Festival Speaker Series
There is no charge for these programs

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Black Birth
Thursday, February 27, 7:00 pm ET via Zoom

Photo by Benita MayoArtists talk with photographers: Brian Branch-Price and Benita Mayo
Special Guest: Jennie Joseph, one of the world’s most respected midwives and authorities on maternal health: healthy pregnancies, healthy deliveries
Moderator: Lisa DuBois 

This panel will explore the love and respect for Black women during childbirth but also bear witness to the stark racial disparities in maternal health care in the United States.

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Ukraine: Living with War
Tuesday, March 18, 1:30 pm ET via Zoom

Photo by Laetitia VanconOksana Parafeniuk
Laetitia Vanç
on
Natalie Keyssar
Svetlana Bachevanova,
Publisher, FotoEvidence
Sarah Leen: Moderator

Photographers from Ukraine: Love + War, published by FotoEvidence

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The Intersection of AI and Visual Storytelling
Tuesday, March 25, 1:30 pm ET via Zoom

Stalin with – and without – Nikolai YezhovSantiago Lyon:  Advocacy and Education with the Content Authenticity Initiative.
Rickey Rogers: Global Editor, Reuters
Kate Bubacz: Formerly WSJ, now head of visuals, Rest of World
Cheriss May: Editorial/Portrait Photographer & Educator
Nathan Kellum-Pathe: Moderator. Trade Marketing and Product Communications Manager, Leica.

How the media industry is protecting the veracity of photographs in the age of synthetic imagery

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What We Bring Forward:
Women Photographers Influencing the Archive
Wednesday, April 2, 1:30 pm ET via Zoom

Photo by Keisha ScarvilleAldeide Delgado 
Susan Meiselas
Keisha Scarville
J. Sybylla Smith,
Moderator

This panel brings three activist artists together to discuss the archive of history and culture and how a global array of female-identifying photographers utilize lens-based work to document their lived experiences. 

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Three Photographers Under 30 Making a Difference
Tuesday, April 8, 1:30 pm ET via Zoom

Photo by Fatima Tuj Johora of a woman in BangladeshIva Sidash, Ukraine
Fatima-Tuj-Johora, Bangladesh
Alexandra Corcode, Romania and The Netherlands

A new generation of photographers born at the dawn of the digital and social media age are creating a new vision for photography untethered from 150  years of analog photography.

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I Grant You Refuge - Gaza Photo Exhibition
Tuesday, April 15, 1:30 pm ET via Zoom

Photograph by Shadi Al-Tabatibi of food distribution in GazaPaolo Patruno, Curator
Shadi Al-Tabatib, Photographer

Shadi Al-Tabatib is one of six Gazan photographers from a collective working in Gaza since the war began in October 2024. The exhibition is curated by Italian photographer Paolo Patruno.

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Crossroads of Climate Action
Visual Narratives of Communities on the Frontlines
Tuesday, April 22, 1:30 pm ET via Zoom

Photo by Jakob DallJakob Dall
Kiliii Yuyan
Pamela Elizarraras Acitores
Justin Dalaba,
Moderator 

Three world-renowned explorers and documentary photographers will share their unique perspectives on stories at the intersection of climate justice and environmental challenges across continents and culture.

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2025 ZEKE Award Winners
Tuesday, April 29, 1:30 pm ET via Zoom

Photo by Jan BanningJan Banning, Healing Wounds: Reconciliation in Post-Genocide Rwanda
Carlos Folgoso Sueiro, Behond the Lake
Maggie Soladay: Moderator

Join us with the winners of the 2025 ZEKE Award for Documentary Photography and the ZEKE Award for Systemic Change

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Rania Matar
From Personal to Universal
Wednesday, May 7, 6;00 pm ET (exact time to be determined)
In-person artist talk at the Leica Gallery, Boston

Photo by Rania MatarAs a Lebanese-born American woman and mother, Rania Matar has dedicated her artistic practice to exploring both sides of her cultural background, cross-cultural experience, and personal narrative.

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This America
Tuesday, May 13, 1:30 pm ET via Zoom

Photo by Rania MatarEd Kashi and Julie Winokur: American Sketches: People of a Place at This Time
Nina Berman, Photographer & Professor of Journalism, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
Richard Sharum, Spina America
Dudley Brooks, Moderator

The photographers in this panel will present a heartfelt and critical view of what America looks and feels like today.

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