seven-year-old Riley Simmons faced WilmsTumor, a rare form of kidney cancer. Doug documented the emotions that Riley and her family experienced as they began their courageous battle for survival.

Nepalese photographer Uma Bista showcases “ Stay Home, Sisters,” a personal project that addresses taboos surrounding menstruation. During ‘Chhaupadi,’ each month, women in Western Nepal are subjected to a ritual of isolation. Deemed impure, they are forced to stay in cowsheds.

The event will be moderated by VII contributing photographer Espen Rasmussen.

Photo Editors Series – Carla Rosorius

The Photo Editors Series is a series of conversations with well-known photo editors about how they view the media today, the role of visuals in reporting, the work they like to see, and advice for photographers on how best to connect with publishers.

Hosted by David Campbell and Ilvy Njiokiktjien, the series will combine an overview of the contemporary media landscape with practical tips. The editors in the series will speak as individuals rather than representatives of their organizations, and the event will be interactive with good opportunities for audience questions.

In this twelfth episode, we will speak with Carla Rosorius. She has been working as a photo editor for GEO since 2015 and was appointed Director of Photography in 2023.

Curator Series – István Virágvölgyi

The Curator Series presents engaging discussions with leading curators in the field of photography who represent diverse institutions worldwide. These conversations delve into the curator’s ongoing projects, the evolving role of curators in today’s photographic realm, and what they look for in preparing exhibitions, festivals, and museum shows.

Hosted by Heleen Peeters and Ilvy Njiokiktjien, the series provides insights into the curatorial process for exhibitions, festivals, and museum shows, offering practical advice for photographers looking to collaborate with curators.

In the second episode, we speak with István Virágvölgyi, artistic director at the Robert Capa Contemporary Photography Center in Budapest, Hungary.

How Is The VII Foundation Addressing Visual Journalism’s Challenges? A Conversation With Gary Knight

What is the state of visual journalism, and how is The VII Foundation addressing the challenges? What are the foundation’s current activities, and what is planned for the future?

In this event, Gary Knight, co-founder and CEO of The VII Foundation and co-founder of VII Photo, and Dr. David Campbell, Education Director of The VII Foundation, will outline the foundation’s work and engage in a Q&A session with webinar participants.

The VII Foundation was established in 2001 alongside VII Photo with a mission to radically transform visual journalism as funding through traditional sources for continuing documentary practice and long-term journalism projects diminished.

The foundation was driven by the conviction that a non-profit structure would be an appropriate vehicle to initiate stories that advocate for change, impact policy, and train a new generation of visual journalists immersed in their own communities. That culminated last year in the foundation acquiring VII Photo.

Visualizing the Climate Crisis: Climate Migration

Over 370 million people worldwide have been forcibly displaced by floods, windstorms, earthquakes, or droughts since 2008, with a record 32 million in 2022 alone.

Climate change is driving extreme weather events and their consequences, leading to a rise in the number of climate refugees. In the worst-case scenario, 1.2 billion people could be displaced by 2050 due to natural disasters and other ecological threats, according to The Institute for Economics and Peace.

National and international responses to this challenge remain limited, and protection for those affected is inadequate, despite some steps in the right direction. Most importantly, there is no clear definition of a climate refugee, nor are climate refugees covered by the 1951 Refugee Convention. This means that climate cannot currently be cited as a reason for seeking asylum or refugee status.

How can climate migration be visualized? How can we shift perception about this phenomenon? Can visual stories and data visualization work together to tell the whole story to the public?

This is the fifth talk of the series Visualizing the Climate Crisis, which explores the potential and role that contemporary photography, together with other disciplines, can have in addressing the multi-layered theme of climate change.

The series features visual journalists doing evidence-based, research-informed, image-led reporting on climate issues. They will be in conversation with other professionals representing a diverse range of disciplines, such as science, policy-making, education, architecture, social innovation, media, and more, trying to explore the possibility of thinking beyond photography in a genuinely trans-disciplinary approach to expand reach, involve the wider public, and move people from being inspired to taking action.

In this event, Alessio Paduano (documentary photographer) and Federica Fragapane (Information Designer) are in conversation with Maria Teresa Salvati (founder and director of Everything is Connected), moderated by Paul Lowe (Professor of Conflict, Peace and the Image at London College of Communication, University of the Arts London).

This series is organized by Everything is Connected; UAL, University of the Arts London; and VII Insider.

The State of Visual Storytelling in China

What is the state of contemporary visual storytelling and visual journalism in China?

In this event, we will be speaking with Yan Cong, Beimeng Fu, and Ye Charlotte Ming, publishers of “Far & Near” a Substack newsletter “highlighting visual storytelling from China, through Chinese eyes.”

Yan, Beimeng, and Charlotte will present new work from Chinese image-makers and discuss the trends in Chinese visual storytelling and visual journalism to highlight the newsletter’s mission: making Chinese visual storytellers’ work accessible to a global audience and challenging media stereotypes of China. They will also speak about the role of visuals on social media when traditional media is heavily censored.

The Visual Framing of Social Issues

With our culture steeped in visuality, news images keep getting more creative and multi-layered.

In this event, Michael Shaw, publisher of Reading the Pictures and Chatting the Pictures, is in conversation with David Campbell to discuss the visual framing of major social issues.

For example, what can we learn from visual coverage of the rapidly-escalating climate crisis? What pictures are standing out? Are there double standards and shifting criteria regarding the use of graphic imagery? And with America more polarized than ever, what news photography is refusing to play along with division?

Four Questions on Photography: Ilvy Njiokiktjien in Conversation With…Nichole Sobecki

“Four Questions on Photography: Ilvy Njiokiktjien in Conversation With…” is a series of events where well-known photographers discuss with Ilvy their responses to the four questions below.

– What is your most important photograph, how did you make it, and what impact do you think it had?
– What is your biggest photo failure; an image you wanted or needed but you messed up somehow?
– What is your dream image or story?
– What advice would you give to your younger self?

In this episode, Ilvy is in conversation with Nichole Sobecki.

Newspaper Club – Ali Arkady and Eric Bouvet

In this “Newspaper Club” event – a special episode of our Book Club series hosted by Ziyah Gafic – we will look at two recent examples of photographer’s newspapers: Ali Arkady’s “Strappado” project on Iraq 2016 and Eric Bouvet’s Ukraine journal 2022.

In addition to the stories of Iraq and Ukraine presented in the newspapers, we will discuss why Ali and Eric opted for newspapers to showcase their work and how they produced them.

Photo Editors Series – Sarah Leen

The Photo Editors Series are conversations with well-known photo editors about how they view the media today, the role of visuals in reporting, the work they like to see, and advice for photographers on how best to connect with publishers.

In this event, hosted by David Campbell and Ilvy Njiokiktjien, the series combines an overview of the contemporary media landscape with practical tips. The editors in the series speak as individuals rather than representatives of their organizations.

In this sixth episode, we speak with Sarah Leen, founder of The Visual Thinking Collective and the former Directory of Photography for National Geographic Magazine and Visual Media.

Photo Stories about Small Communities

This series showcases recent work from members of VII Community.

Every few months, VII Insider invites photographers from VII Community to present their stories. In this episode, we look at three photography projects that document life in small communities.

VII Community provides ongoing education and support to a network of VII Academy alumni and Foundry Photojournalism Workshop participants. VII Community is a program of The VII Foundation in partnership with PhotoWings.

We are delighted to be joined by Peruvian photographer Francisco Vigo, who will present his project “Soon the Rain Will Come”, capturing the Porcón community located next to the Yanacocha mine, one of the most important mines in Peru.

Ksenia Ivanova, a Russian photographer currently based in Georgia, will discuss her series “Between the Trees”, offering insight into the Russian-occupied breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Bulgarian photographer Mihaela Aroyo will showcase “Dreaming in Bulgarian”, giving voice to the Bulgarian diaspora living in the historical region of Bessarabia within Moldova and Ukraine.

The event will be moderated by VII contrinuting photographer Anush Babajanyan.

Photo Editors Series – Abir Abdullah

The Photo Editors Series are conversations with well-known photo editors about how they view the media today, the role of visuals in reporting, the work they like to see, and advice for photographers on how best to connect with publishers.

Hosted by David Campbell and Ilvy Njiokiktjien, the series will combine an overview of the contemporary media landscape with practical tips. The editors in the series will speak as individuals rather than representatives of their organizations, and the event will be interactive with good opportunities for audience questions.

In this eleventh episode, we will speak with Abir Abdullah. He will discuss his work as a photo editor with The Daily Prothom Alo, the most circulated newspaper in Bangladesh. Abdullah is currently a photography teacher at Alliance Française de Dhaka. In this episode, he will also present the editorial projects he undertakes with his students.

Documenting Abortion Restrictions in America, with Stacy Kranitz and Andrea Wise

In 2022, the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending nearly 50 years of federal protection for abortion. Some states began enforcing strict abortion bans. In Tennessee, for example, the law prohibits women from having abortions in almost all circumstances.

