The Alexia announces keynote speaker: Whitney C. Johnson, National Geographic's VP for visuals and immersive experiences
The Alexia
Supporting visual storytellers who produce projects that inspire change.
The Alexia is excited to announce that Whitney C. Johnson, National Geographic’s vice president for visuals and immersive experiences, will deliver a keynote lecture on Friday April 1, 2022, at 5 p.m. during its 2022 grant judging weekend at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.
TOPIC:
New Voices, New Visions: National Geographic photography and innovation from 1890 to the metaverse.
WHEN: Friday, April 1, at 5:00 p.m.
WHERE: Newhouse III in the Halmi Room (141), Syracuse University. You also are invited to attend the open grant judging Friday, April 1–2.
(More details below.) Both events are free and open to the public.
If you plan to attend and require assistive services, please contact Rachel Cooper at rcoope01@syr.edu by March 24. Please feel free to spread the word.
Cheers,
Bruce
TOPIC:
New Voices, New Visions: National Geographic photography and innovation from 1890 to the metaverse.
WHEN: Friday, April 1, at 5:00 p.m.
WHERE: Newhouse III in the Halmi Room (141), Syracuse University. You also are invited to attend the open grant judging Friday, April 1–2.
(More details below.) Both events are free and open to the public.
If you plan to attend and require assistive services, please contact Rachel Cooper at rcoope01@syr.edu by March 24. Please feel free to spread the word.
Cheers,
Bruce
WHITNEY C. JOHNSON
Whitney Johnson is the director of visuals and immersive experiences at National Geographic. She leads the visual and immersive staffs, overseeing photography, video, Instagram, and podcast teams. She joined National Geographic in 2015 as the magazine’s deputy director of photography.
From 2007 to 2015, Johnson was on the staff of The New Yorker, first as a picture editor and later as the director of photography. Prior to joining the magazine, Johnson worked at the Open Society Foundations, where she was a founding member of the Documentary Photography Project and managed an international grant competition and exhibition for documentary photographers.
Her work has earned numerous awards from the American Society of Magazine Editors, the Society of Publication Designers and the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (the Webbys). In 2011, Johnson — together with The New Yorker staff photographer Platon and Human Rights Watch — received a Peabody. In 2018, Pictures of the Year International honored the National Geographic photo staff with the Angus McDougall Overall Excellence in Editing Award and recognized Johnson with an Award of Excellence in the Magazine Visual Editor of the Year category. In 2019, National Geographic was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography. Johnson received her Bachelor of Arts from Barnard College and continued with graduate work in American studies at Columbia University.
Whitney Johnson is the director of visuals and immersive experiences at National Geographic. She leads the visual and immersive staffs, overseeing photography, video, Instagram, and podcast teams. She joined National Geographic in 2015 as the magazine’s deputy director of photography.
From 2007 to 2015, Johnson was on the staff of The New Yorker, first as a picture editor and later as the director of photography. Prior to joining the magazine, Johnson worked at the Open Society Foundations, where she was a founding member of the Documentary Photography Project and managed an international grant competition and exhibition for documentary photographers.
Her work has earned numerous awards from the American Society of Magazine Editors, the Society of Publication Designers and the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (the Webbys). In 2011, Johnson — together with The New Yorker staff photographer Platon and Human Rights Watch — received a Peabody. In 2018, Pictures of the Year International honored the National Geographic photo staff with the Angus McDougall Overall Excellence in Editing Award and recognized Johnson with an Award of Excellence in the Magazine Visual Editor of the Year category. In 2019, National Geographic was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography. Johnson received her Bachelor of Arts from Barnard College and continued with graduate work in American studies at Columbia University.
PROGRAM
Judging will take place on Friday, April 1, for the student grant, and Saturday, April 2, for the professional grant at The S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. This Sony-sponsored event will take place in Newhouse I Room 303.
