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Today, CatchLight announced the recipients of the 2024 CatchLight Global Fellowship, Johanna Alarcón, Harlan Bozeman, and Anastasia Taylor-Lind, in a special announcement during the CatchLight Visual Storytelling Summit on April 27, 2024.
The Global Fellows will be each awarded a $30,000 grant to develop long-form storytelling projects, connect with audiences, and cultivate audience engagement through inventive distribution methods that will increase their impact. The 2024 Global Fellows will be in attendance during the event, offering an opportunity for engagement and connection with their innovative work.
Johanna Alarcón uses photography and education to amplify the voices of indigenous women defending their land in the Ecuadorian Amazon, promoting environmental conservation and social justice; Harlan Bozeman’s photographic practice is rooted in combating the erasure of Black legacies and identities through long-term, community-engaged projects based in the American South; and Anastasia Taylor-Lind focuses on civilian experiences of war in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine since 2014, in on-going collaboration with Ukrainian writer and anthropologist, Alisa Sopova.
Supported in part by MPB, the largest global platform for used photography and videography equipment, the CatchLight Global Fellowship addresses a pressing need in the visual storytelling industry by supporting innovative leaders. Acting as an incubator, it provides financial support, fosters personal growth, and develops networking and partnerships. The Fellowship cultivates a vibrant community of creative thought leaders, and empowers them to shape the future of the field.
“This year’s Global Fellowship recipients are exceptional visual storytellers who have centered two important pillars—long-term collaboration and community engagement—in their creative practices,” says Elodie Mailliet Storm. “We so look forward to supporting them in the next stages of their creative journeys through amplification and partnership with CatchLight’s networks.”
Johanna Alarcón
CATCHLIGHT Global FELLOW, 2024
Through photography essays, workshops and exhibitions, Johanna Alarcón seeks to amplify the voices and stories of indigenous Amazonian women in Ecuador who are defending their land against extractive industries and colonialism. These women, who have historically led land defense efforts, face violence and displacement, yet maintain a deep connection to their ancestral territories.
The project aims to develop storytelling programs and exchange visual diaries to showcase their resistance and cultural heritage, fostering empowerment, understanding, and solidarity while challenging discrimination and criminalization. Through multimedia essays and educational tools, it aims to promote awareness of their struggle and the importance of preserving their environment and identities.
“As a young Latin American, photographer and educator I feel a deep commitment to my profession as a transforming ritual that discovers and connects humanity. My deepest desire is to understand each other away from exoticization and stereotypes through the creation of stories from daily encounters with the challenge to make an individual feeling a universal voice. I assume the responsibility of open creative, educational and collective spaces to amplify the global impact of storytelling in a way to transform the cultural perception of women and communities historically invisibilized in the efforts to defend social justice, environmental and gender issues.” —Johanna Alarcón
Biography: Johanna Alarcón (b. 1992) is an Ecuador-based freelance photographer acclaimed for her work on social justice and human rights. She’s a World Press Photo Winner, National Geographic Explorer and Magnum Foundation Fellow represented by Panos Pictures Agency. Johanna is a member of Ayün Fotógrafas, Visura.Co, Fotoféminas, Women Photograph, and Diversify Photo. Her projects, including “Cimarrona: Soy Negra porque el sol me miró,” have been showcased worldwide and featured in top publications.
Harlan Bozeman
CATCHLIGHT Global FELLOW, 2024
Seeking to uncover the overlooked history of racial violence in Elaine, Arkansas, focusing on the Elaine Massacre and the Red Summer of 1919, Harlan Bozeman collaborates with locals through workshops to create an archive that contributes to a collective representation of Elaine’s identity while illustrating how history has shaped and continues to influence their lived experiences. Working alongside lifelong resident James White, this living archive aims to empower the Black community to share their perspectives and amplify the voices of elder descendants, a testament to the strong and resilient dynamic of a community that never left.