In early 2023, ProPublica assigned photographer Stacy Kranitz and reporter Kavitha Surana to document the consequences of post-Roe America by following one family. They spent the last year with Mayron Hollis, a mother from Tennessee, and watched her struggle through circumstances beyond her control with little to no support from family or the government.

What was it like for Kranitz to shadow someone going through turbulent times? How do you build trust and not shy away from the difficult moments? How do you edit such a complex story? And how does a yearlong photo commission come about?

In this event, Ilvy Njiokiktjien will talk with Stacy Kranitz and ProPublica visual strategy editor Andrea Wise about their experiences working on the long-form interactive story “The Year After a Denied Abortion.“

Ukrainian Warchive: Collecting Stories of War

It has been two years since the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and reporting the ongoing war while preserving that visual documentation is a historical necessity.

The Ukrainian Photo Archive of War (Ukrainian Warchive) collects and safeguards visual material about the war. They also support Ukrainian photographers documenting the events in their homeland.

Since 2021, Ukrainian Warchive has awarded 28 microgrants to Ukrainian photographers capturing life amidst the war. The projects of ten of these photographers have been now featured in Ukrainian Warchive’s first photobook, “13 Stories of War.”

In this event, Dr. David Campbell will host a conversation with two recipients of Ukrainian Warchive’s microgrants: Julia Kochetova and Sergii Polezhaka. They will be joined by Emine Ziyatdinova, the co-founder of Ukrainian Warchive and the editor of the “13 Stories of War” photobook.

Curator Series – Azu Henry Nwagbogu

The Curator Series presents engaging discussions with leading curators in the field of photography who represent diverse institutions worldwide. These conversations delve into the curator’s ongoing projects, the evolving role of curators in today’s photographic realm, and what they look for in preparing exhibitions, festivals, and museum shows.

Hosted by Heleen Peeters and Ilvy Njiokiktjien, the series provides insights into the curatorial process for exhibitions, festivals, and museum shows, offering practical advice for photographers looking to collaborate with curators.

In the first episode, we speak with Azu Henry Nwagbogu, founder and director of African Artists’ Foundation and the LagosPhoto Festival in Nigeria.

Telling Stories with Impact: Smita Sharma

Smita Sharma is an award-winning photojournalist based in Delhi. Her work focuses on gender issues, sexual crimes, and human trafficking.

In some parts of the world, girls are as likely to be married off or trafficked as they are to be educated. Sharma thoughtfully depicts overlooked girls and young women, while making sure not to disrupt the lives of her subjects in the process. She is committed to representing people with dignity and telling underrepresented stories with impact.

Join us for a presentation where Sharma will talk about how and why she created the series Left Behind, Not My Shame and We Cry In Silence. Her presentation will be followed by a Q&A session.

Visualizing the Climate Crisis: Deforestation

Deforestation refers to the decrease in forest areas across the world. Forests are lost to make space for agriculture and animal grazing and to obtain wood for fuel, manufacturing, and construction. Greatly accelerated by human activities since 1960, deforestation has been negatively affecting natural ecosystems, biodiversity, and the climate. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization estimates the annual rate of deforestation to be around 1.3 million km2 per decade.

How can ‘deforestation’ be visualized? Can visual storytellers, social innovators, and artistic directors work together to tell the whole story and the connectedness of all, to the wide public? How can we make people aware that their living and cultural habits have an impact on the forests, and consequently the loss of biodiversity? How do we show the impact of deforestation on the climate, which has side effects on our lives too?

This is the fourth talk of the series, Visualizing the Climate Crisis, which explores the potential and the role that contemporary photography, together with different disciplines, can have in addressing the multi-layered theme of climate change.

The series features visual journalists doing evidence-based, research-informed, image-led reporting on climate issues. They will be in conversation with other professionals representing a diverse range of disciplines, such as science, policy-making, education, architecture, social innovation, media, and more, trying to explore the possibility of thinking beyond photography in a genuinely trans-disciplinary approach to expand reach, involve the wider public, and move people from being inspired to taking action.

In this event, Raphael Alves (documentary photographer) and Louise Fedotov-Clements (artistic director), are in conversation with Maria Teresa Salvati. The event will be moderated by Dr. Paul Lowe.

Documenting the Danger to Democracy

Democracy is in danger. A global political trend toward authoritarianism threatens the democratic culture that sustains independent media. Whether it is the big lie of the election denial in the United States, the rise of right-wing parties in Europe, or the loss of citizen’s rights in countries like India, Turkey, and Venezuela. The cultural space necessary for journalists, photographers, artists, and critics to work freely is being squeezed by political actors and their media enablers. For creatives who want to document contemporary issues, how should you respond? What stories should you be telling? What can and should you do?

Join us for a special event with presentations to address these urgent questions. We have a varied program of interviews, discussions, and visual presentations for an in-person audience, as well as a live stream for those who cannot attend in person.

This evening is organized by Forhanna and VII Insider (a program of The VII Foundation in partnership with PhotoWings). It takes place at Pakhuis de Zwijger in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, on Wednesday, January 17, 2024, starting at 20:00 CET (14:00 EST).

You can attend this event either in person or online. Please register via the link on this page and choose between a physical spot or an online reservation. Entrance is free.

Program:

1. Covering the January 6 Insurrection in America
Visual column by Dr. David Campbell
The violent storming of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, was the visible manifestation of an attempted coup d’etat by President Donald Trump and his allies. It was an attempt to seize power illegally by preventing the certification of the 2020 presidential election from taking place on that day. The big lie–that Trump rather than President Biden won the election–is propagated by all Republican candidates for the 2024 election and continues to shape American politics. Dr. David Campbell will present a visual column showing the work of VII photographers who covered the January 6 insurrection.

2. How To Respond to Global Information Disorder
In conversation: Dr. Claire Wardle and Peter Burger
Democracy requires trustworthy information. One clear and present danger is that we face fundamental challenges to trust and truth in the digital age. This is because we are witnessing something new: information pollution on a global scale, whether this be repurposed images, overt lies, or the rise of AI. Dr. Claire Wardle will set out the challenges of global information disorder. There are simple and powerful ways to respond to this disorder. Peter Burger from Nieuwscheckers will demonstrate fact-checking techniques.

3. New Stories for a Democratic Culture
Lecture by Frits Gierstberg
Responding to the dangers facing democracy does not require all visual journalists and storytellers to report on politics directly. Frits Gierstberg, curator at the Dutch Photography Museum in Rotterdam, will showcase the efforts of visual storytellers contributing to a democratic culture. Looking at photography series of early pioneers and their role in taking control of image formation, as well as presenting projects by new creators that grapple with the challenges and influences of social media omnipresence.

4. The Willem Poelstra Lecture by Forhanna
Photography presentation by Jonas Bendiksen
Dedicated to the loving memory of Dutch photographer Willem Poelstra, Forhanna each year organizes ‘The Willem Poelstra Lecture’. This year, Forhanna gives the stage to Magnum photographer Jonas Bendiksen. Bendiksen began his career as an intern at Magnum’s London office before leaving for Russia to pursue his work as a photojournalist. Throughout the years he spent there, Bendiksen photographed stories from the fringes of the former USSR. Following this he experimented with 360° photography about daily life in four urban slums. In 2017, he published ‘The Last Testament’ and, more recently ‘The Book of Veles,’ which probed the vulnerabilities of our perceptions and became hotly debated after Bendiksen revealed that what had appeared to be a classical piece of photojournalism was in large part synthetic computer-generated renderings.

The moderator of this event is Bahram Sadeghi.

How to apply for grants, with Sara Terry and Raymond Thompson

Grants are an increasingly important funding source for documentary photography projects and stories. Grant applications require a mix of written proposals and visual materials.

Have you ever wondered how to present the visual materials best? Which photo to put first when you apply for a grant? How to sequence 20 or 30 photos for a proposal?

Join our conversation with Sara Terry, director of The Aftermath Project and member of VII Photo, and Raymond Thompson, the 2023 grant winner of the 1492/1619 American Aftermaths grant, to discuss these issues.

During this event, Sara and Raymond will explain how to create a strong proposal. They will share writing tips and demonstrate how they recommend sequencing photographs.

Four Questions on Photography: Ilvy Njiokiktjien in Conversation with Paolo Manzo

“Four Questions on Photography: Ilvy Njiokiktjien in Conversation With…” is a series of events where well-known photographers discuss with Ilvy their responses to the four questions below.

What is your most important photograph, how did you make it, and what impact do you think it had?
What is your biggest photo failure, an image you wanted or needed, but you messed up somehow?
What is your dream image or story?
What advice would you give to your younger self?

Lecture Series on Ethical Literacy, Part 3: Photography Ethics: Putting Ethics into Practice

In October VII Insider will host a three-week series on ethical literacy. When we talk about photography ethics, we are talking about applying concepts like responsibility, power, and dignity to how to take and share photographs.

Savannah Dodd, founder and director of the Photography Ethics Centre, will facilitate the lecture series. Each session will explore what photography ethics is, why photography ethics matters, and how you can apply photography ethics to your practice. We will look at case studies, share experiences, and reflect on the ethical decision-making process of photographers and photo-editors.

