Visual Editing Projects
Organization: UNICEF
The Concept:
The focus was on mental health advocacy and the theme of 'play' with grant funding from LEGO. The aim was to produce three photo essays from three countries to highlight the universal joys and challenges of parenting - a single mother in a matriarchal household in Bolivia, grandparents helping to raise their granddaughter after an earthquake in Türkiye, and a family in South Africa coping with anxiety and PTSD. This was one component of the Raising Parents project that included 4 video stories profiling different families. In addition to the imagery, photographers provided video clips and audio for additional storytelling elements. They also crucially provided notes and quotes as the basis for the text story.
Contributions:
-Photo editing, project management, creative brief-
I supervised and edited the photography working in partnership with an outside creative agency and our internal teams. I commissioned the three photographers, briefed them on the assignments., collaborated with the web editorial team for publication and editing the text. Creative guidance was given to the agency for the design of the social media carousels. I wanted a more dynamic design and to use a mix of stills and video which we were able to do for the Bolivia and Türkiye stories.
Full story
Instagram:
Türkiye story
Community health workers in Brazil work tirelessly to reach children who missed out on vaccines
Organization:
UNICEF
The Concept:
Immunization rates had plummeted during the COVID-19 pandemic. A grant funded a series of photo assignments focused on immunizations to highlight the importance of vaccinations. The goal was to create new library images for both organizations as well as photo stories related to zero-dose children, those who have not received any routine childhood vaccines, and health worker profiles among other storylines. Two of the assignments carried out were in Brazil and Angola. The focus for the Brazil assignment was to highlight geographic challenges faced to reach as much of the population as possible, even those in remote locations. The Angola story was on zero-dose children.
The photography personalized the impact of childhood immunizations and created hero profile stories of health workers. The Angola photography helped fill an imagery gap in regard to father's stories which led to additional social media posts.
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Zero-dose children in Angola are being protected through a nationwide vaccination campaign
Contributions:
-Photo editing, caption writing-
I briefed the photographers in coordination with country communications officers and health teams. I made edits for the various storylines and edited captions and text. I then worked with the web editorial team to publish the photo essays and liaised with the social media team for related posts and promotion.
Why vaccinating the world against COVID-19 is a monumental undertaking
Organization: ABC News
The Concept:
A wealth of great images from the wire agencies were available depicting the vast global effort of distributing the COVID-19 vaccines. The goal was to publish a photo driven story highlighting this fact.
Contributions:
-Photo research, picture editing, reporting & writing-
I initially pitched the photos and the story angle to have the editorial team assign a journalist. Ultimately, I stepped in to do the reporting and write the story.
Full story
A look back at the courageous Harlem Hellfighters of WWI
Organization: ABC News
The Concept:
The idea was to produce a photo and text feature about the Harlem Hellfighters as part of creating a package of publishing assets for Black History Month. The focus was on the regiment's heroism in battle and the racism the soldiers faced on the home front. It was a story largely overlooked in mainstream U.S. history and was planned as evergreen content.
The story was picked up as a photo feature for an ABC World News Tonight segment and the images were used to create a social media video. The story was updated and republished later that year when Congress voted unanimously to honor the regiment's service with the Congressional Gold Medal.
Contributions:
-Pitch, story and picture research, writing-
I was the project lead and collaborated with another photo editor on the photo research, editing and writing. I also collaborated with the social media team for a video that was produced.
Full story
‘Not Forgotten’: Portraits tell the story of high school seniors' lost year
Organization: ABC News - Good Morning America
The Concept:
Photographer Matt Mendelsohn's project involved making portraits of the entire senior class of Yorktown High School in Virginia as they closed in on graduation during a period of remote learning. For ABC News, it was a way to highlight the stories of American high school seniors missing out on the traditional moments of their final year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Interviews were conducted with a number of students and the photographer to produce the web story and a video.
Contributions:
-Pitch, Photo Editing-
I saw a Facebook post by the photographer when he started the project, loved the photos, and saw the potential for a feature for "Good Morning America". The GMA digital editors picked up the pitch. I collaborated with a writer and video journalist for the story.
Full story
YouTube
Photos document US eviction crisis as families struggle during the pandemic
Organization: ABC News
The Concept:
Photographer John Moore spent a week documenting evictions in Arizona. We received a very strong set of wire images through Getty Images. I wanted to use them to speak to the larger story of the eviction crisis nationally as pandemic-era limits on evictions eased.
Contributions:
-Pitch, Picture Editing, Reporting & Writing-
This feature involved interviewing the photographer and his subjects to write an article to accompany the photo essay.
Full story
Capitol insurrection: Tracking the attack 1 year later
Organization: ABC News
The Concept:
To produce a branded 'Examined' video combining video and stills to reconstruct the timeline of events of the January 6th insurrection. The project relied heavily on time codes from video and stills and on-the-scene reporting.
At my initiative, this was the first Examined video project a photo editor was assigned at the start of the production process rather than just prior to publication as an archive request. It started a new workflow in which photo editors were assigned routinely from day 1 of a video project.
Contributions:
-Picture research-
Video
Watershed moment for women sailors in grueling, 45,000 mile Volvo Ocean Race
Organization: CBS News
The Concept: As a sailor, I was familiar with the ocean race. I was also aware of how few women participated in this level of competitive racing. The rule change ahead of this race helped more women participate and made for a good story angle.
Contributions:
-Pitch, Picture Editing & Writing-
Full story
Voices of Katrina: 10 Years Later
Organization: CBS News
The Concept:
The digital team wanted to pursue a big project for the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. I proposed that I revisit scenes I photographed in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to discover the stories that weren't possible to pursue at the time because people had evacuated. The initial set of photos that this project was based on was called Hurricane Graffiti.
Contributions:
-Pitch, Project Management, Photography, Video, Picture Editing & Writing-
Full story
Photographing the last golden eagle hunters of Mongolia
Organization: CBS News
The Concept:
The story profiled photographer Palani Mohan and showcased the images published in his book.
Contributions:
-Pitch, Picture Editing & Writing-
Full story
The making of “Born to Run”
Organization: CBS News
The Concept:
A new book, "Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band 1975," showcased and early period of the band in gritty, personal photos. Taken forty years earlier, most of the photos hadn't been published before.
Contributions:
Pitch, Picture Editing & Writing-
Full story
More:
The Boss, the band and “this girl Barbara”: Behind the making of “Born to Run”
Photographer Zhang Yaxin and Madame Mao’s model operas
Organization: CBS News
The Concept: To feature rare photos of China's revolutionary model operas and tell the story of the photographer who had hidden the images away for many years because of Chinese politics.
Contributions:
-Pitch, Picture Editing, Reporting & Writing-