Biographies
RIPPLE EFFECT IMAGES
Damian Bird
To commission Damian or to request prints of his work: www.damianbirdphotography.com
Annie Griffiths
Executive Director/Photographer
Annie Griffiths was one of the first women photographers to work for National Geographic. She
has covered women’s issues on six continents, and her work has also been featured in LIFE,
Geo, Smithsonian, Time, Stern, and many other publications. Her books include A Camera,
Two Kids and a Camel and Last Stand: America’s Virgin Lands, done in partnership with
acclaimed author Barbara Kingsolver. Proceeds from the book have raised more than a quarter
million dollars for grassroots land conservation. Annie is deeply committed to photographing
innovative aid programs around the world. For more than two decades, she has dedicated a
portion of each year to documenting the important work of aid organizations. Annie has received
awards from the National Press Photographers Association, the Associated Press, the National
Organization of Women, and the White House News Photographers Association.
http://www.anniegriffiths.com
Ripple Effect's extraordinary team of journalists includes a MacArthur Genius fellow, Pulitzer Prize and National Humanities
Medal winners, and an Emmy Award winning filmmaker. Teams travel to international hot spots where the role of women in
society is entwined with environmental concerns; where conflict and poverty meet dwindling resources, desertification, water
scarcity, crop failure, rising sea levels, and the spread of disease.
Leila Hishmeh
Communications Director
Leila Hishmeh comes from a six-year career in educational publishing at National Geographic
Learning, a partnership between Cengage Learning and the National Geographic Society to
expand the impact of NGS’s mission to inspire people to care about the planet. She has traveled
extensively throughout the Middle East and Europe. A 2005 journalism graduate from University
of Maryland, Leila interned at the news desk of Al-Jazeera English in 2006, and brings a
background in research, networking, and organizational skills to her position with Ripple.
Lynsey Addario
Photographer
Since Lynsey Addario began photographing professionally in 1996, she has received a MacArthur
Genius Award, a Pulitzer Prize, and a Young Photographer of the Year award from the
International Center of Photography. She has worked across Latin America, the Middle East, and
Africa and has covered the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Darfur, and Congo. Lynsey has
photographed for National Geographic, Time Magazine, the Associated Press, the Boston Globe,
and the Houston Chronicle. She currently covers India and South Asia for The New York Times.
Lynsey's recent projects include Maternal Mortality in Sierra Leone and Females in the U.S.
Military. She recently presented at “Women Deliver,” an international exhibition and conference in
Washington D.C.
http://www.lynseyaddario.com/
Michael Davie
Documentary Filmmaker
Armed with a global perspective and a burning desire to tell the difficult stories unfolding on the
world stage, Michael Davie is one of the freshest voices in documentary filmmaking today. His
work includes films on child soldiers in Africa, war refugees in the Balkans, the plight of Afghan
refugees in Pakistan, the empowering impact of music in South African prisons, and the effects
of the Congo’s brutal civil war on both people and wildlife. He is a regular contributor to National
Geographic Television. Michael’s work has earned him multiple awards including two Emmys, the
Overseas Press Club’s 66th Edward R. Murrow Award, a New York Film Festival Gold Medal and
AFI Best Director Award. He was also awarded the prestigious FIPA Human Rights award by the
United Nations.
http://michaeldavie.com/
Lynn Johnson
Photographer
Lynn is known for her intense, sensitive work. In 30 years as a photojournalist, she has
photographed for virtually every major magazine and traveled throughout the world. She now
divides her time between magazine assignments and work for various foundations. Lynn says:
“As photographers, we witness — unfiltered — the lives of those willing to share their stories,
hoping to impact a world they may never visit and strangers who can only imagine their struggles.