Friday, April 1
Student submissions will be judged beginning at 9 a.m. A Q&A session with the judges will follow the student judging in the early afternoon.
Keynote Speaker:
Whitney C. Johnson, National Geographic vice president for visuals and immersive experience, will give a talk at 5 p.m. in the Halmi Room (141), near the Hergenhan Auditorium, Newhouse III, Syracuse University.
Saturday, April 2
The professional grant submissions will be judged beginning at 8:45 a.m.
This year’s grant submissions come from 50 nations and all corners of the world:
Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Bangladesh, Benin, Brazil, Burundi, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Cook Islands, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Gambia, Germany, Guatemala, India, Iran, Italy, Japan, Kashmir, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Macao, Mexico, Moldova, Morocco, Netherlands, Nigeria, Papua, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Russia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela.
Professional and student grant winners will be announced in mid-April, along with second- and third-place recognitions. Sony will award both first-place winners a Sony Alpha 7 III full-frame mirrorless camera and lens. (#sonyedu)(The event will not be live-streamed.)
ABOUT
Through grants, scholarships, special projects and while encouraging a diversity of creators, issues and approaches, The Alexia helps professional, and student visual storytellers produce projects that inspire change and world understanding by addressing significant topics.
The Alexia was created to celebrate and remember Alexia Tsairis, a student at Syracuse University who was killed in the terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 as she returned home from her study abroad program. She was one of 35 Syracuse students on that flight. In her honor, The Alexia has awarded close to $2 million to over 160 photographers. Over the past year, The Alexia transitioned its operations from The Alexia Foundation to the Newhouse School, where the competition has been administered and judged since it began.
You may follow The Alexia at https://www.instagram.com/thealexiagrants/ and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/thealexiagrants .
If you have questions, contact Bruce Strong, The Alexia Tsairis Chair for Documentary Studies and professor at the Newhouse School.
Judging will take place on Friday, April 1, for the student grant, and Saturday, April 2, for the professional grant at The S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. This Sony-sponsored event will take place in Newhouse I Room 303.
Friday, April 1
Student submissions will be judged beginning at 9 a.m. A Q&A session with the judges will follow the student judging in the early afternoon.
Keynote Speaker:
Whitney C. Johnson, National Geographic vice president for visuals and immersive experience, will give a talk at 5 p.m. in the Halmi Room (141), near the Hergenhan Auditorium, Newhouse III, Syracuse University.
Saturday, April 2
The professional grant submissions will be judged beginning at 8:45 a.m.
This year’s grant submissions come from 50 nations and all corners of the world:
Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Bangladesh, Benin, Brazil, Burundi, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Cook Islands, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Gambia, Germany, Guatemala, India, Iran, Italy, Japan, Kashmir, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Macao, Mexico, Moldova, Morocco, Netherlands, Nigeria, Papua, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Russia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Venezuela.
Professional and student grant winners will be announced in mid-April, along with second- and third-place recognitions. Sony will award both first-place winners a Sony Alpha 7 III full-frame mirrorless camera and lens. (#sonyedu)(The event will not be live-streamed.)
ABOUT
Through grants, scholarships, special projects and while encouraging a diversity of creators, issues and approaches, The Alexia helps professional, and student visual storytellers produce projects that inspire change and world understanding by addressing significant topics.
The Alexia was created to celebrate and remember Alexia Tsairis, a student at Syracuse University who was killed in the terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 as she returned home from her study abroad program. She was one of 35 Syracuse students on that flight. In her honor, The Alexia has awarded close to $2 million to over 160 photographers. Over the past year, The Alexia transitioned its operations from The Alexia Foundation to the Newhouse School, where the competition has been administered and judged since it began.
You may follow The Alexia at https://www.instagram.com/
If you have questions, contact Bruce Strong, The Alexia Tsairis Chair for Documentary Studies and professor at the Newhouse School.
The Alexia announces keynote speaker: Whitney C. Johnson, National Geographic's VP for visuals and immersive experiences
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