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BIO
I am a visual journalist, strategic storytelling consultant and professor based in Los Angeles, with an MFA in Photography, a Ph.D. in Communication and two decades of experience as a media producer and editor for editorial, nonprofit and commercial organizations. As a queer, first-generation Jamaican-American raised in the Southeast U.S., I care deeply about the visual rhetorics of immigration/borders, Blackness, LGBTQ+ communities, diaspora, and the Global South.
Though I photograph a multitude of subjects for my clients and commissions, my personal photographic and scholarly work rethinks visual representations of gender, race, class, and sexuality in image-making.
My current projects are documenting the environmental justice issue of Los Angeles urban oil production as a 2022 recipient of the Pulitzer Center/Diversify Photo Eyewitness Photojournalism Grant and creating Source of Safety, an identity-aware safety resource for visual journalists, as a 2022-2023 Reynolds Journalism Institute Fellow.
Previously, I have been an IWMF NextGen Fellow, an awardee of the World Press Photo Solutions Visual Journalism Initiative and a Visiting Fellow at Harvard University's Nieman Foundation for Journalism.
As a Founding Member and Executive Director of Authority Collective, I help build community and opportunity for women/nonbinary photographers of color while also co-producing interventions into the status quo of visual media with projects such as the VEER zine, Photo Bill of Rights and Guide to Inclusive Photography.
For assignment inquiries and other opportunities (or just to say hello!), please get in touch. While I can work on any topic in any environment, I especially love to tell visual stories about people of color, LGBTQIA+ community, dance in its many forms, Black joy, and to make portraits of all kinds for your news outlet, organization, non-profit or NGO.
For information on my consulting services to help your organization, film set or newsroom tell compelling visual stories for diverse audiences equitably and inclusively, click here.
tara@tarapixley.com | 1-770-331-9107 (mobile)
SELECT CLIENTS
Wall Street Journal, NPR, New York Times, Newsweek, ESPN, Northface, HuffPost, CNN.com, Men's Health, Allure, Los Angeles Magazine, Photoshelter, ProPublica, Atlantic Magazine, Sierra Magazine, Earthjustice, International Herald Tribune, Scholastic, Wells Fargo, US Bank, Nike, Cushman & Wakefield, MilkLife, Foot Locker, Bloomsbury