If there is one constant lesson, it is that we are all connected.” Lynn’s many awards include seven
Golden Quills for Photojournalism, four World Press Photography awards, and a prestigious
POY — Picture of the Year award.
http://lynnjohnsonphoto.com/
Barbara Kingsolver
Contributing Writer
Barbara Kingsolver’s lifelong interest in human rights and the environment has taken her on
writing assignments to some of the world’s most challenged and hopeful places, from an
indigenous-crop preservation farm established by Vandana Shiva in India to Mexican village
collectives that protect endangered forests in the Yucatán. Her thirteen published books include
nonfiction, poetry, and seven works of fiction. Her novels The Bean Trees, The Poisonwood Bible,
among others, have earned literary acclaim and a devoted readership in more than twenty
languages. In 2000, she was awarded the National Humanities Medal. In 2010, she was awarded
the Orange Prize for her most recent novel, The Lacuna.
http://www.kingsolver.com/
Ami Vitale
Photographer
Ami Vitale's journey as a photojournalist has taken her to more than 75 countries. She has
witnessed civil unrest, poverty, destruction of life, and unspeakable violence. But she has also
experienced surreal beauty and the enduring power of the human spirit, and she is committed to
highlighting the surprising and subtle similarities between cultures. The UN, Human Rights Watch,
MSF, Oxfam, the Open Society Institute, and many others have exhibited her photographs around
the world.
Ami's work has garnered awards from World Press Photos, the Photographer of the Year
International award, the Lowell Thomas Award for Travel Journalism, Lucie awards, the Daniel
Pearl Award for Outstanding Reporting, and the Magazine Photographer of the Year award.
Photo District News recognized her as one of 30 image-makers of the future. Ami has been
awarded grants including the first-ever Inge Morath grant by the prestigious Magnum Photos,
The Canon female photojournalist award for her work in Kashmir, and the Alexia Foundation for
World Peace. Ami is a contract photographer with National Geographic magazine and is also senior producer for the Knight
Center for International Media.
http://www.amivitale.com/
Damian Bird, is a photographer and photojournalist with many years of experience, working in
war zones and trouble spots around the globe.
He continues to have his work published in national and international newspapers and magazines
including The Times, the Telegraph, the Express, the Observer, GQ, Esquire, Dazed & Confused,
The Face, Country Life and Geographical magazine.
Graeme Williams
To commission Graeme or to request prints of his work: www.graemewilliams.co.za
Graeme Williams qualified as a geologist but decided his photography hobby was his vocation. He
worked as a freelance photographer in South Africa and London. From 1989, he covered the end
of apartheid and transition to democracy for Reuters. From 1991, he was a member of Afrapix, a
progressive photographers' collective that played a crucial role in covering the truth of events in
this contested period. With other Afrapix photographers, he later founded South Photographs
Agency.
Graeme Williams has staged solo exhibitions in Johannesburg, New York and Paris and has
contributed to more than thirty joint exhibitions. In 2011, his work was included in the major South
African Contemporary photography exhibition, Figures and Fictions, at London's Victoria and
Albert Museum. He continues to work on both commissioned and personal projects in South
Africa and internationally. Assignments have taken him to fifty countries. His work is widely
published in such leading magazines as The New York Times Magazine, National Geographic,
Time, Newsweek, Stern, Die Zeit Magazine, and Photography (UK), and in many books on photography. Recently,
he was included in Then and Now, a 2008 book, film and exhibition, which saluted eight South African photographers who
contributed to South Africa's photographic heritage, both before and after the 1994 transition to democracy.
His work is held in collections in the USA, Europe, and South Africa.
Graeme Williams was born in Cape Town and now lives in Johannesburg.
Lam Yik Fei
To commission Lam or to request prints of his work: www.lamyikfei.com
Lam Yik Fei (26) is an independent photojournalist based in Hong Kong. In 2004 he started his career as a photographer at
Sing Tao Dailty and then went to Next Magazine. He covered a wide range of news stories in the region over a period
of seven years.
