We are very excited announce Emily Troutman , as our photography keynote at the EWBC! Emily will be leading a 2 hour photo walk on Saturday, October 15th, for a small group of participants, in addition to sharing some of her stories as to why photography is a fantastic medium for storytelling.
Emily Troutman began her journalism career with her blog and a Twitter account, which parlayed new media into a successful career. With a yearlong stint in post-earthquake Haiti, her work has been featured by the United Nations, Slate.com, Monocle Magazine and AOL News. This year she was a finalist for an Online Journalism Award.
Emily believes in telling meaningful, human stories through a fun, curious, heartfelt engagement with the world. Though she began as a writer, she eventually took up photography as a way to talk about things when words weren’t enough.
She studied public policy in graduate school and went on to learn Arabic, traveling in Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan. Emily spent three years in Istanbul, Turkey, where she published travel stories in publications like Time Out Magazine.
As a blogger-turned-mainstream-journalist, Emily understands the unique demands of both worlds: what it takes to grab readers’ attention, minimizing the time spent editing, and creating a photo product that appeals to the masses. She also understands that for blogs and bloggers, personal identity and a signature style can help you apart from the crowd, “Being true to your own vision of the world is important.”
Emily has taught numerous writing courses, including at government agencies like NASA, the National Park Service and the Air Force. She recently launched a course with the Creative Alliance, an art collective in Baltimore, Maryland, to teach the basics of new journalism. A frequent guest on television and radio news programs, Emily focuses on explaining complex issues in a simple way.
She has worked, lived and/or taken photos in many countries including Turkey, Italy, France, the UK, Greece, Spain, Uganda, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania and most recently, Haiti.
One of Emily’s most profound work was her photo essay on the tragedy of the earthquake that struck Haiti on 12 January 2010. From 2005 to 2009, Emily was a freelance writer in Istanbul and Turkey. In September 2009, Emily’s video entry for the Citizen Ambassador video-contest was selected by a committee of the United Nations. Her video, “My Message to World Leaders: One Person at a Time” reminded world leaders of the 6.7 billion real people who want to be remembered and who want a safe and good life.
Please watch the video below, which not only contains many of her photos, but a message we hope we encourage at the EWBC. Then, when you’re finished, please check out more of her work at EmilyTroutman.com