SELECT WRITINGS
2022 State of Photography Report
2022 Royal Photographic Society Journal: "A Summer of Reckoning"
2021 New York Times: "Where LGBTQ+ Migrants Find the True Meaning of Shelter"
2021 Zeke Magazine: “From Tulsa to Minneapolis: Photographing the Long Road to Justice.”
2020 Visual Communication Quarterly: “Revealing the Black Female Aesthetic Through Protest Photojournalism”
2020 Nieman Reports: "Protest Photography can be a Powerful Tool For and Against Black Lives Matter"
2020 Photoshelter: A Guide to Inclusive Photography
2019 Solutions Journalism Network: “Thinking Inclusion + Equity in Solutions Photojournalism.”
2019 Nieman Reports: “Photographing Domestic Violence: Showing Uncomfortable Truths.”
2017 Photovoice: The Western Gaze
2017 Newsweek: “Inequities Among Photojournalists Produce a Familiar Image.”
2017 Nieman Reports: "Why We Need More Visual Journalists + Photo Editors of Color"
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
2022 B&H Podcast: On Cornell Watson's The Drowning
2021 Social Documentary Network: Photographing the Long Road to Justice panelist
2021 Buzzfeed News Creative Industry Leaders Predictions for 2021
2020 Elle Magazine Topic Expert: TikTok Activism
2020 Photo Ethics Centre: On Critical Media Production
2020 NPPA/ASMP Panelist: "The Movement: Photographs of the Racial Justice Protests for Black Lives"
2020 Palm Springs Photo Fest: APA Presents Diversity & Inclusion
2020 Reynolds Journalism Institute Panelist: Photographing Vulnerable Populations in Public Spaces
2020 Intl. Center of Photography Panelist: Documenting History: Protest Ethics & the Photograph
2020 NPR Topic Expert: Larger Conversation: If And When To Share Videos Of Violence
2020 DigitalPhotoPro: How Photojournalists Are Documenting The George Floyd Protests
2020 Photoshelter Topic Expert: No, Photojournalist’s aren’t arguing for blurring photos
2020 Poynter Institute Topic Expert: Photographing Protestors Faces
2020 SXSW: "The Future of Visual Journalism is Decolonized"
2019 Photoville Panel Moderator: “ReVisioning Queer and Trans People of Color in Photography.”
2018 CanonPro Topic Expert: Field of View On Why Photojournalism Needs More Diversity
2018 Photo+ Expo Panelist:“Decolonizing American Photography,”
2018 Bloomberg Businessweek Topic Expert: "Why Photography Can't Get Woke"
2018 Month of Photography LA Panel Moderator: “Inclusivity Now”
2017 Photoville Panelist: “Reclaiming Photography,”
MEDIA COVERAGE
Wired Magazine, 2022
T Magazine, 2021
Mic.com, 2021
NPR, 2020
Wall Street Journal, 2020
POV Magazine, 2020
Catchlight, 2020
News Photographer Magazine, 2020
APhotoEditor, Daily Edit, 2020
Culturetype, 2020
Vision Slightly Blurred Podcast, Photoshelter, 2019
Rangefinder Magazine, 2019
Photoshelter Blog, April 2019
New York Times LENS Blog, 2019
Art of Doing Podcast, Hatchtribe, 2018
Re-Picture, 2018
Canon Pro Europe, 2018
New York Times LENS Blog, 2017
PDNPulse, 2017
AWARDS + ACCOLADES
2022 LA Center of Photography JEDI Award
2022 NPPA President's Award
2021 Intl. Visual Sociology Association Anti-Colonialism & Anti-Racism Awards: Progressive Advocacy and VisualResearch Award
2021 Southern California Journalism Awards: Magazine Commentary
2021 American Photography 37
2020 Southern California Journalism Awards: News Photo Essay, Portrait Photo, & Magazine Commentary
2019 World Press Photo Solutions Visual Journalism Initiative Grant
2018 UC Presidents Dissertation Fellowship
2017 FOLIO Ozzie Award, Best B2B Single Article, NYC
2016 Knight Visiting Fellow, Nieman Journalism Foundation, Harvard University
2016 Best Film Prize: Porn Star Quotidian, Thinking Gender Conference
2015 Excellence in Diversity Advocacy Award, UC San Diego
2015 Challenge America Grant, National Endowment for the Arts
2011 Off the Edge|Public Festival Artist Grant
2007 Chips Quinn Scholar
EXHIBITIONS
Seattle PhotoWalk, Joint, 2021
"Parallax" Photoville NYC, Joint, Sept. 2019
"Parallax" Instagram Headquarters, Joint, NYC, July- Dec. 2019
LGBTQ+ Heroes, San Diego History Center, San Diego, Joint, June 2018
"Women in Light" LUXE Gallery, SanDiego, Joint, Feb. 2016
"Dames" Liberty Station Art Walk, San Diego, Solo, Nov. 2013
"CreativesRising" SEE Gallery, NewYork City, Joint, Oct. 2013
"Dames" Atlantic Station, Atlanta, Solo, June 2011
Edge/Public, Rialto Center for the Arts, Solo, Atlanta, Jan. 2011
"Dream of a Common Language" Arnall Golden Gregory Gallery, Atlanta, Joint, Jan. 2011
"A Life Beyond Your Own" RAW Space, Atlanta, Joint, May 2010
CURATION
"America in Crisis" Saatchi Gallery (London), 2022
"Entitlements" National Center for Civil & Human Rights, Oct.-Dec. 2020
"The Pieces We Are" SixFeetPhoto, 2020
“Parallax” Photoville NYC, New York City, 2019
“Parallax” Annenberg Space for Photography, Photoville LA, Los Angeles, 2019
“Sweetgrass & Sunlight” (Guest Photo Editor) Confluence Magazine, 2019
Lit List Exhibit, Photoville NYC, New York City, 2018
"On All the Time" Outside The Lens, San Diego, 2013
JUDGING + REVIEWING
2020 International Photography Awards
2020-2021 National Press Photographers Foundation Scholarships
2020 University Film & Video Association
2019-2020 Intl. Women’s Media Fund Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Awards
2019 The Fence
2018 Nikon+ Women Photograph Grant
EDUCATION
Ph.D. Communication, University of California San Diego, 2018
M.A. Arts Administration, Savannah College of Art and Design, 2013
M.F.A. Photography, Savannah College of Art and Design, 2011
B.S. Philosophy and Journalism, Florida A&M University, 2005