CatchLight - a San Francisco, CA-based visual media organization that leverages the power of visual
storytelling to inform, connect, and transform communities - unveiled the 2024 CatchLight Global
Fellows, 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 are 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.
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/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.''
2024 CATCHLIGHT FELLOWS
JOHANNA ALARCÓN
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.''
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.
Lourdes Molina, a 27-year-old Karanki indigenous woman, relaxes on a rock above the Rinconada river, her favorite place where she goes in the afternoons to breathe and sing. October 10, 2020. Magdalena, Ibarra-Ecuador © Johanna Alarcón
Pumpkins dry on the roof during the cloudy afternoon of August 14, 2020. Chirihuasi, Ibarra- Ecuador. © Johanna Alarcón
Maria Tapuy, midwife of AMUPAKIN, Association of Kichwa Women Midwives of the Upper Napo, massages the belly to accommodate the baby's position Violeta Tapuy (32), who is expecting her sixth childbirth. Violeta, like most Amazonian indigenous women, lives in a community far from the city. She assures that babies die on the way to the hospital before they are born / Archidona, Ecuador. August 2022. © Johanna Alarcón
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.''
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.
'Partments. Elaine, Arkansas, 2021 © Harlan Bozeman
Front Angle Trio On Porch 001 Generations. Elaine, Arkansas, 2021 © Harlan Bozeman
The Hanging Tree. Elaine, Arkansas, 2020 © Harlan Bozeman
Very little changes in Phillips County over a short period of time. Old cotton gin
warehouses linger and decay. Vehicles and farm equipment take on growth and
become intertwined with the land. When I first saw the tree I could tell it was
slowly dying, I just didn’t think it would be so soon. James told me about the tree
in October of 2020. It had been there his whole life and according to his
grandfather and several other residents of Elaine, it used to be the hanging tree
for the white residents of Phillips County. The hanging tree rests along the same
road, less than five minutes away from the location that sparked the massacre.
A hundred years later in 2019, black residents of Elaine wanted to plant a
commemorative tree only to have it chopped down weeks later. The second tree they planted mysteriously rotted and
died. But the hanging tree lives alive and well for now, bearing the weight of memory on its sunken limbs.
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.''
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.
Three-year-old Kirill Grinik at his family’s house in 2019, which was situated 50 meters away from a frontline military position. He was born during the war and has never seen his native town of Avdiivka at peace. The family recently learned that their house has been destroyed, along with much of the town. 5K from the Frontline- Donbas, Ukraine.© Anastasia Taylor-Lind
Tatiana Batskalyova cares for her 90-year old mother-in-law, Lira in 2019. Both women fled their house in Opytne, in the gray zone between Avdiivka and Donetsk, which was destroyed by shelling. In 2019, they live in an apartment in Avdiivka that was also heavily damaged by shelling and then renovated by the family. Tatiana had been unsuccessful in receiving compensation for the war-damage from the state. By the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine Lira had died and Tatiana was forced to flee again. 5K from the Frontline- Donbas, Ukraine.© Anastasia Taylor-Lind
The Grinik family prepares a barbecue at a weekend picnic in July 2019. Visiting the Griniks every summer, we were introduced to their large extended family, all of whom lived nearby. They took us fishing, picnicking and mushroom-picking at their favorite spots. The beautiful forests and lakes surrounding Avdiivka had been covered in land mines, but the family had familiarized themselves with safe routes. 5K from the Frontline- Donbas, Ukraine.© Anastasia Taylor-Lind
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.
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.
