Ed Kashi is a photojournalist, filmmaker and educator dedicated to documenting the social and political issues that define our times. A sensitive eye and an intimate relationship to his subjects are signatures of his work. As a member of the prestigious photo agency VII, Kashi has been recognized for his complex imagery and its compelling rendering of the human condition. “I take on issues that stir my passions about the state of humanity and our world, and I deeply believe in the power of still images to change people’s minds. I’m driven by this fact; that the work of photojournalists and documentary photographers can have a positive impact on the world. The access people give to their lives is precious as well as imperative for this important work to get done. Their openness brings with it a tremendous sense of responsibility to tell the truth but to also honor their stories.”

Kashi’s images have been published and exhibited worldwide. Another of Kashi’s innovative approaches to photography and filmmaking produced the Iraqi Kurdistan Flipbook with MediaStorm, which premiered on MSNBC.com in December 2006. Using stills in a moving image format, this creative and thought-provoking form of visual storytelling has been shown in many film festivals and as part of a series of exhibitions on the Iraq War at The George Eastman House. Also, an eight-year personal project completed in 2003, Aging in America: The Years Ahead, created a traveling exhibition, an award-winning documentary film, a website and a book which was named one of the best photo books of 2003 by American Photo.

Along with numerous awards, including Second Prize Contemporary Issues Singles in the 2011 World Press Photo Contest, UNICEF’s Photo of the Year 2010, a Prix Pictet 2010 Commission and honors from Pictures of the Year International, Communication Arts and American Photography, Kashi’s images have been published and exhibited worldwide, and his editorial assignments and personal projects have generated six books. In 2008, Curse of the Black Gold: 50 Years of Oil in the Niger Delta was published, and June 2009, saw the publication of Kashi’s latest book THREE, based on a series of triptychs culled from more than 20 years of image making.

In 2002, Kashi and his wife, writer / filmmaker Julie Winokur, founded Talking Eyes Media. The non-profit company has produced numerous short films and multimedia pieces that explore significant social issues. The first project resulted in a book and traveling exhibition on uninsured Americans called, Denied: The Crisis of America’s Uninsured. “Ed Kashi is intelligent, brave and compassionate. He always understands the nuances of his subjects. He fearlessly goes where few would venture. And he sympathetically captures the soul of each situation. Ed is one of the best of a new breed of photojournalistic artists.”

David Griffin, Visuals Editor, The Washington Post

About ED KASHI’S JOURNEY

Upon graduating with a degree in photojournalism in 1979 from The S.I. Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University, Ed Kashi set out to become a photojournalist; a visual story teller in the grand tradition of magazine photojournalism. Entering the real world and based in San Francisco, he quickly became very successful doing work for business magazines covering science, technology and lifestyle issues. But, covering stories such as the emergence of Silicon Valley and photographing its titans, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and others, was not fulfilling. He realized that “sometimes, the success the world confers on you isn’t the success you imagined.” He knew he was “not born to be a photographer to create glossy fish wrapping, but rather to create images and pursue stories that had broader meaning and purpose.”

Ed decided to risk all and take control of his professional destiny. He invested his own money and time to purse stories he believed in. Going to Northern Ireland, he explored the culture and politics of the region’s Protestant community. His next project was on the Kurds, the largest ethnic group in the world without a nation of their own. In the decades since, Ed has since become one of today’s most respected photojournalists. Going beyond just recording the first drafts of history, he devotes himself to the long term coverage of critical issues. Using his skills as a visual storyteller, in still images and video, he travels the world to reveal and discuss what is important to him.

THE MULTIMEDIA LECTURE

Ed Kashi’s multimedia lecture takes audiences on a visual journey into his life’s work, taking us across the globe and behind the lens to better understand the varied issues he has documented. He shares the challenges to photograph and film his stories – getting in and out safely, navigating the terrain, gaining access, achieving candid intimacy, and gaining peoples trust and comfort. Ed takes you to regions such as the Niger Delta, primitive societies such as Madagascar and, exploitive industries such as oil and gas, and the water problems in the Middle East, to illustrate and explore critical questions of sustainable development and asks “How can we sustain ourselves as a species?”

As someone who bears witness on the front lines of our global challenges, Ed’s geopolitical work is predicated on bridging the gaps of understanding, particularly the Muslim world and the West. Beyond painting the world in black and white, his multi-media lecture shares the work he creates which is timeless and universal, with relevance and meaning.