This month, CatchLight welcomed visual journalist Sree Sripathy as the newest staffer on the CatchLight Local Visual Desk. As an assistant editor, she will guide community newsrooms as they develop visual strategies and put them into action across their operations.
Most recently, Sree was a CatchLight Local Fellow at India Currents, an award-winning online magazine serving readers of the Indian diaspora across the Bay Area. As India Currents’ first staff photographer in its more than 37-year history, Sree produced visual stories that elevated the magazine’s profile among its target readers through the practice of community-engaged reporting as well as the online distribution that is enabled and enhanced by visual content.
“It was very exciting and illuminating,” Sree said of her CatchLight fellowship experience. “It was great working with the folks at CatchLight, who had so much knowledge and experience. A whole world opened in front of me as to the possibilities of how to tell a story and how to document my community.”
Sree recalls what it was like to join her fellowship cohort as someone who held many professions before her career in journalism. Her previous jobs included retail worker, florist, receptionist, tutor—all before entering a 21-year career in client services and project management in technology, which even included a stint as an analyst at the local zoo.
Along the way, Sree built a side hustle as a photographer, covering weddings and family portraits, an experience that inspired her to pursue full-time work in a creative field through the CatchLight Local Fellowship.
“I just thought, ‘Wow, am I going to be able to do this? Am I going to fit in?’ And I was able to fit in,” she said. “The fellows are this wonderful group of nourishing people. And I was in awe of how good they are and how they see the world, because they see it differently than I do.”
Sree believes much of her experience before visual journalism will also prove valuable in her work as a strategic partner for local and regional news organizations. She notes the extreme attention to detail and image sequencing she honed in event and wedding photography; the exhaustive organizing and coordination required for client-facing work; and the constant curiosity and unexpected lessons in agency she picked up while photographing zoo residents.
“There’s a lot of gray area in photography. The choice is rarely A or B,” said Sree. “Images can convey meaning that you’re not aware of, and so understanding the messages and underlying context they represent is very important. Visual strategy is like a cloud that you somehow have to shape, and I want our partners to have the structure to do that.”