Focus on the Story 2019
Talks • Workshops • Portfolio Reviews • Exhibits • Contests • Photo Walks
Join us May 29 – June 2 in the nation’s capital as we celebrate the art of photography and the stories behind the images.
Visual Storytellers Who are Making a Difference
Andrea Bruce
Andrea is a renowned conflict photographer; winner of the Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award, and named four time Photographer of the Year by the White House News Photographers Association.
Lucian Perkins
Lucian, a documentary photographer and filmmaker, has won honors, including two Pulitzer Prizes, for everything from covering wars abroad to documenting the effects of poverty in the District.
Ruddy Roye
Ruddy’s photojournalism appears in many major publications but he might be best known for the work he shares on Instagram, which is aimed at starting conversations on race and inequality.
Sharon Farmer
Sharon was the first African-American woman to be hired as an official White House photographer, as well as the first African American and first woman to serve as Chief White House Photographer.
Kathy Vargas
Kathy Vargas is an internationally celebrated Chicana photographer and artist known for her composite hand-colored photographs that abstract loss and hope, life and death, and social justice.
Featured Speakers
Stretch your horizons. Learn something. Spark your creativity. Get inspired.
© Leah Millis, Thomson-Reuters
Bearing Witness: Women Photojournalists Document Migrant Crisis
In a featured panel sponsored by the Women Photojournalists of Washington, four award-winning photojournalists will show images and talk about documenting the hardships and dangers that Central American migrants face in an attempt to gain asylum in the U.S. The panel includes documentary photographer Michelle Frankfurter, four-time Pulitzer Prize winner Carol Guzy, Thomson Reuters Senior Photographer Leah Millis and Washington Post photojournalist Carolyn Van Houten, who recently won the Robert Capa Gold Medal for her coverage of the migrant caravan.
Inspiring Women Street Photographers
Gulnara Samoilova, founder of @womenstreetphotographers on Instagram will talk about what it takes for women to emerge from the shadows in streets photography.
We Are Like Air
Xyza Cruz Bacani tells the poignant stories of Hong Kong’s female migrant workers, including that of her mother, and the hardships they overcome far from home.
No Place On Earth
Patrick Brown presents his project “No Place on Earth,” which won the 2019 FotoEvidence Book Award with World Press Photo for documenting the plight of the Rohingya.
Beyond Beauty
The founder of Fearless Photographers says it’s time to push wedding photography beyond the superficial and into the “real moments.”
Travels with Anthony
David Scott Holloway will talk about his travels with Anthony Bourdain as the still photographer for Bourdain’s CNN series Parts Unknown.
Finding Your Way
Former photojournalist Jamie Rose will talk about the path she took to become a humanitarian photographer helping nonprofits tell their stories.
Portfolio Reviews
Workshops & Photo Walks
Speakers & Panels
Workshops and Photowalks
Build your skills. Hone your craft. Get hands-on attention in small group settings.
Sponsors
Interested in sponsoring this year’s festival or partnering with us? Contact Joe Newman at joe@focusonthestory.org