Lecture 3: Photography Ethics: Putting Ethics into Practice
In the third and final session in this series on photography ethics, we will hear from Shaminder Dulai on putting ethics into practice. Coming from a background as both a photographer and a photo editor, Shaminder will draw on his varied experiences to discuss the practicalities of integrating ethics into your workflow. He will address questions like: How can we approach ethical discussions with editors? How can we navigate ethical decisions with others?

Lecture Series on Ethical Literacy, Part 2: Photography Ethics: Representational Power and Responsibility

In October VII Insider will host a three-week series on ethical literacy. When we talk about photography ethics, we are talking about applying concepts like responsibility, power, and dignity to how to take and share photographs.

Savannah Dodd, founder and director of the Photography Ethics Centre, will facilitate the lecture series. Each session will explore what photography ethics is, why photography ethics matters, and how you can apply photography ethics to your practice. We will look at case studies, share experiences, and reflect on the ethical decision-making process of photographers and photo-editors.

Lecture 2: Photography Ethics: Representational Power and Responsibility
In the second session of the photography ethics series, Danielle Villasana will discuss the power we have as image-makers to represent others. Through a discussion of her experience as a photojournalist, Villasana will unpack questions like: How can we think about our representational responsibilities? How can we plan for the impact of our images?

Join us for the second event and stay tuned for the next public lecture, held on October, 17th.

Lecture Series on Ethical Literacy, Part 1: Photography Ethics–What Is It and Why Does It Matter?

In October, VII Insider is hosting a three-week public lecture series on ethical literacy. When discussing photography ethics, we are talking about applying concepts like responsibility, power, and dignity to how to take and share photographs.

Each session will explore what photography ethics is, why photography ethics matters, and how you can apply photography ethics to your practice. We will look at case studies, share experiences, and reflect on the ethical decision-making process of photographers and photo-editors.

Lecture 1: Photography Ethics–What Is It and Why Does It Matter?
What do we mean when we use the phrase “photography ethics”? Rather than approaching photography ethics in binary terms, Savannah Dodd will in this lecture introduce a principles-based approach. She will unpack the impact of visual media to build an understanding of the importance of photography ethics to the profession today.

Join us for this first event and stay tuned for the second and third public lectures, to be held on October 10 and October 17.

VII Community Presents: Perspectives from Asia

This series showcases recent work from alumni of VII Community. Every few months, we will invite two to three alumni of VII Community to present their stories on a particular theme.

VII Community, in partnership with PhotoWings, provides a career-enhancing network for VII Academy and Foundry Photojournalism Workshop alumni worldwide.

In this episode, we will be discussing the work of alumni Ranita Roy with her project “Standing on the Edge”, Nhàn Tran with her project “Between the Silent Eyes” and Billy H.C. Kwok with his project “For So Many Years When I Close My Eyes”.

1 in 6 by 2030: How to Visualize a Demographic Transition

People worldwide are living longer. As the World Health Organization reports, today, most people can expect to live into their sixties and beyond. Indeed, by 2030, 1 in 6 people in the world will be aged 60 years or over.

Every country in the world is experiencing growth in both the size and the proportion of older persons in the population, and all countries face significant challenges to ensure that their health and social systems can cope with and benefit from this demographic shift.

This shift and the challenges it brings stem from dramatically improved life expectancy. According to Our World in Data, “Since 1900 the global average life expectancy has more than doubled and is now above 70 years [72 years, to be exact]. The inequality of life expectancy is still very large across and within countries. in 2019 the country with the lowest life expectancy is the Central African Republic with 53 years, in Japan life expectancy is 30 years longer.”

In this event, we will discuss a major new documentary project–1 in 6 by 2030–led by Sara Terry, Ed Kashi, and Ilvy Njiokiktjien. This global, collaborative project will bring together photographers worldwide to produce compelling ways of humanizing what is, despite its social significance, a dry statistic on aging and demography.

Building a Ukrainian War Photo Archive

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is a pivotal event in the history of Europe, resulting in thousands of civilian casualties and triggering a global food and energy crisis. Documenting the ongoing war and preserving that documentation is a historical necessity.

In this event, Katya Sergatskova, Eugene Safonov, and Emine Ziyatdinova gave us a first look at the Ukraine War Photo Archive they are building to preserve documentary visual materials about the Russian invasion and to support photographers who cover the events.

The Warchive platform will use technology from the Distant Viewing Lab at the University of Richmond in the U.S. to create an easy-to-use open and interactive platform. Users will be able to search the large photography collection by date, location, author, and theme. The images will be preserved on servers outside of Ukraine so they can not be destroyed. The project intends to launch a beta version of the platform in early 2023 with images from 100 photographers.

Photojournalism and Animal Rights Advocacy, with Seb Alex

What role do visuals play in advocacy? What are the most effective ways to report on animal rights? And how can a major project be developed and produced?

In this event, we speak with Seb Alex, who was awarded the inaugural Animal Photojournalism Fellowship by We Animals Media in 2022. The fellowship is designed to cover a story about animals used for food; a subject significantly underreported in the media. Seb used his fellowship to investigate chicken, rabbit, catfish, shrimp, lobster, and frog farms throughout Indonesia.

Photo Editors Series - Chloe Coleman

The Photo Editors Series are conversations with well-known photo editors about how they view the media today, the role of visuals in reporting, the work they like to see, and advice for photographers on how best to connect with publishers.

Hosted by David Campbell and Ilvy Njiokiktjien, the series will combine an overview of the contemporary media landscape with practical tips. The editors in the series will speak as individuals rather than representatives of their organizations, and the event will be interactive with good opportunities for audience questions.

In this eighth episode, we speak with Chloe Coleman of The Washington Post.

New Voices - Nada Harib

New Voices is an event series presenting the work of the photographers who are part of the 2021-2023 VII Mentor Program and The Leica Women Foto Project x VII Mentor Program. The VII Mentor Program comprises thirteen gifted young photographers with diverse experiences who were chosen from nearly 300 applicants from 65 countries.

The series, hosted by David Campbell and Ilvy Njiokiktjien, showcases the stories the photographers are working on and discusses how they are creating a viable career in visual journalism.

In this episode, we speak with Nada Harib.

Creating Visual Narratives, with Mike Davis

In this event, we speak with Mike Davis about creating visual narratives.

Mike is one of the professions leaders and has worked with hundreds of photographers independently and on journalistic, editorial, and communications teams. Mike’s skill is in helping photographers define, refine and expand their capabilities.

He has brought together his experience and knowledge in a new book – Creating Visual Narratives Through Photography: A Fresh Approach to Making a Living as a Photographer – and we discuss how photographers can craft more compelling photos from concept through to creation and distribution.

New Voices – Jackie Molloy

New Voices is an event series presenting the work of the photographers who are part of the 2021-2023 VII Mentor Program and The Leica Women Foto Project x VII Mentor Program. The VII Mentor Program comprises thirteen gifted young photographers with diverse experiences who were chosen from nearly 300 applicants from 65 countries.

The series, hosted by David Campbell and Ilvy Njiokiktjien, showcases the stories the photographers are working on and discusses how they are creating a viable career in visual journalism.

In this episode, we speak with Jackie Molloy.

Ética, Representación y Nuevas Narrativas Visuales en América Latina

Ética, Representación y Nuevas Narrativas Visuales en América Latina
La descolonización de la mirada fotográfica y la búsqueda de nuevas narrativas de identidad e historia han sido muy discutidas en América Latina en los últimos años. Esto se debe a que los estándares estéticos dominantes han sido definidos por fuerzas externas, con estructuras de conocimiento que van desde la antropología hasta la ciencia, lo que hace que la identidad latina sea un sujeto sin agencia que no controla su propia historia.

Este evento en vivo, realizado en español, indagará la cuestión de la ética, la representación y las nuevas narrativas en América Latina. Leonardo Carrato estará en conversación con Paola Paredes de Ecuador y Diego Moreno de México. Paola y Diego presentarán sus proyectos personales y discutirán sus procesos creativos, ante los desafíos de encontrar un lenguaje visual para expresarse de manera distinta en la fotografía documental.

Ethics, Representation, and New Visual Narratives In Latin America

Decolonizing the photographic gaze and searching for new narratives of identity and history have been much discussed in Latin America in recent years. This is because the dominant aesthetic standards have been defined by external forces, with structures of knowledge from anthropology to science rendering Latin identity as subjects without agency who do not control their own history.

This live event – conducted in Spanish – probes the question of ethics, representation, and new narratives in Latin America. Leonardo Carrato is in conversation with Paola Paredes from Ecuador and Diego Moreno from Mexico. Paola and Diego present their personal projects and discuss their creative processes, given the challenges of finding a visual language to express themselves differently in documentary photography.

Visualizing the Environmental Emergency: Towards Trans-Disciplinarity

Addressing contemporary climate and environmental crises requires the collaboration of artists, scientists, and other experts to respond to the challenges we are facing. The integration of these different groups is necessary to act as buffers between the public and scientific data and to encourage a richer and more complex conversation about the fundamental issues driving the climate and environmental crises and how to use the powerful impact of contemporary art and photography.

