ED KASHI is a photojournalist, filmmaker, speaker, 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 VII Photo Agency, Kashi has been recognized for his complex imagery and its compelling rendering of the human condition. Through his photography and filmmaking, along with his work as a mentor, teacher and lecturer, Kashi is a leading voice in the photojournalism and visual storytelling community.
Kashi’s innovative approach to photography and filmmaking has produced a number of influential short films and earned recognition by the POYi Awards as 2015’s Multimedia Photographer of the Year. Kashi’s full embrace of technology has led to creative social media projects for a range of clients including National Geographic, The New Yorker, and MSNBC. From implementing a unique approach to photography and filmmaking in his 2006 Iraqi Kurdistan Flipbook, to revolutionary Instagram coverage of Hurricane Sandy for TIME Magazine in 2012, Kashi continues to create compelling imagery and engage with the world in new ways.
Along with numerous awards from World Press Photo, POYi, and other prestigious institutions, Kashi’s images have been published and exhibited worldwide. He has produced eight books, including Photojournalisms, Curse of the Black Gold, Aging in America, and THREE.
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TOM LAFFAY is an American photojournalist and filmmaker dedicated to issues of human rights, public health and conflict. While studying political science and Latin American studies he lived and worked with migrant farmworkers in the Southern United States, before ever picking up a camera. The human experiences shared at that time confirmed the power of story telling as a tool for building understanding and making change, and his need as an artist to create raw, vivid images drew him to the visual documentary field.
Since 2011, he has documented the Chronic Kidney Disease epidemic affecting agricultural workers in Latin America and South Asia and is an member of La Isla Network, a public health and policy organization dedicated to investigating and mitigating the disease. In addition to international editorial publications, his photographs have been published in workers rights manuals, medical journals, and by non-governmental organizations as well as in art exhibitions, while his films have been shown in festivals, medical conferences, company boardrooms and in community settings. He mentors Central American photographers and participates in teaching workshops in addition to speaking on the issues he covers. He is driven to share stories from pressing issues in the Americas and create work that effects change.
Tom is currently based in Bogota, Colombia and available for assignments in the Americas and just about anywhere else.