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Partnering with the London School of Communication, CatchLight is hosting a series of conversations with its 2018 Fellowship Shortlist in May 2018.
The CatchLight Fellowship awards grants to three fellows per year in the field of visual storytelling, who demonstrate excellence in the use of photography to depict and bring awareness to hard hitting social issues. For the second year in a row, the Pulitzer Center will serve as a media partner for the program, supporting in 2018 the work of Andrea Bruce, a documentary photographer whose career largely focuses on social issues in conflict areas such as Iraq and Afghanistan.
Bruce's CatchLight Fellowship project, "Our Democracy," shifts her attention to the United States, where she seeks to push people to look beyond politics and examine the social conditions that underpin our society, providing a visual record of the state of local democracy at this moment in U.S. history.
The CatchLight conversations this month are broadcast online and include several CatchLight Fellowship shortlisted photographers on different subjects relating to the mission of the fellowship program.
"Fellowship for California: Looking at global issues through a place-based lens" is the first conversation, set for Wednesday, May 2, 2018. Carlos Javier Ortiz, one of the three 2018 recipients of a $30,000 grant, joins Monique Jaques and Ryan Christopher Jones in a conversation on developing California-focused projects. According to CatchLight, the artists will explore topics including, "immigration, climate, poverty and police-community relations". Paul Lowe, director at the London College of Communication, moderates the discussion.
Ortiz, who has been a Pulitzer Center grantee, expects his project "Between the Lines" to explore the different aspects of trust in citizen-police interactions. From the project description on the CatchLight website, "The artist will create a visual ethnographic short-film that offers an unprecedented look into the lives of residents of Del Paso Heights and South Sacramento affected by the recent spike in violent crimes, and how they negotiate their lives with the police and community."
The next online conversation focuses on the topic, "Fellowship for Social Change - Open Call: The power of photography for social change" and occurs on Wednesday, May 9, 2018. Bruce joins photographers Tanya Habjouqa, Andre Ellen Reed and Alison Cornyn explore the issues of today and tomorrow.
The final conversation, "Fellowship for Social Leadership: Where is the need for leadership in this industry?" elaborates on the formal launch of the Fellowship for Social Leadership this year. The broadcast will take place on Wednesday, May 16, 2018. The third 2018 CatchLight Fellow, Aida Muluneh, joins two shortlisted photographers, Pulitzer Center grantees Daniella Zalcman and Nina Robinson, for this conversation on what it means to be a leader in both one's community and artistic field.
Muluneh's project raises awareness of the influence of photography in shaping perceptions, particularly in reference to the history of Africa and the associated imagery.
Zalcman is founder of Women Photograph, an initiative to elevate the voices of women and non-binary visual journalists. She created the Pulitzer Center-supported project, "Signs of Your Identity" examining the long term effects of forced assimilation education for indigenous youth and the collective healing process that is taking place.
Robinson's work has been featured in National Geographic magazine. Her Pulitzer Center-supported project focused on college campuses across the United States and why young black people choose to attend Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and how they experience race in America.
Visit the CatchLight website to learn more about these conversations.