In this context, trans-disciplinarity, which integrates the natural, social and health sciences in a humanities context that transcends the traditional boundaries of discipline, is the path to follow. Trans-disciplinarity involves the integration of knowledge and the abandonment of binary thinking, so we can help construct deeper meanings in the context of real-world problems. For example, when dealing with environmental issues, we know we need to refer to a complexity that embraces a world of injustice and inequality, both in the causes and the consequences of the problems.

How can contemporary photography and art raise their ambition to make real changes in the world? What artistic, human, or scientific approach does trans-disciplinary work require artists to put in place? How do they maintain their personal vision when they deal with scientific data?

This event features Maria Teresa Salvati and guest speaker David Cross and is moderated by Dr. Paul Lowe.

This event is supported by the Photography and the Archive Research Centre, London College of Communication, University of the Arts London, and Everything is Connected.

War and Sexual Identity: Ilvy Njiokiktjien’s Report on the LGBTQI Community in Lviv, Ukraine

Ten million Ukrainians have been displaced by the Russian invasion – 6.5 million people are internally displaced, and 3.5 million have fled the country becoming refugees in the process. Amongst those displaced are members of Ukraine’s LGBTQI community, who are thought to be among the designated targets of a Russian campaign to oppress sectors of the community, and names of LGBTQI activists have apparently appeared on Russian kill lists.

Ilvy Njiokiktjien went to Lviv on 11 March to cover everyday life in the city (listen to her audio dispatch from Lviv for more details) and while there she started work on a personal project to document the LGBTQI community in Lviv as they cope with the consequences of the Russian invasion.

In this event, Ilvy will present the first images from her project and what she hopes to achieve with the story – one that documents both the love stories and the atrocities, as well as the community’s dreams for the future, and what that future might be if Russia succeeds in its brutal campaign.

Visualizing the Environmental Emergency: Empathy and Connection in Environmental Storytelling

The current global coverage of the environmental emergency and the climate crisis consists mostly of single images, often related to environmental photography. How can contemporary photography use its visual power to create stories that trigger empathy, closeness and connectedness, and inspire people to act?

The Anthropocene has radically and dangerously changed the relationship between humans and nature. This is forcing us to review the way we live our lives, and redress the negative impacts. Everyone is asked to do their bit in order to reduce their planetary footprint and live a more sustainable life.

How can contemporary photography have an important role in defining, inspiring and touching people’s emotions towards this goal? Are we asking too much of photographers, or do they have a responsibility in environmental storytelling? Now more than ever we need people to feel connected with nature, the issues, and other people across the planet. We need to understand how contemporary photography can have a very important role.

This event features Maria Teresa Salvati and Mattia Marzorati, and is moderated by Dr Paul Lowe.

This event is supported by the Photography and the Archive Research Centre, London College of Communication, University of the Arts London, and Everything is Connected.

Telling the story of refugees in Ukraine – John Stanmeyer

John Stanmeyer has been in Ukraine covering the war, focusing on the civilians displaced by Russia’s invasion.

In this event, John will discuss his experience working in Ukraine, present a selection of the photographs he has made, and show his film “War, Through Train Windows” — a story about loss, displacement, being a refugee, from the perspective of portraits through train windows.

Reporting Myanmar: The Photojournalism of Ta Mwe

Since gaining independence from colonial rule in 1948, Myanmar (Burma) has been primarily ruled by a military dictatorship following a coup in 1962. After elections in 2010, the military junta was replaced with a democratically elected government. Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest and assumed the head of government role following further elections in 2015. Despite her prominence as a political prisoner and Nobel Peace Prize winner, the Myanmar government and military were severely criticized during her time in office for their role in the genocide against the Rohingya and their prosecution of journalists.

On 1 February 2021, Myanmar’s military leaders carried out another coup deposing the democratically elected government that was returned in late 2020. In response, protests became a nationwide uprising known as the Spring Revolution. Although these protests were peaceful in the beginning, they became increasingly violent as the military responded with deadly force, firing live ammunition at civilian protesters. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners reports more than 9,400 people were arrested and 1,500 killed by junta forces in the months following the coup. By the end of 2021, the military was still in power. However, a parallel opposition government and its armed division prevented the military from consolidating complete control over the country, and resistance continued.

Journalists attempting to cover the resistance have faced intimidation, harassment, and violence. In a move to suppress reporting on the ongoing massacre of their own people, the military set about criminalizing journalism – revoking media licenses, ransacking newsrooms, beating, arresting, and imprisoning editors, reporters, and staff. According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), 115 journalists were arrested in Myanmar in 2021 while covering protests or after being tracked down by the intelligence services, and three were killed.

Myanmar photographers have been documenting these events despite this hostile environment. They have continued to take to the streets, attend the funerals, enter the homes of the bereaved, and bear witness to the destruction of their country. As communications infrastructure has been gradually dismantled and financial services suspended, many of these photographers continued to work despite there being no immediate outlet for their images or economic incentive for their efforts. Their objective is to fulfill their responsibility to document their country’s situation to preserve and honor its history.

In this event, Ta Mwe, one of those Myanmar photographers, will present and discuss some of their work.

Ta Mwe is part of Sacca, a collective created after the 2021 military coup to support Myanmar photographers in their work, and we will be joined by the manager of Sacca.

Photo Editors Series – Wacera Njagi

The Photo Editors Series are conversations with well-known photo editors about how they view the media today, the role of visuals in reporting, the work they like to see, and advice for photographers on how best to connect with publishers.

Hosted by David Campbell and Ilvy Njiokiktjien, the series will combine an overview of the contemporary media landscape with practical tips. The editors in the series will speak as individuals rather than representatives of their organizations, and the event will be interactive with good opportunities for audience questions.

In this third episode, we will be speaking with Wacera Njagi, a photo editor for Everyday Africa.

Photo Editors Series – Thomas Borberg

The Photo Editors Series are conversations with well-known photo editors about how they view the media today, the role of visuals in reporting, the work they like to see, and advice for photographers on how best to connect with publishers.

Hosted by David Campbell and Ilvy Njiokiktjien, the series combines an overview of the contemporary media landscape with practical tips. The editors in the series speak as individuals rather than representatives of their organizations, and the events are interactive with good opportunities for audience questions.

In the second episode, David Campbell speaks with Thomas Borberg, former photo editor-in-chief of the Danish newspaper Politiken.

Photo Editors Series – Andrea Wise

The Photo Editors Series are conversations with well-known photo editors about how they view the media today, the role of visuals in reporting, the work they like to see, and advice for photographers on how best to connect with publishers.

Hosted by David Campbell and Ilvy Njiokiktjien, the series will combine an overview of the contemporary media landscape with practical tips. The editors in the series will speak as individuals rather than representatives of their organizations, and the event will be interactive with good opportunities for audience questions.

In this fourth episode, we will be speaking with Andrea Wise, Visual Editor at ProPublica.

New Technologies for Visual Journalism in the Metaverse

The media landscape is rapidly changing and new technologies for visual journalism and storytelling are proliferating. Whether it is 360 video, Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, or Augmented Reality, contemporary visual storytelling is in a period of experimentation as people prepare for the next iteration of the web, especially what is called Web 3.0 and the metaverse.

Our guide through this novel terrain is DJ Clark, a world-renowned multimedia journalist and researcher. Winner of the 2020 World Press Photo Interactive of the Year for his “Battleground PolyU” project, DJ Clark developed a new workflow for his team reporting on the Hong Kong protests that combined 360 video, digital mirrorless cameras, and smartphones.

In this event, DJ Clark will show and discuss how “Battleground PolyU” was produced, and then detail the new technologies he thinks will rise to prominence in 21st-century visual journalism.

How photography can address the climate crisis as a social justice issue

We need to redefine the climate crisis as a social justice issue. The rapid decline of our environment is a site for multiple intersections of injustice, making the climate crisis a human rights issue of critical and increasing importance. The impacts of climate change are not – and will not – be borne equally or fairly between rich and poor, women and men, and older and younger generations. Consequently, there is a growing need to focus on climate justice, which looks at the climate crisis through a human rights lens. We need to be motivated by the belief that we can create a better future for present and future generations by working together.

In this series of events, we have been questioning whether the visual representation of the environmental crisis over the last few years has focused too much on faraway places, trying to shock, showing communities that feel distant and unconnected.

The question now is whether we need to change this perspective. This change could be done by altering the types of stories depicted or by adding the gaze of those who narrate important accounts, especially those directly involved in a context of injustice. Could these more unfiltered views help make connections that enable the viewing public to think and shift understanding?

In this event, moderated by Dr Paul Lowe, series curator Maria Teresa Salvati is joined by Abdel Mandili, founder of the People’s Planet Project.

Four Questions on Photography - Ilvy Njiokiktjien in Conversation With…Ed Kashi

“Four Questions on Photography: Ilvy Njiokiktjien in Conversation With…” is a series of events where well-known photographers discuss with Ilvy their responses to the four questions below.

