About the Photographer:

I am an independent journalist based in New York committed to using my camera as a weapon of social justice.

Apart from documenting living histories of struggles and resistance through photographs and videos, I also write about them.

This is a space where my activism and academics intersect, as they should. I have a PhD in Journalism Studies (Public Communication) from the University of Maryland and this is translation of Social Justice knowledge base from Classroom to Community.

As a photographer, I have had the great privilege of taking portraits of Amiri Baraka, Pete Seeger, Sonia Sanchez, Angela Davis, Noam Chomsky, Selma James, Billie Jean King, among others.

As a media professional, I have been accredited by the City of New York, by IMG to cover sports and fashion events, and by numerous progressive organizations such as the Left Forum to cover keynote addresses, among others.

My photographs have appeared (independently and in capacity as an agency contributor to Splash/LA) in Elle Magazine (France), Be Magazine (France), Hatier (France), Daily Mail (UK), Sueddeutsche Zeitung (Germany), Grazia Magazine (Italy), Women's Day Magazine (New Zealand), The Telegraph (UK), The Sun (UK), Macleans (Canada), The Globe and Mail (Canada), L A Times, Huffington Post, NY Daily News, New York Magazine, and New York Post, among others. My works have been featured on ABC News, Dr Phil Show, The Kilborn File, CBS, and NBC.

- Saswat Pattanayak
(Astoria, New York City)