Passionate and eager to take on exciting challenges, Lam moved to work on an independent basis in May 2011 after gaining
solid experiences in local media. He chooses to explore photojournalism in the international arena. His work strives to bring
visual awareness to social, environmental and human related issues. He documented the refugees’ lives on the Thai-Burmese
border and accessed the Fukushima evacuation zone suring Japan’s nuclear crisis.
Lam’s work has appeared in the New York Times, the Guardian and Bloomberg. His work is currently distributed worldwide via
Redux and ChinaFotoPress. He speaks Cantonese, Putonghua and English.
Apart from still images, Lam also tells stories by mulltimedia.
Krzysztof Pierzgalski
To commission Krzysztof or to request prints of his work: www.pierzgalski.com
Krzysztof Perzgalski is a biologist and is impassioned by travel and photography. As an active
nature conservation worker in Poland he helps many unique and threatened species of flora
and fauna to survive. He`s a documentary photographer; interested in man in relationship with
the environment and nature. In his photo-essays shows small communities living in close
contact with nature, cultivating old traditions.
He has photographed the remotest regions of the globe, including: the Mongolian Nomads, the
Evenks in eastern Siberia (the Zabaykalsky Krai), Andean highlanders in Ecuador, the Semangs
in Malaysia, the Hutsuls in Ukraine, landscapes of the Kamchatka Peninsula.
He has made three picture stories about nature for National Geographic Poland. Also published
in other titles of social, geography and natural sciences and photography. His images have won
awards in competitions and he is the author of several exhibitions of travel
and ethnic groups. For the last five years he has taught photography.
Zia Zeff
To commission Zia or to request prints of her work: www.zia-zeff.com
The photographs of Zia Zeff invite us to travel, to witness the meeting of peoples and lands.
Passionate and curious about the world she explores, the people and the new discoveries she
finds on her way. After studying Art, biology, Anthropology and Cinematography she comes back
to her first love: Photography.
With her Argentinian origins she possesses a privileged relationship with Latin America,
particularity with the tribes of the Amazon where she spent many months immersed in the jungle
with shamans and in Mexico where she did an investigation about the Mayan. She also has deep
connections to India, both her parents being followers of the famous Indian guru 'Osho', thus she
grew up with meditation, respect for others and a profound respect for nature as her foundation.
Since 10 years she has focused on the situation of mystic and spiritual traditions in closed
societies such as India, She cannot envisage a photo documentary without portraits, " it's the look
in their eyes that interests me, people who offer their lives to my lens for all to see. " The photo
documentaries of Zia are always long investigations away from the beaten track, as she says,
"I don't work on the people, I work with them. "
Humanist and social, the photographs of this young woman are above all a call to our emotions,
through the act of the photograph she seeks to understand and bear witness to these complex realities,
to get close to others with subjectivity. Zia has published and exposed her work in many magazines all
around the world.
Jamie Hunter
To commission Jamie or to request prints of his work: www.aviacom.co.uk
Capturing the dynamic world of flight through photography, leading professional aviation
photographer Jamie Hunter launched AVIACOM Ltd in 2001, working with every aspect of the
aerospace industry to deliver the finest photography possible. The constantly changing
environment of flight demands a high level of professionalism and attention to detail – from
planning a photo flight to conduct in the air – experience counts. Jamie Hunter has flown in, and
photographed, some of the world’s most potent fast jets, as well as classic aircraft, helicopters,
airliners, aerobatic teams and general aviation types. His work has been published in the world’s
leading aviation journals and has attracted an esteemed customer base.
UK-based professional aviation photographer Jamie Hunter is the driving force behind AVIACOM
Ltd. The company specialises in supplying dynamic photography and marketing material to the
aerospace industry. Customers can access stunning images from the extensive library or hire
Jamie for a specific photographic requirement.
