Do1Thing Blog

Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Marie Claire graduated from the University of Maryland College Park in 2006 with a BA in Psychology. After traveling to Ethiopia for the first time in 2005, she took up photography full time.

Marie Claire has traveled to Ethiopia four times, living there for a total of 18 months. Now fluent in the national language, Amharic, she is planning to learn French, Swahili and Arabic.

She photographs of issues which effect communities at large. In Washington she covered the 2006 Immigration rally, the Invisible Children rally for young child soldiers in Uganda and soup kitchens feeding the homeless of the District of Columbia. In Ethiopia, she photographed AIDs effected orphans, community of coffee farmers in Sidamo, and a donkey mobile library.

Currently she resides in New York City where she is a full time student at the International Center of Photography (ICP) in their Photojournalism and Documentary Program.  Marie Claire is a member of the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA).   Lastly she is interning with Do1Thing.

After completing her schooling, Marie Claire plans to return to Africa to complete on going projects.

Check out her work

I have been interested in photography since I received my first film camera at the age of six. Being a photojournalism student at Penn State has opened many doors for me and provided experiences that have directly contributed to my development as a journalist, artist and most importantly an empathetic adult.

The photojournalism program has allowed me to now branch out into video and multimedia, which I have become very passionate about. I consider my new skills to be very important and useful tools to impact and affect society. I am seeking any opportunities that will allow me continued growth as a journalist and story teller.

In her words: I like to think I can tell stories. Stories about the life of a subpoena, stories about rival visiting football fans, stories about riots, same-sex commitment ceremonies, an 81-year-old college football coach and presidential candidates.

I used to tell these stories through print articles, but I’ve transitioned full speed from my print background into multimedia. If a photo is worth a thousand words, then video has to be worth at least a million and I think my stories have got a mouthful to say.

I decided at a young age that I would be a journalist. Having lived in one place for my entire life, I decided that journalism would be a way to see the world and write about the people I meet and places I visit. A job that includes traveling would be a dream come true and I want to do as much multimedia work as possible. I like change and the pace of journalism gives me that. Newsrooms are also changing and I’d be able to contribute to that transition after I graduate this semester.

Nicole Frugé joined the San Antonio Express-News in April 2003. She has covered the war in Iraq, returning frequently to the region to document the lives of ordinary Iraqis and American soldiers coping with the evolving conflict and its consequences.

She photographed other major news events including the 2008 presidential election and Hurricane Katrina, as well as more intimate projects on homeless families and the decline of the independent Texas shrimper.

Her work has been honored by NPPA’s Best of Photojournalism, Pictures of the Year International, Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar and the Southern Short Course in News Photography.

Frugé is a wayward Cajun, born in New Orleans, who fell in love with all things Texan. In her free time, she’s happiest wearing an old pair of Wranglers and eating crawfish.

See Nicole’s work

Nina is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. She has covered world conflicts for network news and the rights of youth, women and immigrants in documentary. She has worked in the United States, Latin America, the Middle East, Central Asia, Europe and Africa. Alvarez’s goal is to produce work that informs young people about issues that affect them and their peers in the US and the world, and motivates them to take action and responsibility.

To this end, Alvarez has produced various MTV News & Documentary projects, including Aftershock:
Pakistan, about youth surviving the 2005 earthquake and Crisis, a pilot about young people living in Colombia’s war. She then co-produced, directed and photographed Very Young Girls, a verité feature documentary following the stories of several New York girls who were sexually exploited, trafficked domestically and are now trying to exit “the life.” It premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 2007, broadcast on the Showtime Network in December, 2008, and has been used as a tool by advocates to change state laws that criminalize prostituted children. Alvarez also produced, directed and photographed MSNBC’s primetime special, The Battle for America’s Schools, a one-hour documentary about the legacy of Prince Edward County, the last battleground for the desegregation of schools in America.

Alvarez began her journalism career in 1989, when she produced a short film about Salvadoran refugees returning to repopulate the communities they had been forced to abandon during the war, only to be bombed by the Salvadoran military. In 1991, she was the associate producer for the PBS special, declarations. She went to the ABC News documentary unit, Turning Point, in 1993 where she was a part of a team that garnered several Emmys, a DuPont, a Golden Globe and Kennedy Award. She then became a news producer based in Miami, covering Latin America and the Caribbean, covering all POTUS trips to the region and spending as long as five months at a time covering Cuba. During this time, she was part of teams that won Emmy Awards for Breaking News and International News. She also established the Mexico City bureau, where she produced stories on the Mexican drug cartels and immigration and produced four network interviews with President Fox.

A documentarian and storyteller at heart, Alvarez left ABC News after eight years, with a solid news background and a serious respect for deadlines. The discipline of covering news has served her well in working on documentary projects, as she will produce, report, direct, shoot, script and edit complete projects. She started Zócalo Media in 2005 to focus on independent projects, which range from short multimedia presentations to long- form documentary. That year, she won a Gates Fellowship and International Reporting Fellowship to document women facing extreme post-labor trauma in Nigeria. Alvarez is currently producing her independent documentary, “Singed: a photographer’s war” about renowned American war photographer, Stanley Greene, as he takes on the assignment of his life in Afghanistan.

The daughter of Salvadoran immigrants, Alvarez is a fluent Spanish speaker and writer. She is also conversant in Portuguese. A native New Yorker, Alvarez lives in Harlem, NYC. Visit nina’s site

In his own words: I have come to see my biography as a litany of blessings. Blessed to confess “Jesus is Lord.” And know I am saved.

