About

The name AnthropoGraphia is a combination of the greek words, “ἄνθρωπος (anthropo) - γράφω (graphia)”,which literally mean ‘human-being - writing’.

The essence of these terms reveal AnthropoGraphia’s mission: to write human stories, using photography as the medium.

AnthropoGraphia makes the world a more conscious place by exhibiting visual art and artists that challenges our prejudices and better our understanding of cultures and societies different from our own.
We accomplish this by supporting the work of visual artists—from diverse backgrounds and working in variety of contexts— who adopt responsible and culturally sensitive art practices. The resulting artworks are seen across the globe in exhibitions taking place from New York City to Angkor in Cambodia.

Our mandate of exposing prejudice and furthering understanding extends to how these exhibitions are intellectually and physically assembled. In the curatorial process we bring forward issues relevant to our contemporary world by selecting artworks that challenge and engage our society. We also refuse distinctions between genres and mediums, bringing together a variety of approaches towards representation. Exhibitions take place in venues across the globe offering different publics a space of dialogue, learning and action. Finally, exhibitions are curated by the consensus of two guest curators and one in-house curator, bringing together multiple perspectives in a collaborative process.

AnthropoGraphia directly enables under represented peoples to become visual storytellers by providing them the tools to communicate their unique vision of the world and the challenges they face. This is accomplished through public programming and hands-on workshops in collaboration with other grassroots NGOs and arts professionals. We also foster online and in-person networks of visual artists, enabling them to exchange information and expertise, and debate on how the visual arts and social change are related.

Through these multiple approaches, AnthropoGraphia recognizes the power of visual story telling to bring about awareness and ultimately make our world a more equitable place

Board of Directors

Matthieu Rytz
Founder and CEO of Anthropographia

Visual anthropologist, photographer, and social entrepreneur, Matthieu trained as a visual anthropologist at the Université de Montreal and has produced photographic work paying specific attention to the role of rituals and religion in everyday lives. After several years of travel he founded Anthropographia in Montreal.  Through AnthropoGraphia he uses collaboration and community involvement to highlight the importance of visual storytelling at the intersection of the international arts and human rights dialogues.

Reza
Internasionaly Acclaimed Photojournalist and Founder of Aïna

Photographer, Reza has explored and photographed some of the world’s most exotic places for National Geographic and other major international publications including: Fiagar, Vanity Fair, The New York Times. Reza is the founder of AÏNA, an Afghan Media and Culture Center working to bring a free press to a nation silenced by the Taliban.

Reza is the recipient of the Hope Prize for his efforts on behalf of Rawandan refugees, the Chevalier de l'Ordre du Mérite, ’rance's national award for distinguished public or private service, Spain's Principe de Asturias Medal and also the Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

He has photographed for Agence France Presse, has been a correspondent for Newsweek and Time magazines and served as a consultant for the United Nations. Reza’s photography has been exhibited worldwide. He lives in Paris with his wife and two children.

François Bugingo
International Journalist and Former President of Reporters Without Borders

François Bugingo has vast experience covering both international issues and conflicts and was the founder of the first francophone newspaper in the Rwandan post-genocidal era, L’arc-en-ciel. He is the founder of Reporters Without Borders Canada, and has completed numerous missions in countries across the world to defend and promote press freedom and advocate for increased security for journalists.

As a reporter, he also covered the majority of the large-scale conflicts of the end of the 20th Century. He is the author of three different works, the most recent being Rebel Without Borders, Boreale Editions : 2005. He simultaneously works as a journalist and analyst for different forms of media.

Arts Advisory Board Members

Michelle Bogre

Associate Professor, Photography, Parsons University

Michelle Bogre is a photographer, writer and lawyer specializing in copyright and media law. She is the former Chair of the Photography Department at Parsons The New School for Design and is currently an associate professor. Bogre helped to select the winners for this year’s Marty Forscher Fellowship.

Jim Casper

Founder, Publisher & Editor, Lens Culture

Jim Casper is a specialist in international promotion of contemporary photography, he currently publishes and edits Lens Culture, a popular online magazine celebrating contemporary photography, art, media, and world cultures.

Casper’s writing has been published in photography magazines and books, he also lectures, serves as an international juror and portfolio reviewer, and is an international artists’ agent. He sits on the Board of Directors for PhotoAlliance in San Fransisco, and is involved in a number of international photography agencies and events including; Critical Mass, Photo Biennale, Photo Espana, Paris Photo, Mois de la Photo. Casper is an active member of the contemporary photography world, collaborating to develop and promote important international photography events and curates arts exhibitions. He studied at the University of Virginia and currently lives in France.

Tala Dowlatshahi

Senior Advisor & Spokesperson, Reporters Without Borders

Tala Dowlatshahi is a New York based producer, reporter and filmmaker, chronicling international stories in Afganistan, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Eastern Europe, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Turkey, South Africa and Uganda. She has been featured on CNN International, BBC World News, Al Jazeera, Voice of America, Reuters, and in various humanitarian news programs.
Currently she covers the United Nations for Talk Radio News Service and since 2002, served as United States representative for Reporters Without Borders. She is an associate member of the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the Interactive EMMYs, Foreign Policy Association, New York Women in Film and Television and the Overseas Press Club of America.

Erin Elder

Business Development/Digital Media, The Globe & Mail

Erin Elder is currently the Manager of Business Development and Digital Media at The Globe and Mail. Elder has in-depth industry knowledge in areas of print and digital media, business development and strategy.