Jamie Hunter has a background in the Royal Air Force and he completed his Flying Scholarship
at the age of 17. He has an impressive repertoire of fast jet types he has flown in and photographed including the US Navy
F-14D Tomcat, the USAF F-15E Strike Eagle, Eurofighter Typhoon, Saab Gripen, F-16D Fighting Falcon
and the RAF Tornado GR4. He has built up a level of expertise in his field that only experience can
afford.
James Oatway
To commission James or to request prints of his work: www.jamesoatway.com
James Oatway (b.1978) is a photographer based in Johannesburg, South Africa.
He graduated from Rhodes University in Grahamstown in 1999 with a Bachelor of Journalism
degree. In 2000 he began working as a newspaper photographer. He is currently a Senior
Photographer at the Sunday Times and has covered stories around Africa as well as Gaza,
Afghanistan and Haiti.
He teaches Documentary Photography on a part-time basis at the Market Photo Workshop in
Johannesburg.
He is represented internationally by Panos images?
Twitter handle: @jamesoatway
Eleanor Bennett
To commission Eleanor or to request prints of her work: www.eleanorleonnebennett.zenfolio.com
Eleanor Leonne Bennett is a 16 year old internationally award winning photographer and artist
who has won first places with National Geographic,The World Photography Organisation,
Nature's Best Photography, Papworth Trust, Mencap, The Woodland trust and Postal Heritage.
Her photography has been published in the Telegraph , The Guardian, BBC News Website and
on the cover of books and magazines in the United states and Canada. Her art is globally
exhibited , having shown work in London, Paris, Indonesia, Los Angeles,Florida, Washington,
Scotland,Wales, Ireland,Canada,Spain,Germany, Japan, Australia and The Environmental
Photographer of the year Exhibition (2011) amongst many other locations. She was also the only
person from the UK to have her work displayed in the National Geographic and Airbus run See
The Bigger Picture global exhibition tour with the United Nations International Year Of Biodiversity
2010.
Julie Platner
To commission Julie or to request prints of her work: www.julieplatner.com
Julie was born in California in 1982. In 2009, she acquired her first digital SLR camera from a
film-set still-photographer with whom she was working and spent the subsequent year learning
how to use it. She quickly concentrated her attention on documentary storytelling through the use
of still-photography and video.Her fascination with the oddity of human behavior has brought her
into contact with the many weird, wonderful, and often very dark elements of our collective
experience.
She has work in collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Memoria y Tolerancia,
D.F. Mexico City. Clients include M, le magazine du Monde, D – La repubblica, and The New
York Times.
Lynsey Addario is a photojournalist with VII Photo Agency. Her work often focuses on conflicts and human rights issues,
especially the role of women in traditional societies. She has covered conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Darfur, Congo,
and Libya and shoots features across the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa for the New York Times, National Geographic,
and Time. Photo courtesy of Lynsey Addario. http://www.lynseyaddario.com/
Christoph Bangert is a freelance photojournalist who has worked in Iraq, Palestine, Japan, Chad/Darfur, Afghanistan, the
United States, Lebanon, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe. He spent nine months in 2005 and 2006 in Iraq on assignment for the New
York Times. His work from that period is collected in the book Iraq: The Space Between. His photographs have been published
in Stern, Time, Newsweek, the New York Times Magazine, Geo, and Der Spiegel, among others. Photo courtesy of Christoph
Bangert. http://www.christophbangert.com/
Ben Brody is a freelance photojournalist who, as both a soldier & a civilian, has covered the American military at war. While
enlisted in the United States Army as a combat cameraman, he photographed for more than two years in Iraq, covering
Baghdad's descent into sectarian chaos and the troop surge in 2007. Since leaving the army in 2008, he has worked primarily
for GlobalPost in Afghanistan, photographing and writing in the restive southern provinces. Photo courtesy of Ben Brody.
http://www.photobrody.com/
Guy Calaf is a freelance photographer who has focused on documenting conflicts and social issues since 04. He has spent
years in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Ethiopia and undertaken assignments in Somalia, Eastern Congo, and Dar- fur. He contributes
to Vanity Fair, Time, the New York Times, National Geographic, Marie Claire, GQ, Save the Children, and UNICEF.