“My photographic practice is rooted in combating the erasure of Black legacies and identities through long-term, community-engaged projects based in the American South. My work strives to inform an audience that values cultural preservation and alternative methodologies within documentary photography. Understanding the influence a visual image can have in creating social change, I use the camera and language to investigate and reveal the historical and existing conditions of social inequity alongside the Black community of Elaine, Arkansas. As their involvement in the project deepens, our connection is building as well as their capacity to represent themselves and assert their agency.” —Harlan Bozeman
Biography: Harlan Bozeman is a photographer, artist, and educator whose research-driven practice has focused on confronting the erasure of Black culture and its histories, and the legacies of slavery and its aftermath in the American South. His previous work explored the Gullah Sea Islands communities, specifically Wadmalaw Island where his family is from. He has been featured in The Atlantic and The New York Times. A Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Bozeman holds an MFA from the University of Arkansas and a BA from DePaul University.
Anastasia Taylor-Lind
CATCHLIGHT Global FELLOW, 2024
Anastasia Taylor Lind’s project, 5K from the Frontline, has been documenting Ukrainian communities since 2018 with intimate photo reportage and narrative nonfiction, in collaboration with Ukrainian journalist and anthropologist Alisa Sopova’s academic fieldwork and writing. They aim to portray these individuals not as mere victims, but as resilient agents of their own lives.
A decade into their creative collaboration, they plan to continue extensive field reporting, exhibitions, public events, and a book, focusing on themes such as everyday resilience, the material culture of war, and the changing relationship of civilians to their environment. This effort aims to provide nuanced, overlooked perspectives on wartime life, bridging visual representation and writing in a comprehensive final product for wider dissemination.
“5k From the Frontline is a long-term collaboration conducted with Ukrainian writer/anthropologist Alisa Sopova about the conventionally underreported civilian experiences of war in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas and the resistance of its residents who have found creative ways to go on with their lives, despite all odds. In Donbas, the war has been going on since 2014, and we have been reporting on it all this time, despite it being known as Europe’s “forgotten war” prior to 2022. As international media attention to Ukraine once again fades, it is more important than ever to continue this work.” —Anastasia Tayolor-Lind
Biography: Anastasia Taylor-Lind, a British/Swedish photojournalist and poet, received the 2023 Canon Female Photojournalist Award for her 5k from the Frontline photographs. She’s a National Geographic Society Explorer, TED Fellow, and 2016 Harvard Nieman Fellow. Her debut book Maidan – Portraits from the Black Square depicts the 2014 Ukraine revolution, while her award-winning poetry collection One Language was published in 2022. For the past decade Anastasia has collaborated with Ukrainian journalist and anthropologist Alisa Sopova whose reporting has been featured in many prestigious publications.
About CatchLight:
CatchLight is a visual-first media organization that leverages the power of visual storytelling to inform, connect, and transform communities. It brings resources and organizations together to discover, develop, and amplify visual storytellers at all levels. The organization invests in the future of visual storytelling through two fellowship programs. CatchLight Local seeks to establish the long-term sustainability of visual journalism by pairing partner newsrooms with community-based visual journalists, Local Fellows, to provide inclusive, in-depth, accurate, and locally contextualized information to the public. The CatchLight Global Fellowship annually provides three visionaries in the field grants to develop long-form storytelling projects, engage audiences, and continue their work as innovators and leaders defining the future of the field. For more information: www.catchlight.io
About MPB:
MPB transforms the way that people buy, sell and trade photo and video gear. As the largest global platform for used photography and videography equipment, MPB is a destination for everyone, whether you’ve just discovered your passion for visual storytelling or you’re already a pro. Founded by Matt Barker in 2011, MPB has always been committed to making gear more accessible and affordable, and helping to visualize a more sustainable future. MPB recirculates more than 485,000 used products every year, extending the life and creative potential of photo and video equipment for creators around the world. Headquartered in the creative communities of Brooklyn, Brighton and Berlin, the MPB team includes trained camera experts and seasoned photographers and videographers who bring their passion to work every day to deliver outstanding service. For more information: www.mpb.com