Blessed with miracle healing in 2002 from stage four leukemia. The Lord gave me a little more time to tell stores with pictures about his kingdom and his servants.

Blessed with a long career in photojournalism. Career blessings include a Pulitzer in 1970 and publications in just about every major news magazine. Career journey includes stops in New York, Miami, Los Angeles, and now in Colorado Springs, an especially blessed time of humble commitment to photography for Christian ministry.

Blessed with Marilynne’s love and support for 40 year. Blessed with Stephen and Michelle and the three grandchildren they’ve given us, including Sarah Jo, the ballerina. She is teaching grandpa to see the world through the eyes of a child again. view Starr’s work

Ken Light has worked as a freelance documentary photographer, focusing primarily on social issues facing America for almost 40 years. His work has been published in seven books, including Delta Time, To The Promised Land, With These Hands, Texas Death Row and most recently Coal Hollow. He is also the author of the text Witness in Our Time: :Lives of Documentary photographers. His work has been in numerous photo essays in newspapers, magazines and a variety of media (electronic & film), and presented in exhibitions worldwide including a one person show at the International Center for Photography (NYC). He is an adjunct Professor at the Graduate School of Journalism at U.C. Berkeley and director for its Center for Photography, and cofounder of the International Fund for Documentary photography and Fotovision. see Ken’s work

Judy (Walgren) DeHaas, 45, graduated from the University of Texas in Austin with a degree in Journalism in 1986. She took her first job in Odessa, Texas, with the Odessa American in 1987. Three months later, the Dallas Morning News hired her, where she worked until March 1999, covering socially relevant issues at home and abroad, such as immigration, war and famine, peace and reconciliation, and poverty throughout the world.

Judy was part of a team of journalists for the Morning News that received the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting for their series on violent human rights abuses against women worldwide. For the series, she was the first person to photograph a female genital mutilation ceremony in Somalia and the News was the first newspaper to publish photos about the practice. Her book about the Lost Boys of southern Sudan was published in September 1998 by Houghton-Mifflin.

From 1999 to 2004, Judy based herself in Taos, New Mexico, and worked as a freelance photographer for publications such as Texas Monthly, National Geographic Traveler, People Magazine, and The New York Times. She traveled the world shooting promotional photos for the Peace Corps’ recruiting campaign, contributed to Peter Jennings’s last book, In Search of America, co-directed a film on tribal elders in Kenya and produced and shot a documentary film about the Quechua-speaking people in Peru.

Among her other achievements are: an Award of Excellence from the Robert F. Kennedy Foundation, The Harry Chapin World Hunger Award, The Barbara Jordan Award for reporting on people with disabilities, the APME Photojournalism Award and the AMPE Sweepstakes Award for her series dealing with immigrants and refugees in Dallas, the Headliners Award for her work in Southern Sudan and the Texas Council Against Violence Award for her work with abused women, several Colorado Press Association, Colorado Associated Press, and Colorado Association of Black Journalists awards, a Communication Arts Award of Excellence and several American Photography Awards.

In 2004, Judy joined the staff at the Rocky Mountain News, where she works as a multimedia photographer, editor, producer, and writer, working with various cameras and software platforms. She lives in Denver with her husband Peter and their two sons, Theo, 2, and Hans, 14.
Visit Judy’s site

For over a decade, Norah has been fortunate enough to find herself immersed in all things photographic from being behind the lens as a photographer and studio manager to being in front of the client as a photographer’s representative to dealing with new business to actually working on final layout and retouching. Having sat in a variety of seats has afforded her a discerning eye; a way of seeing beyond the ordinary to envision the extraordinary; in essence, a way of seeing beyond the clutter of mediocrity and finding the diamond in the rough.

Couple that with a finer understanding of business management and day-to-day agency dealings and its easy to see why she can understand, relate and communicate effectively with both the creative and client-side. Norah’s multi-tasking approach to a project is highlighted by composure and grace, even under the tightest of deadlines.

Norah’s combination of experience and enthusiasm infuses every project with a sense of confidence. Her balanced and focused approach to all creative assignments results in a positive experience that always exceeds clients expectations. She brings an amazing upbeat energy that turns challenges into workable solutions.

Norah is a DC native and has lived in Boca Raton for the last 8 years with her two wonderful children. She works with numerous non-profits and has a passion for documentary photography that evokes social awareness. She is available for assignments in South Florida and for limited travel. Her body of work includes fine art photography, documentaries, portraits, fashion, head shots, event coverage and sports.

Norahs fine art work posses an a wonderfully intimate, meditative style while often using a small depth of field, her photos offer a glimpse in to another world that often goes unobserved by the clutter and distraction of every day life.

Norah teaches photography classes thru the Palm Beach County Continuing Education Department and is a member of Professional Photographers of America, National Association of Photoshop Professionals, The Junior League of Boca Raton, The Boca Raton Art Museum, and Artist Guild and Art Serve.

See Nora’s Work

Mary Schilpp is an award-winning photographer with 25 years of experience in creative photography. Mary studied at the School of Visual Arts in New York, where she received her BFA in photography. Since then, her photographs have appeared in numerous publications, including ESPN the Magazine, The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, Sports Illustrated for Women, TENNIS and USTA Magazine. Corporate clients include Fuji Photo Film USA, Marriott, Nasdaq-100, Nike, PGATOUR, and USTA. She has won numerous awards, including a PICTURES OF THE YEAR (POY award) in the magazine image category, as well as a NATJA (North American Travel Journalist) award.

See Mary’s work