Tara Todras-Whitehill’s World Press Photos
Among the winners of this years’ prestigious World Press Photo Contest is Ebola Survivors Football Club, a moving set of black and white images telling the story of a man who founded the club after 38 members of his family died from the virus. Shot by Tara Todras-Whitehill in Kenema, close to Freetown in Sierra Leone, for the New York Times, the series won third prize in the World Press Photo Sports category.
“It was mainly supposed to be a piece about the economy of Sierra Leone and how it was suffering under curfew restrictions that were supposed to help stop the spread of Ebola, but in fact ended up just hurting the poor of the country,” explains Todras-Whitehill. “The last day there we went to Kenema for another story, to shoot a practice match of the Ebola Survivors Football Club, and Erison, the guy who started it. It was for a video piece, which was used later on the NY Times website, but because it was a video story, they just ended up using one thumbnail of mine. So really, only one of my photos was used for the story, but I felt honored just to be there and capture such a good story following such a horrible epidemic.”
For Todras-Whitehill, the subject of the series was especially important given the stigma that still persists around the Ebola virus, which has killed over 11,000 people in West Africa. Sierra Leone in particular was one of the centers of the epidemic. “This football club helped bring people together that had lived through the disease and showed that the whole community could support them,” she says. “It was really nice at the end when they decided to have a shootout to determine the winner of the football practice match and the women were hugging each other each time they made a goal. It was a great assignment to get and I felt really happy that the NY Times allowed me to go and be a part of that experience. It is just an amazing bonus and honor that this was selected as a World Press Photo winner.”
Born in New York, Todras-Whitehill has been a photographer for over ten years, steadily moving from spot news into more documentary-style work. Her photos have appeared frequently in the New York Times, as well as Vanity Fair and the Washington Post among many others. She left her job as a staff photographer at the Associated Press covering the Middle East to go freelance, and three years ago founded the multimedia production and software development company Vignette Interactive with her friends Matt Ford and Joseph Marsico. Together, they have put together photography, video and data visualization pieces for National Geographic and Al Jazeera America as well as for charities such as WaterAid.
“I wanted a bit more stability to my life and not just have to chase the spot news of the moment in order to make my living. We definitely still cover stories related to the news, but after working for Reuters, the Associated Press and newspapers shooting mostly spot news, I realized I wanted to try and do stories where I could spend more time and really go into depth about a topic. Now we work with news organizations and NGOs to do bigger projects that hopefully have an impact in another way,” she explains.
Todras-Whitehill’s photos always have an intimate feel; from the picture of a kneeling man weeping in front of a tank close to Tahrir Square to the veiled faces of burqa-clad women who have fled ISIS, the raw human emotion that she captures stays with the viewer long after they’ve clicked away.
She is one of five women to win a WPPA award in 2016, the only woman in her category. Although women have always been photographers, the popular perception that photojournalism is male dominated still holds. “I think there are a lot of things that are great and give us an advantage as women photographers, but there are some also drawbacks. There are some amazing women photographers doing kickass work, but I also think there aren’t enough,” she says. “Partially I believe it’s because it’s super hard to find a life-work balance as a photojournalist, and women feel that more than men.”
Although a big focus of her work has always been elevating the voices of the women that she photographs, she is equally concerned with making sure that the women in her profession are supported. Her advice to female journalists: keep at it, and have a strong network. “Just keep getting out there and finding people to give you good advice and help you remember why you are doing what you do. You have to be strong to do this job, but we also need to help each other out. I love how much support I get from other women photographers and we should always remember to pay that forward,” she explains.
Freelancers featured heavily in this year’s World Press Photo Awards, including Warren Richardson’s Hope for a New Life, which won World Press Photo of the Year. As a member of the Frontline Freelance Register, Todras-Whitehill has some advice for younger photographers, often the majority in the freelance community. “I’d say that the biggest thing is be flexible and take a lot of different assignments, but also try to know your worth. Don’t do assignments that don’t pay a living wage, and work on stories that you’re passionate about even if it means staying longer or going the extra mile to do something you are happy with. It’s a difficult balance between what pays and what you want to do, but hopefully if you’re good and professional, you’ll end up getting acknowledged for your work. Try to find mentors that will help you and give you advice so you don’t feel like you’re alone in the world as a photographer. We are a good community for support, but it’s also helpful to actively have someone who is more experienced to ask questions of, as they have probably faced similar situations in their past.”
Todras-Whitehill has been part of FFR since the beginning, part of a diverse community of freelancers pushing for recognition within the journalism industry and to allow them to create important stories safely. Her award is a reminder of the power of individual hard work combined with a strong network of support. We will support her in creating such wonderful stories safely as she continues her career, along with many other future award winners. If you’d like to join with us, go to http://www.frontlinefreelance.org/.
Ruth Michaelson for Frontline Freelance Register.