Photo © 2011, Kristen White. http://guycalaf.com/
Alan Chin was born and raised in New York City's Chinatown. Since 1996, he has worked in China, the former Yugoslavia,
Afghanistan, Iraq, and Central Asia, and most recently in Egypt and Tunisia. In the United States, Alan has followed the
historic trail of the civil rights movement, documented the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and photographed the ongoing
Occupy movement. He is a contributing photographer to Newsweek and the New York Times, member of Facing Change:
Documenting America (FCDA), and represented by the Sasha Wolf Gallery. Photo by Anita Vizireanu.
http://www.alanschin.com/
Marco Di Lauro is a photographer for Reportage by Getty Images. He covers international news stories in the Middle East,
Central Asia, Africa, and Italy. He has covered the wars in Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq and the Second Intifada between
Israel and Palestine. He spent almost all of 2003 and 2004 in Iraq, documenting the American invasion and the lives of Iraqi
civilians. Over the past ten years his work has appeared in Newsweek, Time, the New York Times Magazine, U.S. News &
World Report, and Der Spiegel. Photo courtesy of Macro Di Lauro. http://www.marcodilauro.com/
Ashley Gilbertson is a photographer and member of VII. He worked almost exclusively in Iraq from 2002 until 2008 on
assignment for the New York Times. His work from that period is collected in the book Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. Since then,
Gilbertson has been working on "Bedrooms of the Fallen," a collection of photographs depicting the intact bedrooms of soldiers
who died in Iraq and Afghanistan. It will be published in book form in 2013. He contributes to the New York Times Magazine,
Vanity Fair, Le Monde, New York magazine, and the Guardian magazine, among others. Photo courtesy of Ashley Gilbertson.
http://www.ashleygilbertson.com/
Stanley Greene has been a photojournalist for the past 25 years. An encounter with W. Eugene Smith sparked his initial
interest. After moving to Paris in 1986, Greene re- corded the fall of the Berlin Wall as well as wars in Africa, the former Soviet
Union, Central America, Asia, and the Middle East. In 1998, he was awarded the Alicia Patterson Fellowship. Greene was
awarded the W. Eugene Smith Award in 2004, the year after publication of his acclaimed book, Open Wound: Chechnya 1994-
2003. He is a founding member of the photo agency NOOR. Photo © Jana Asenbrennerova.
http://noorimages.com/photographer/greene/
Gary Knight is a co-founder of VII and Dispatches. He has covered conflicts in Africa, the Middle East, and the Balkans and
worked widely in Africa, Latin America, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Far East (including North Korea), concentrating
either on human rights and poverty-based is- sues or current affairs stories for United States or European media. He worked
as a contract photographer for Newsweek from 1999 to 2003. His work has been widely published by media all over the world,
including Newsweek, Time, the Sunday Times, the New York Times, Paris Match, Stern, and National Geographic. Photo
courtesy of Gary Knight. http://www.garyknightphotography.com/
João Silva is a staff photographer for the New York Times. He has worked in Africa, Croatia, Krajina, Georgia, Central Asia,
Russia, and the Middle East. In 2000, Silva co- authored The Bang Bang Club with Greg Marinovich, a fac- tual account of
press photographers who covered the end of the apartheid era in South Africa. In 2005, he published In the Company of God,
a photographic book on the Iraqi Shia during the American occupation and fragile democracy that followed. His images have
won numerous awards, including a World Press Photo award. He was severely wounded near the village of De-he Kuchay,
Afghanistan, in 2010. Photo by Geoffrey Berliner. http://www.joaosilva.co.za/
PHOTOJOURNALISTS ON WAR a new book by Michael Kamber
Photographers featuring in this month’s Life Force magazine are:
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