– What is your most important photograph, how did you make it, and what impact do you think it had?
– What is your biggest photo failure; an image you wanted or needed but you messed up somehow?
– What is your dream image or story?
– What advice would you give to your younger self?

In this episode, Ilvy is in conversation with Ed Kashi.

Four Questions on Photography - Ilvy Njiokiktjien in Conversation With…Danny Wilcox Frazier

“Four Questions on Photography: Ilvy Njiokiktjien in Conversation With…” is a series of events where well-known photographers discuss with Ilvy their response to the four questions below.

– What is your most important photograph, how did you make it, and what impact do you think it had?
– What is your biggest photo failure; an image you wanted or needed but you messed up somehow?
– What is your dream image or story?
– What advice would you give to your younger self?

In this episode, Ilvy is in conversation with Danny Wilcox Frazier.

Ethics in a Time of War

What ethical issues arise in the visual coverage of war? In the visual reporting of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, what are we seeing and what should we be seeing? Building on the topics discussed in an earlier event (Towards an agenda for ethics in documentary photography), and looking at recent visual examples, Savannah Dodd, the founder of the Photography Ethics Centre, will be in conversation with David Campbell.

Bosnia 30 years later - Lessons from reporting the Bosnian War

On 6 April 1992, as part of the collapse of the former Yugoslavia, Serbian forces attacked the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo, setting off a three-year war marked by ethnic cleansing and genocide. The Bosnian War – which killed 100,000 civilians and soliders, displaced more than two million people, and saw tens of thousands of women raped – was long regarded, until the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II.

NATO airstrikes at the end of August 1995 – after the Srebrenica genocide and prompted by the shelling of the Sarajevo marketplace that month – forced Republika Srpska forces to retreat and led to negotiations that produced the Dayton Peace Agreement in December 1995. Based on ethnic divisions and secured by the international community, the Dayton agreement has resulted in a three-decades-long fragile peace.

In this event, VII photographers who covered the Bosnian War will review how they reported the conflict – with an emphasis on the civilian experience – and reflect on both what was and was not photographed, as well as the impact their images had (or did not have). The discussion will also focus on what lessons can be learned from the Bosnian experience for visual journalists working in conflict zones today.

Featuring The Estate of Alexandra Boulat, Ziyah Gafic, Ron Haviv, and Paul Lowe.

Photo Editors Series – Mikko Takkunen

The Photo Editors Series are conversations with well-known photo editors about how they view the media today, the role of visuals in reporting, the work they like to see, and advice for photographers on how best to connect with publishers.

Hosted by David Campbell and Ilvy Njiokiktjien, the series will combine an overview of the contemporary media landscape with practical tips. The editors in the series will speak as individuals rather than representatives of their organizations, and the event will be interactive with good opportunities for audience questions.

In this fifth episode, we will be speaking with Mikko Takkunen, a photo editor on The New York Times’s International desk in New York City.

Four Questions on Photography - Ilvy Njiokiktjien in Conversation With…Ashley Gilbertson

“Four Questions on Photography: Ilvy Njiokiktjien in Conversation With…” is a series of events where well-known photographers discuss with Ilvy their responses to the four questions below.

– What is your most important photograph, how did you make it, and what impact do you think it had?
– What is your biggest photo failure; an image you wanted or needed but you messed up somehow?
– What is your dream image or story?
– What advice would you give to your younger self?

In this episode, Ilvy is in conversation with Ashley Gilbertson.

Brian Storm – A Guide to Online Storytelling

Digital technology and the rise of the internet has transformed the way visual stories can be told. In this presentation MediaStorm founder Brian Storm will discuss the need to embrace new modes of storytelling and how to package video and interactive experiences online. Storm will showcase the MediaStorm Platform, a tool that enables storytellers to create and publish sophisticated digital packages using video, images, audio, maps, timelines, and slideshows. He will detail his strategy for how creators and publishers can take back control of their audience relationship and create a sustainable publishing strategy by leveraging the power of interactive storytelling.

(This is the new date for this event, after it had to be postponed from September 23).

Anarchy in the USA: Revisit the Conversation with VII Photographers who Covered the Events in the Capitol

On assignment for publications including TIME, The New York Times Magazine, and The New Republic, four members of VII photographed the Trump rally and the violence that it unleashed at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on January 6, 2021.

On January 18, 2021, Gary Knight spoke with Ashley Gilbertson, Ron Haviv, Christopher Morris, and Christopher Lee, seasoned veterans of conflict, about their experiences that day. They discussed what they saw, how they made decisions, processed information and made choices during the fast-moving, unpredictable and violent events in their own country.

Below is some of the Q&A that followed the conversation.

Four Questions on Photography Ilvy Njiokiktjien in Conversation With…Ali Arkady

The current global coverage of the environmental emergency and the climate crisis consists mostly of single images, often related to environmental photography. How can contemporary photography use its visual power to create stories that trigger empathy, closeness and connectedness, and inspire people to act?

The Anthropocene has radically and dangerously changed the relationship between humans and nature. This is forcing us to review the way we live our lives, and redress the negative impacts. Everyone is asked to do their bit in order to reduce their planetary footprint and live a more sustainable life.

How can contemporary photography have an important role in defining, inspiring and touching people’s emotions towards this goal? Are we asking too much of photographers, or do they have a responsibility in environmental storytelling? Now more than ever we need people to feel connected with nature, the issues, and other people across the planet. We need to understand how contemporary photography can have a very important role.

This event features Maria Teresa Salvati and Mattia Marzorati, and is moderated by Dr Paul Lowe.

This event is supported by the Photography and the Archive Research Centre, London College of Communication, University of the Arts London, and Everything is Connected.

Photography from Pasifika – New Digital Storytellers in Aotearoa

Is there a Pasifika perspective in photography? How does a Pasifika perspective challenge conventional visual representations of Aotearoa? What stories are emerging from a Pasifika perspective?

Pasifika refers to the people, cultures, and language of Pacific groups – including Samoa, Tonga, the Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau, Tuvalu, and other smaller Pacific nations – who are now living in Aotearoa (New Zealand). Previously, New Zealand governed most of these Pacific nations.

VII Academy has partnered with Creative New Zealand to provide a program for Pasifika creatives from Aotearoa. In the first workshop in the program, which was recently completed, VII photographer Christopher Morris, supported by Pacific photographer Raymond Sagapolutele, worked with nine emerging storytellers to develop new skills and new stories.

To see and discuss the Pasifika perspective, this event will showcase work from emerging storytellers (including Frank Falaniko Talo, Jasmine Tuia, and Siniva Williams) who recently participated in this VII Academy workshop.

Photography from Down Under – Oculi’s perspective, with Matthew Abbott and Alana Holmberg

Oculi is a collective of award-winning photographers offering a visual narrative of contemporary life in Australia and beyond. The collective has set the tone for reportage and documentary photography in their region for more than 20 years.

In this event, Oculi members Matthew Abbott and Alana Holmberg will present some recent work, discuss the state of documentary photography down under, and the issues they are currently covering.

Four Questions on Photography Ilvy Njiokiktjien in Conversation With…Mary Gelman

“Four Questions on Photography: Ilvy Njiokiktjien in Conversation With…” is a series of events where well-known photographers discuss with Ilvy their response to the four questions below.

– What is your most important photograph, how did you make it, and what impact do you think it had?
– What is your biggest photo failure; an image you wanted or needed but you messed up somehow?
– What is your dream image or story?
– What advice would you give to your younger self?

In this episode, Ilvy is in conversation with Mary Gelman.

Visualizing the Environmental Emergency – Empathy and Connection in Environmental Storytelling

The current global coverage of the environmental emergency and the climate crisis consists mostly of single images, often related to environmental photography. How can contemporary photography use its visual power to create stories that trigger empathy, closeness and connectedness, and inspire people to act?

The Anthropocene has radically and dangerously changed the relationship between humans and nature. This is forcing us to review the way we live our lives, and redress the negative impacts. Everyone is asked to do their bit in order to reduce their planetary footprint and live a more sustainable life.

How can contemporary photography have an important role in defining, inspiring and touching people’s emotions towards this goal? Are we asking too much of photographers, or do they have a responsibility in environmental storytelling? Now more than ever we need people to feel connected with nature, the issues, and other people across the planet. We need to understand how contemporary photography can have a very important role.

This event features Maria Teresa Salvati and Mattia Marzorati, and is moderated by Dr Paul Lowe.

This event is supported by the Photography and the Archive Research Centre, London College of Communication, University of the Arts London, and Everything is Connected.

Ethics in a Time of War

What ethical issues arise in the visual coverage of war? In the visual reporting of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, what are we seeing and what should we be seeing?

Building on the topics discussed in an earlier event (Towards an agenda for ethics in documentary photography), and looking at recent visual examples, Savannah Dodd, the founder of the Photography Ethics Centre, will be in conversation with David Campbell.

This is also an event to which you can contribute in advance. If you have issues or questions you think should be considered as part of an agenda for ethics during war, please send your thoughts to Savannah (info@photoethics.org) and David (vii-insider@theviifoundation.org).

