Highlighting Success Stories By Freelancers Coming Into 2023 - PART IV

Profile photo of Curated by Cameron Peters For The Visura Blog
Curated by Cameron Peters For The Visura Blog
based in Brooklyn

PART I II / III / IV / V / VI

Editor's Note: Curated by Cameron Peters, this 6-part feature, released over the next month, aims to encourage publishers and brands to hire more freelance visual storytellers worldwide to grow your audiences through impactful imagery rooted in diverse voices, narratives, and modes of storytelling.

As we welcome 2023, Visura is delighted to highlight success stories by 50 freelance visual storytellers, artists, and journalists worldwide, who worked to inform audiences with unique, compelling visuals.

"These images ignite resilience, connection, and mystery, causing us to pause and open up to collective transformation." - Cameron Peters, Platform Curator

At a time when the industry continues to inundate audiences with superfluous stock images or AI-regenerative visual content, Visura remains committed to empowering professional creators and buyers with easy access to unique and in-depth visuals. This 6-part feature is a glimpse of the incredible work that is being produced by freelancers today.

Part IV Featuring: Tako Robakidze (Tbilisi, Georgia) Javier Alvarez (Brooklyn, New York), Anne Ackermann (Speyer, Germany), M'hammed Kilito (Rabat, Morocco), Andoni Lubaki (Bilbao, Spain), Caroline Gutman (Washington, DC & Philadelphia, PA), Arin Yoon (Fort Leavenworth, Kansas), Omar Havana (Brussels, Belgium), Santi Donaire (Spain), Lisa Elmaleh (Paw Paw, West Virginia)
Tako Robakidze (Based in Tbilisi, Georgia)
Highlighting Success Stories By Freelancers Coming Into 2023 - PART IV
On assignment for Bloomberg Businessweek, Tako Robakidze photographed the feature story, "The Private Jet That Took 100 Russians Away From Putin's War."
 
Caption: Kate Gersamia, 37, a wine producer and official representative of French brand Baccarat, at her store in the centre of the city. October 12, 2022. Tbilisi, Georgia.

Photo by Tako Robakidze.
Based in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Website: http://www.takorobakidze.com/



Javier Alvarez (Based in Brooklyn, New York)
Highlighting Success Stories By Freelancers Coming Into 2023 - PART IV
Javier Alvarez's new book PREDIO documents 200 families living inside an abandoned building in São Paulo, Brazil. PREDIO was a finalist in the Lucie Photo Books Awards in the category First Books, and it was published by Ediciones Buen Lugar (Chile).

Caption: Spread from the photobook 'PREDIO' including a reproduction from the author's field notebook with a collage made out of contact sheets, postcards and color crayon.

Photo by Javier Alvarez.
Based in Brooklyn, NY.
Website: https://www.javieralvarezm.com/



Andoni Lubaki (Based in Bilbao, Spain)
Highlighting Success Stories By Freelancers Coming Into 2023 - PART IV

Andoni Lubaki's series 'Ukraine's War' was exhibited at the Aiete Cultural House in San Sebastian City. 

Caption: In Chirkunye, Kharkiv, Ukraine, a man watches the hole that a mortar made in his roof on Wednesday May 11, 2022. The Russian invasion of Ukraine by order of Vladimir Putin in February 2022 produced large displacements of people and had a great reaction from public opinion and political forces around the world. Russian military forces entered Ukraine territory on Feb. 24, 2022.


Photo by Andoni Lubaki.
Based in Bilbao, Spain.
Website: 
http://www.andonilubaki.com/


Anne Ackermann (Based in Speyer, Germany)
Highlighting Success Stories By Freelancers Coming Into 2023 - PART IV

Anne Ackermann launches new book 'This life is a mix of poison and honey.

Caption: Young people enjoy themselves during a night out in a club in the Albanian capital of Tirana.

Photo by Anne Ackermann.
Based in Speyer.
Website: 
https://www.anneackermann.com/


Omar Havana (Based in Brussels, Belgium)

Highlighting Success Stories By Freelancers Coming Into 2023 - PART IV
Omar Havana photographed Al Jazeera's feature story "23:30: The last train to Bucharest."   

Caption: A Ukrainian woman hugs her dog while waiting to catch a train to Bucharest at the Suceava train station in Romania on March 05, 2022 in Suceava, Romania. According to estimations by Romanian volunteers at the station, an average of 300 Ukrainians travel every day on each of the five trains that connect the city of Suceava with the Romanian capital.