Her career in journalism began 18 years ago at Maclean’s Magazine, she has worked at Aisaweek Magazine and The Globe and Mail as Photo Editor. She served as juror at the 2008 and 2009 World Press Photography Awards. Elder earned her BFA from York University, Toronto.

Frank Evers
CEO, INSTITUTE
Frank Evers is the co-chair and co-founder of the New York Photo Festival 2009 and the founder of INSTITUTE, an Artist Management and multi-platform production company representing leading filmmakers and photographers.

Frank was formerly the Managing Director of the VII Photo, a boutique photojournalism agency. Prior to VII, Frank spent 10 years in the video game business.

Alain Genestar
Director of Polka magazine

Alain Genestar is a French journalist. His journalistic career began in his early twenties in West France, where he worked for the daily Le Monde. He is still active in many industry roles today. He is the editor of Polka Magazine, a new magazine of photojournalism.

He has held the position of chief at advertising business daily Les Echos, as editor of The Echo Republican. He was appointed editor of the Journal du Dimanche and then held the same position at Paris Match.

Ian Hamilton
Executive Director of Equitas, International Centre for Human Rights Education

Ian was appointed Executive Director of Equitas in January 2004. He joined the Equitas team in 1997 as Director of the National Institutions Program, responsible for capacity-building projects with national human rights commissions, particularly in Asia. Before coming to Equitas, Ian worked for the Coordinating Committee of Human Rights Organizations of Thailand for 16 months in Bangkok, assisting their campaign for the establishment of a National Human Rights Commission.

From 1992-1995, he worked in a number of positions, including Asia Program Officer, at the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development (Rights and Democracy) in Montreal. He graduated from the University of Toronto in 1990 with a Bachelor’s Degree in History.

Ed Kashi
Photojournalist

Known as a photojournalist, filmmaker and educator dedicated to documenting the social and political issues of our times, Ed Kashi’s sensitivity and ability to create intimate relationships with his subjects define his compelling and complex body of work.

Kashi’s photography has been widely published, generating four books, and has also exhibited worldwide. He is the recipiant of numerous awards including honours from Pictures of the Year International, World Press Foundation, Communication Arts and American Photography.Kashi is credited with developing an innovative and creative approach to photography and filmmaking, using stills in a moving image format. Using his thought-provoking form of visual storytelling he has produced numerous short films and multimedia pieces exploring significant social issues.

Stephen Mayes
Managing Director, VII Photo
Stephen Mayes leads a successful career in the photography industry as a business manager, with extensive international experience. An expert judge in the applications and art of photography, he has worked with commercial and public institutions and has been invited countless times to serve as a juror in international photographic applications.

Currently Mayes is the CEO of VII Photo, and is Secretary to the International Jury of World Press Foundation. Mayes has published two books, including editing This Critical Mirror, a collection of 40 years of World Press photography.
He has also worked with Image Source, Art and Commerce, Eyestorm, Photonica, Network Photographers and Getty Images. He has written, lectured and broadcasted extensively on the ethics and realities of photographic practice.

Brian Storm
Multimedia Producer
Brian Storm is president of MediaStorm (http://mediastorm.org), a multimedia production studio based in Brooklyn, New York.
MediaStorm's principal aim is to usher in the next generation of multimedia storytelling by publishing social documentary projects incorporating photojournalism, interactivity, animation, audio and video for distribution across multiple media.
Prior to launching MediaStorm in 2005, Storm spent two years as vice president of News, Multimedia & Assignment Services for Corbis, a digital media agency founded and owned by Bill Gates. From 1995 to 2002 he was director of multimedia at MSNBC.com.
Storm received his master's degree in photojournalism in 1995 from the University of Missouri. He lives in New York City.

Jonathan Torgovnik
Photojournalist
Jonathan Torgovnik was born in Israel, and graduated with a BFA degree from the School of Visual Arts in New York, where he studied Photography and Art. His photographs from various projects and assignments have been published in numerous International publications including Newsweek, Aperture, GEO, The Sunday Times Magazine, Stern, Paris Match, and Mother Jones among others. Torgovnik has been a contract photographer for Newsweek magazine since 2005, and is on the faculty of the International Center of Photography School in New York.  He is the author of two books: Bollywood Dreams (Phaidon, 2003), and Intended Consequences: Rwanda Children Born of Rape (Aperture, 2009).
Torgovnik is the co-founder of Foundation Rwanda an NGO that supports secondary school education for children born of rape during the Rwandan genocide. (www.foundationrwanda.org).

Patrick Witty
International Picture Editor, TIME magazine

Patrick Witty is the International Picture Editor of TIME. Before joining the magazine in May of 2010, he was the International Picture Editor at The New York Times. Previous to editing, Witty was a freelance photographer based in Washington, DC. and New York. His editorial work has appeared in publications such as The New York Times, The Atlantic Monthly, Mother Jones and The New York Times Magazine. Witty’s photographs from 9/11 were widely published, appearing in Vanity Fair, Time, Newsweek, Geo, Stern, and have been exhibited at the musee de l’Elysee, The Hayward Gallery, The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and The World Trade Center Memorial construction site.

In July of 2008 while at The New York Times, Witty discovered a manipulated photograph released by the Iranian government of a missile launch that many websites and newspapers subsequently published the following day. The Times printed a story by Witty about the doctored image. On the 25th anniversary of Tiananmen Square, a story Witty wrote detailing the experience of four photographers who captured the iconic “Tank Man” image prompted the discovery of a never-before-seen fifth angle.

Born in Kentucky in 1972, Witty has a degree in Photojournalism from Western Kentucky University.