Bosnia 30 years later Lessons from reporting the Bosnian War

On 6 April 1992, as part of the collapse of the former Yugoslavia, Serbian forces attacked the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo, setting off a three-year war marked by ethnic cleansing and genocide. The Bosnian War – which killed 100,000 civilians and soliders, displaced more than two million people, and saw tens of thousands of women raped – was long regarded, until the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II.

NATO airstrikes at the end of August 1995 – after the Srebrenica genocide and prompted by the shelling of the Sarajevo marketplace that month – forced Republika Srpska forces to retreat and led to negotiations that produced the Dayton Peace Agreement in December 1995. Based on ethnic divisions and secured by the international community, the Dayton agreement has resulted in a three-decades-long fragile peace.

In this event, VII photographers who covered the Bosnian War will review how they reported the conflict – with an emphasis on the civilian experience – and reflect on both what was and was not photographed, as well as the impact their images had (or did not have). The discussion will also focus on what lessons can be learned from the Bosnian experience for visual journalists working in conflict zones today.

Featuring The Estate of Alexandra Boulat, Ziyah Gafic, Ron Haviv, and Paul Lowe.

Book Club – Ed Kashi, Abandoned Moments

In this Book Club event, Ziyah Gafic speaks with Ed Kashi about his new book Abandoned Moments – A Love Letter to Photography. According to the publisher’s blurb:

“If the decisive moment reflects reality in tune with the photographer’s intuition, flawlessly combining composition and timing, then the abandoned moment is the consequence of a fractional instant of surrender. This collection, made over a 40-year period by renowned photographer Ed Kashi, reveals imprecise glimpses of transitory events filled with frenetic energy – the chaos of everyday life. Embodying photography’s intrinsic power, they preserve moments that can never occur again in exactly the same time and space.”

While the Fires Burn A Glacier Odyssey with Daniel Schwartz — Part III

This series of three webinars with Daniel Schwartz sheds light on the origins and metamorphoses, on the making-of, and the intellectual context of this climate crises-driven project accomplished between 2009 and 2017. The series is moderated by Ziyah Gafic.

For While the Fires Burn. A Glacier Odyssey the author embarked on a journey that led from the relics of Holocene glaciation in Switzerland and the Alps into the milieu of the Anthropocene, to collapsing glaciers on three continents. The outcome, a “glaciology in pictures,” as it were, is the result of a synthesis of scientific observation and artistic action. The environmental context makes the project the counterpart and continuation of Delta. The Perils, Profits and Politics of Water in South and Southeast Asia (1997), one of the earliest comprehensive photojournalistic studies on the climate crisis. While the Fires Burn. A Glacier Odyssey was realized partly in collaboration with institutes of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zürich) and of the University of Bern, published in 2017 by Thames & Hudson and exhibited in 2018 at the Bündner Kunstmuseum, Chur, Switzerland.

Part III. Inquiries Concerning the Memory and Domestication of Glaciers

Being a visual manifesto aimed at structural change in the way humanity deals with the climate crisis, the concluding webinar will discuss methods applied during the realization of While the Fires Burn. A Glacier Odyssey. These include the melding of the autobiographical and the socio-political, archival and archaeological research as artist practice, appropriation of historical documents in storytelling as well as the typographic word-work paired with photographs to extend their meaning. The experiential of the project echoes processes that accompanied the understanding and moral perception of glacier landscapes since they became object of study in the late 18th century.

While the Fires Burn A Glacier Odyssey with Daniel Schwartz — Part II

This series of three webinars with Daniel Schwartz sheds light on the origins and metamorphoses, on the making-of, and the intellectual context of this climate crises-driven project accomplished between 2009 and 2017. The series is moderated by Ziyah Gafic.

For While the Fires Burn. A Glacier Odyssey the author embarked on a journey that led from the relics of Holocene glaciation in Switzerland and the Alps into the milieu of the Anthropocene, to collapsing glaciers on three continents. The outcome, a “glaciology in pictures,” as it were, is the result of a synthesis of scientific observation and artistic action. The environmental context makes the project the counterpart and continuation of Delta. The Perils, Profits and Politics of Water in South and Southeast Asia (1997), one of the earliest comprehensive photojournalistic studies on the climate crisis. While the Fires Burn. A Glacier Odyssey was realized partly in collaboration with institutes of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zürich) and of the University of Bern, published in 2017 by Thames & Hudson and exhibited in 2018 at the Bündner Kunstmuseum, Chur, Switzerland.

While the Fires Burn A Glacier Odyssey with Daniel Schwartz — Part I

This series of three webinars with Daniel Schwartz sheds light on the origins and metamorphoses, on the making-of, and the intellectual context of this climate crises-driven project accomplished between 2009 and 2017. The series is moderated by Ziyah Gafic.

For While the Fires Burn. A Glacier Odyssey the author embarked on a journey that led from the relics of Holocene glaciation in Switzerland and the Alps into the milieu of the Anthropocene, to collapsing glaciers on three continents. The outcome, a “glaciology in pictures,” as it were, is the result of a synthesis of scientific observation and artistic action. The environmental context makes the project the counterpart and continuation of Delta. The Perils, Profits and Politics of Water in South and Southeast Asia (1997), one of the earliest comprehensive photojournalistic studies on the climate crisis. While the Fires Burn. A Glacier Odyssey was realized partly in collaboration with institutes of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zürich) and of the University of Bern, published in 2017 by Thames & Hudson and exhibited in 2018 at the Bündner Kunstmuseum, Chur, Switzerland.

Part I. From Delta to Glacier

The initial webinar will introduce approaches and strategies—photojournalistic, conceptual and science-supported—and discuss the reasons for merging terrestrial and aerial photography. Together, these practices have found very diverse applications during the past thirty years—at first documenting the densely populated coastal habitats in Asia increasingly endangered by sea-level rise as a consequence of the climate crisis, then, more recent, representing the accelerated agony of Alpine and Equatorial glaciers as well as of West Asian glaciers where, in the early 19th century, mountaineering and world politics had met and where conflict and glacial melt today simultaneously occur, with the risk of looming war for resources.

The Critical Role of a Photo Agency in the Professional Life of a Contemporary Photographer

How do agencies enhance your place in the market?

Marcel Saba of Redux in conversation with Ron Haviv and Maggie Steber

Long before co-founding the VII agency, Ron Haviv was a freelance photographer working for a small independent photo agency in New York called Saba. It was during this pre-digital age that Haviv did some of his best and most impactful work. Often the first person to see what was on that film was his agent Marcel Saba. Today Ron is still photographing, and Marcel Saba is still selling his images, this time through the agency Redux. With veteran photographer Maggie Steber, who has worked with some of the most legendary agents in the last 30 years, including Saba, Marcel and Ron discuss what makes for a great agent/photographer relationship and how the business functions

Stories 2.0 with Espen Rasmussen

Seventy percent of the total digital media time in the US is spent on smartphones (*Comscore, 2019). And with an ever-increasing number of media and image consumers using their mobile phones, it is important for photographers to understand this medium, how it works, and how they should adapt to it.

In this webinar, VII’s Espen Rasmussen, who works as a picture editor and producer in The Hub, VG’s — Norway’s leading newspaper —production desk for online features, will present how he uses images and stories online, with a focus on mobile platforms. Espen will also talk about how he, as a photographer, deals with the challenges of making personal projects that will adapt to an online, mobile presentation.

Seamus Murphy In Conversation with Eliza Griswold

Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and poet Eliza Griswold and award-winning photographer Seamus Murphy discuss their many travels and collaborative projects across different mediums.

Their friendship began in Northern Iraq a few days before the war started in 2003. After that first encounter, they worked together in Africa covering stories about religion and conflict with the underlying theme of the dangers of Christians and Muslims competing in various regions for resources.

A trip through Pennsylvania to examine failing infrastructure and post-industrial life led to a story on fracking in The New York Times Magazine. On this trip, Eliza met Stacey Haney and her family who were caught up in a dispute with the fracking industry, and who became the focus of her Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Amity and Prosperity,

In addition to prose, Eliza was also writing poetry, personal work that reflected some of their projects and experiences (two volumes were published: Wide Awake Field, and If Men, Then). Poetry brought Seamus and Eliza together again as they traveled through Afghanistan on multiple journeys to find, document, and translate in words and pictures landays–spoken word Pashtu poems created by anonymous Afghan women which clandestinely traveled around the culture. The search produced a story in The New York Times Magazine about women’s poetry in Afghanistan. Their work on landays became an entire edition of Poetry Magazine, as well as a book – I am the Beggar of the World, and the short film, “Snake.”

Pitching and Selling Stories What do Picture Editors Want with Espen Rasmussen

Espen Rasmussen works as a picture editor and producer on the Stories Hub in Norway’s leading daily newspaper VG. Every week, he receives stories and project proposals from photographers, agencies, and studios all over the world.

How should you present your idea for a photographic project? What should you take into consideration? And what kind of images and stories will work best?

Espen will share some of his experience as both a photographer and a picture editor for over a decade, first in the printed weekend magazine VG Helg, and for the last two years from his work as picture editor and producer in the online Stories Hub in VG.