Photo by Omar Havana.
Based in Brussels, Belgium.
Website: 
https://www.omarhavana.com/


Caroline Gutman (Based in Washington, DC & Philadelphia, PA)
Highlighting Success Stories By Freelancers Coming Into 2023 - PART IV

On assignment for Inside Climate News, Caroline Gutman photographed the story "A Vast Refinery Site in Philadelphia Is Being Redeveloped and Called ‘The Bellwether District.’ But for Black Residents Nearby, Justice Awaits." The article was reported by Victoria St. Martin with story support by Deep Indigo Collective. 


Caption: Debbie Robinson sits for a portrait in her bedroom in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on July 1, 2022. For 20 years, Robinson has helped organize community efforts near her home to clean up the former Philadelphia Energy Solutions Refinery, which was also the site of a fire and multiple explosions on June 21, 2019. According to environmental officials, nearby soil and groundwater are contaminated with lead and hydrocarbons including benzene. Robinson herself now takes a regimen of medication for lung disease, kidney disease, diabetes and asthma. “I was fine,” Robinson said. “And then all of a sudden I’m on an oxygen machine.”⁣

Photo by Caroline Gutman.
Based in Washington, DC & Philadelphia, PA
Website: 
https://www.carolinegutman.com/


Arin Yoon (Based in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas)
Highlighting Success Stories By Freelancers Coming Into 2023 - PART IV

On assignment for NPR, Arin Yoon recreated the story behind her name.

Caption: My name comes from my mother's conception dream, called 태몽 "taemong" in Korean. Conception dreams are common in Asian cultures, usually dreamt by the mother or someone close to her before or while she is pregnant that foretells the coming of a child. It is the relationship between the dreamer and the symbols in the dream that is meaningful. Common symbols are those found in nature, animals, fruits and jewels. My mom had her taemong as I was growing in her belly but she didn't know it yet. For my wedding, she wrote a poem about it:

One day on my dream path
I walked by a stream in the forest
I saw jewels sparkling in the clear water
I scooped up a handful
And held them to the light
Soon after a baby girl arrived
아 (Ah) is beauty
린 (Lhin) is the sparkle of a jade
She grew up like her name
Lighting up different paths

Photo by Arin Yoon.
Based in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
Website: 
https://www.arinyoon.com/


Lisa Elmaleh (Based in Paw Paw, West Virginia)
Highlighting Success Stories By Freelancers Coming Into 2023 - PART IV
Lisa Elmaleh wins the 2022 Arnold Newman Prize for her portrait series Promised Land.

Caption: Samuel in front of Monument Hill, where his ancestors are buried, Arizona, United States. 2022.

Photo by Lisa Elmaleh.
Based in Paw Paw, WV.
Website: 
http://www.lisaelmaleh.com/


M'hammed Kilito (Based in Rabat, Morocco)
Highlighting Success Stories By Freelancers Coming Into 2023 - PART IV

M'hammed Kilito's series 'Before it's Gone' exhibited at the 2022 Leica Oskar Barnack Award (LOBA) exhibition at the Leica Camera Ernst Leitz Museum in Wetzlar, Germany.

Caption: Youth emigration is one of the major problems facing the oases of southern Morocco. Many of the young people I met are considering crossing illegally to the Canary Islands due to global warming, water crises, lack of job opportunities, isolation and lack of primary resources. This has a negative impact on the maintenance of the oases, which need their youth to take care of them. Hicham emigrated to France for a year and after doing several difficult and poorly paid jobs, he decided to return to Morocco. To his surprise, no one encouraged him. Especially his family, who he thought would support him in his decision, had a very negative reaction. Today, Hicham is a fulfilled young man, happy to be in Morocco. He lives in Guelmim, works in a school and is active in the education and associative field. 2021.


Photo by M'hammed Kilito.
Based in Rabat, Morocco.
Website: https://www.kilito.com/


Santi Donaire (Based in Sevilla, Spain)
Highlighting Success Stories By Freelancers Coming Into 2023 - PART IV

Santi Donaire's story "New law in Spain could help families in their search for long lost relatives" was published by National Geographic.

Caption: A group of relatives of victims of those who disappeared under Franco's dictatorship embrace after learning the news that a local judge will investigate the crimes that occurred in 1940, in Paterna, Spain, in 2017. In the cemetery of Paterna there are more than 100 mass graves, where 2,238 people were killed by the military regime between the years 1939 and 1956. According to the latest official studies, in Spain there are more than 114,000 people disappeared by the dictatorship.


Photo by Santi Donaire.
Based in Sevilla, Spain.
Website: 
https://www.santidonaire.com/

Part V launches on March 17, 2023

PART I II / III / IV / V / VI

Highlighting Success Stories By Freelancers Coming Into 2023 - PART IV
Copyright Curated by Cameron Peters For The Visura Blog 2024
Updated Mar 2023
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