One Camera, One Lens and Natural Light The Complexity of Simplicity with Danny Wilcox Frazier

This technical webinar looks at how to focus on ‘less is more’; stripping down to the minimum and responding to light, moment, and composition that stays true to the life living out before you.

When starting Driftless I had just entered grad school and was sick of the digital revolution and how photography was becoming more about technology than storytelling. Conversations in the industry and academia at the time seemed to lose sight of what I think photography does best, address social issues with a direct and compassionate visual voice. Life's love and pain...economics, politics, war, pollution, disease; all the issues impacting communities the world over and needing to be witnessed. Documentary was taking on new forms and approaches at the time, while some practiced with devotion to tradition; women and men producing impactful work like those Cornell Capa called, "concerned photographers.” The industry, generally speaking, seemed more focused on more lucrative commercial concerns like megapixel wars and social media clicks. With those mind-numbing debates behind me and entering a space meant for personal and professional exploration, my approach in Driftless was to strip away all photographic concerns, to work with the simplest tools, and focus intensely on all I heard, saw, and felt.

For this talk, I want to bring people into the simple idea of putting their subjects before all else. To cherish the opportunity to learn firsthand about those we photograph and the issues surrounding our interactions and collaborations with them. To put aside gear, deadlines, Instagram, and anything else that gets in the way and focus on living with the story.

Driftless with Danny Wilcox Frazier

Danny Wilcox Frazier joined Ziyah Gafic in conversation for a VII Insider Book Club discussion of Driftless. Danny was joined by special guest Gabriel Stutzman, one of the book’s subjects. This recording will be available here until February 6 to Freemium VII Insider subscribers. After that, it will be available to Premium subscribers along with all other VII Insider resources.

In Driftless, Danny Wilcox Frazier’s dramatic black-and-white photographs portray a changing Midwest of vanishing towns and transformed landscapes. As rural economies fail, people and resources are migrating to the coasts and cities, as though the heart of America were being emptied. Frazier’s arresting photographs take us into Iowa’s abandoned places and illuminate the lives of those people who stay behind and continue to live there: young people at leisure, fishermen on the Mississippi, veterans on Memorial Day, Amish women playing cards, as well as more recent arrivals, Lubavitcher Hasidic Jews at prayer and Latinos at work in the fields. Frazier’s camera finds these newcomers while it also captures activities that seemingly have gone on forever: harvesting and hunting, celebrating and socializing, praying and surviving.

Poetic and dark but illuminated with flashes of insight, this collection of photographs is a portrait of contemporary rural Iowa, but it is also more than that. It shows what is happening in many rural and out-of-the-way communities all over the United States, where people find ways to get by in the wake of closing factories and the demise of family farms. Taken by a true insider who has lived in Iowa his entire life, Frazier’s photographs are rich in emotion and give expression to the hopes and desires of the people who remain, whose needs and wants are complicated by the economic realities remaking rural America. – Alexa Dilworth, Center for Documentary Studies, Duke University

Black Garden Trilogy by Jason Eskenazi

Jason Eskenazi, Guggenheim Fellow and Fulbright Scholar, will discusses his Black Garden Trilogy (Wonderland~Black Garden~Departure Lounge) that spans 25 years of work published by Red Hook Editions. After Wonderland was published to great acclaim in 2008, Jason worked for a while as a security guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City (guarding “Looking In: Robert Frank’s ‘The Americans.’”) before returning east. The result of his wanderings through the Middle East, Russia, and Europe, Black Garden and Departure Lounge complete his trilogy with photos from his travels after Wonderland’s publication as well as from his archive from 1991-2017.

Indeed, Jason said in an interview that the title of the last book refers to a room near the front door of a loft Jason shared with other photojournalists where they would wait for taxis to arrive to take them to the airport. Each book has 314 photos numbered sequentially through all 3 books with 9 chapters.

Jason and moderator Ziyah Gafic discuss Jason’s approach to long-term projects, editing and sequences of the books, and touch on bookmaking and publishing. Jason is co-owner of Red Hook Editions in Brooklyn, and co-editor of Dog Food photo zine. He lives between New York and Istanbul.

"Aging in America: The Years Ahead" with Ed Kashi

In “Aging in America: The Years Ahead” Ed Kashi takes a topographical look at how a society grows old.

Advocacy Work Telling Important Stories For Impact with Ed Kashi

In this talk, Ed Kashi shares ideas about the creative opportunities that exist on multiple different media platforms. Throughout Ed’s career, he’s constantly sought ways to tell stories of social and geopolitical significance, and in this lecture, he shares some of the partnerships and approaches that have helped his reporting have an impact on the world.

Photography from Pasifika – New Digital Storytellers in Aotearoa

Is there a Pasifika perspective in photography? How does a Pasifika perspective challenge conventional visual representations of Aotearoa? What stories are emerging from a Pasifika perspective?

Pasifika refers to the people, cultures, and language of Pacific groups – including Samoa, Tonga, the Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau, Tuvalu, and other smaller Pacific nations – who are now living in Aotearoa (New Zealand). Previously, New Zealand governed most of these Pacific nations.

VII Academy has partnered with Creative New Zealand to provide a program for Pasifika creatives from Aotearoa. In the first workshop in the program, which was recently completed, VII photographer Christopher Morris, supported by Pacific photographer Raymond Sagapolutele, worked with nine emerging storytellers to develop new skills and new stories.

To see and discuss the Pasifika perspective, this event showcases work from emerging storytellers (including Frank Falaniko Talo, Jasmine Tuia, and Siniva Williams) who recently participated in this VII Academy workshop.

How does a solutions focus change the frame of documentary photography

Documentary storytelling regularly focuses on the problems around us. While such investigations are both necessary and vital for a democratic culture, they do not, by themselves, offer a comprehensive picture of the world, and need to be supplemented with different perspectives.

Solutions journalism is a new perspective in visual journalism that changes the frame of the story to address “the negativity bias” in the media. Rather than focusing on problems, solutions journalism looks for where people are already taking action to deal with difficult issues. As such, a solutions story is the product of rigorous reporting on efforts currently underway to respond to a problem.

In this event we explore what a solutions focus in documentary photography and photojournalism involves, why it is important, and show some recent work that embraced this alternative frame.

Indonesian photographer Michael Eko and American photographer Celia Talbot Tobin present work they produced for the Solutions Visual Journalism Initiative. They are joined by Kyser Lough from the University of Georgia, who discusses his research on visual communication and solutions journalism, with an emphasis on photojournalism.

Four Questions on Photography Ilvy Njiokiktjien in Conversation With…Jocelyn Bain Hogg

“Four Questions on Photography: Ilvy Njiokiktjien in Conversation With…” is a series of events where well-known photographers discuss with Ilvy their response to the four questions below.

– What is your most important photograph, how did you make it, and what impact do you think it had?
– What is your biggest photo failure; an image you wanted or needed but you messed up somehow?
– What is your dream image or story?
– What advice would you give to your younger self?

In this episode, Ilvy is in conversation with Jocelyn Bain Hogg.

Towards an agenda for ethics in documentary photography

When we think about ethics in documentary photography, what are the most important issues? What would a comprehensive and inclusive ethical agenda include? How should these topics be addressed?

In this event, Savannah Dodd, the founder of the Photography Ethics Centre, is in conversation with David Campbell. This conversation starts to set out the landscape of ethics. Rather than give answers, it will focus on the critical ethos necessary for an ethical discussion. This conversation will be the first of a discussion series to be held throughout the next year that will delve deeper into the agenda as it takes shape.

Representing Refugees – Telling the Story of Migrants Coming to Europe

The stories of people on the move are often told through dispatches from reporters who drop in periodically to cover the “migrant and refugee crisis,” thereby privileging an outside perspective. People on the move are frequently nameless and dehumanized, deepening the rift between them and the local population, creating an atmosphere of alienation, antipathy, and, too often, violence.

This event begins with a presentation by David Campbell discussing research on the politics of refugee representations. It then showcases a project that mitigates this fragmented and distorted narrative by providing migrants in Bosnia and Herzegovina with basic media training and a portal, “Dispatches in Exile,” through which to publish their reports and tell their stories directly.

The “Dispatches in Exile” project is led by VII Academy curator Ziyah Gafic and produced in partnership with the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Ziyah will discuss how this project was created, its purpose, and its impact.

Kris Graves – 1492/1619 American Aftermaths

This event is a conversation between 2021 Aftermath Project grant winner Kris Graves and Aftermath Project founder, and VII photographer, Sara Terry.

Their talk focuses on Kris’ grant-winning project, Privileged Mediocrity and the Deceived Within. Kris shows images he made during his grant year, as he explores systematic unfairness in America – and talks with Sara about his critique of the ways racism, capitalism and power have shaped the U.S.

They both share ideas about what goes into writing an American Aftermath grant proposal, and the kinds of projects that might be a good fit for the grant. Sara talks about the judging process and what judges look for.

Four Questions on Photography Sara Terry in Conversation With…Ilvy Njiokiktjien

“Four Questions on Photography: Ilvy Njiokiktjien in Conversation With…” is a series of events where well-known photographers discuss with Ilvy their response to the four questions below.

In this episode, however, Sara Terry, one of Ilvy’s guests in the series, turns the tables and puts the same questions to Ilvy:

– What is your most important photograph, how did you make it, and what impact do you think it had?
– What is your biggest photo failure; an image you wanted or needed but you messed up somehow?
– What is your dream image or story?
– What advice would you give to your younger self?

Four Questions on Photography Ilvy Njiokiktjien in Conversation With…Stefano de Luigi

“Four Questions on Photography: Ilvy Njiokiktjien in Conversation With…” is a series of events where well-known photographers discuss with Ilvy their response to these questions:

– What is your most important photograph, how did you make it, and what impact do you think it had?
– What is your biggest photo failure; an image you wanted or needed but you messed up somehow?
– What is your dream image or story?
– What advice would you give to your younger self?

In this fourth episode of the series, Ilvy is in conversation with Stefano de Luigi.

Four Questions on Photography Ilvy Njiokiktjien in Conversation With…Anush Babajanyan

“Four Questions on Photography: Ilvy Njiokiktjien in Conversation With…” is a series of events where each month well-known photographers discuss with Ilvy their response to these questions:

What is your most important photograph, how did you make it, and what impact do you think it had?
What is your biggest photo failure; an image you wanted or needed but you messed up somehow?
What is your dream image or story?
What advice would you give to your younger self?

In this episode of the series, Ilvy is in conversation with Anush Babjanyan.

Book Club – Zalmaï, Dread and Dreams in Afghanistan

In this Book Club event, Ziyah Gafic speaks with Zalmaï about his book “Dread and Dreams.”

Afghan-born photographer Zalmaï was forced to flee to Switzerland at the age of 15 after the 1980 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. As a freelance photographer, Zalmaï spent years capturing the human cost of war around the world and in his home country, Afghanistan, where he also sees signs of hope. Dread and Dreams brings together photographs Zalmaï made between 2008 and 2013 against the backdrop of the 14-year U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan that culminated in 2014 with the withdrawal of American troops.

Book Club – Ed Kashi, The Cali Years

The Cali Years is a 25-year collection of Ed Kashi’s archive from 1979-2004, from his time spent living in California. This significant period marked the development of a college graduate into a renowned visual storyteller. This motley collection of images contains everything from family life to celebrities, from magazine assignments to in-depth personal projects.

What was originally intended to be a small zine became a fold-out hand-bound collectible book. This collaborative project made in Ed’s studio with Brenda Bingham and Michael Curry will be produced in a limited edition of 100.

In this event – hosted by Ziyah Gafic – Ed, Brenda, and Michael discuss the purpose and production of this book.

Book Club – Anush Babajanyan, The House of Culture

“Four Questions on Photography: Ilvy Njiokiktjien in Conversation With…” is a series of events where each month well-known photographers discuss with Ilvy their response to these questions:

What is your most important photograph, how did you make it, and what impact do you think it had?
What is your biggest photo failure; an image you wanted or needed but you messed up somehow?
What is your dream image or story?
What advice would you give to your younger self?

In this episode of the series, Ilvy is in conversation with Anush Babjanyan.

Arturo Soto – The Psycho-Geography of a British City

How can photography challenge stereotypes of a well-known city? Is it possible to picture the politics of a place? What are the costs and benefits of asking these questions from the position of the outsider?

In this event, Mexican-born photographer Arturo Soto discusses these themes in his work about the British university city of Oxford following the controversial “Brexit” referendum that led to the UK leaving the European Union.

Soto’s work has been published in his book “A Certain Logic of Expectations”, which is described as proposing a counter-narrative of Oxford. Drawing on psycho-geography, and using an interplay of words and text, the work reflects on the contested relationship between visual representation and the history and myths of a particular location.

Photographers and Archives Session 3: Accessing the Archive with Alison Nordström and Hilary Roberts

In a VII Insider series of conversations moderated by Paul Lowe, curators Alison Nordström and Hilary Roberts draw upon their vast professional experience to consider how archives are created, what is involved in maintaining them for future generations, and issues associated with their exploitation.

How will your photographs outlive you? How will they be seen?
Who uses archives, why and how? What are the potential benefits?
How do you balance access and preservation needs?
How do you fund archives? Are they viable sources of revenue?
What is the future of archives in the internet age?

Outreach Spotlight: VII Events

Outreach Spotlight: VII Events

Explore the VII + PhotoWings Partnership:

About The VII Foundation

Learn more

VII Video Collection

VII Insider Video Archive:

Visual Storytelling Techniques with Acacia Johnson

Visual Storytelling for Positive Change in Wildlife Conservation, with Jasper Doest

Documenting Women’s Rights in Afghanistan, with Kiana Hayeri and Mélissa Cornet

Present Your Work - Public Speaking Tips from Smita Sharma

Photo Stories Exploring the Meaning of Home

Photo Editor Series - Fiona Shields

Curator Series - Nestan Nijaradze

Covering Sudan’s Refugee Camps: How Nicolò Filippo Rosso and Finbarr O’Reilly documented an overlooked humanitarian crisis

Curator Series - Iris Sikking

Born Free: Generation of Hope

Photo Stories Documenting Abuse

How to Edit Your Story, by Marc Prüst

Latin American Photobooks: A Curator’s Perspective

Guardians of Gaia, by Oyewole Lawal

Monumental Photography: Investigating Representations of Colonialism and Nationalism

Artificial Intelligence and the Threat to the Real

Photo Stories from the Square Mile Initiative

Photo Editors Series – Carla Rosorius

Curator Series – István Virágvölgyi

How Is The VII Foundation Addressing Visual Journalism’s Challenges? A Conversation With Gary Knight

Visualizing the Climate Crisis: Climate Migration

The State of Visual Storytelling in China

The Visual Framing of Social Issues

Four Questions on Photography: Ilvy Njiokiktjien in Conversation With…Nichole Sobecki

Newspaper Club – Ali Arkady and Eric Bouvet

Photo Editors Series – Sarah Leen

Photo Stories about Small Communities

Photo Editors Series – Abir Abdullah

Documenting Abortion Restrictions in America, with Stacy Kranitz and Andrea Wise

Ukrainian Warchive: Collecting Stories of War

Curator Series – Azu Henry Nwagbogu

Telling Stories with Impact: Smita Sharma

Visualizing the Climate Crisis: Deforestation

Documenting the Danger to Democracy

How to apply for grants, with Sara Terry and Raymond Thompson

Four Questions on Photography: Ilvy Njiokiktjien in Conversation with Paolo Manzo

Lecture Series on Ethical Literacy, Part 3: Photography Ethics: Putting Ethics into Practice

Lecture Series on Ethical Literacy, Part 2: Photography Ethics: Representational Power and Responsibility

Lecture Series on Ethical Literacy, Part 1: Photography Ethics–What Is It and Why Does It Matter?

VII Community Presents: Perspectives from Asia

1 in 6 by 2030: How to Visualize a Demographic Transition

Building a Ukrainian War Photo Archive

Photojournalism and Animal Rights Advocacy, with Seb Alex

Photo Editors Series - Chloe Coleman

New Voices - Nada Harib

Creating Visual Narratives, with Mike Davis

New Voices – Jackie Molloy

Ética, Representación y Nuevas Narrativas Visuales en América Latina

Visualizing the Environmental Emergency: Towards Trans-Disciplinarity

War and Sexual Identity: Ilvy Njiokiktjien’s Report on the LGBTQI Community in Lviv, Ukraine

Visualizing the Environmental Emergency: Empathy and Connection in Environmental Storytelling

Telling the story of refugees in Ukraine – John Stanmeyer

Reporting Myanmar: The Photojournalism of Ta Mwe

Photo Editors Series – Wacera Njagi

Photo Editors Series – Thomas Borberg

Photo Editors Series – Andrea Wise

New Technologies for Visual Journalism in the Metaverse

How photography can address the climate crisis as a social justice issue

Four Questions on Photography - Ilvy Njiokiktjien in Conversation With…Ed Kashi

Four Questions on Photography - Ilvy Njiokiktjien in Conversation With…Danny Wilcox Frazier

Ethics in a Time of War

Bosnia 30 years later - Lessons from reporting the Bosnian War

Photo Editors Series – Mikko Takkunen

Four Questions on Photography - Ilvy Njiokiktjien in Conversation With…Ashley Gilbertson

Brian Storm – A Guide to Online Storytelling

Anarchy in the USA: Revisit the Conversation with VII Photographers who Covered the Events in the Capitol

Four Questions on Photography Ilvy Njiokiktjien in Conversation With…Ali Arkady

Photography from Pasifika – New Digital Storytellers in Aotearoa

Photography from Down Under – Oculi’s perspective, with Matthew Abbott and Alana Holmberg

Four Questions on Photography Ilvy Njiokiktjien in Conversation With…Mary Gelman

Visualizing the Environmental Emergency – Empathy and Connection in Environmental Storytelling

Ethics in a Time of War

Bosnia 30 years later Lessons from reporting the Bosnian War