Developing Personal Projects; What Motivates Us

Join The Photo Brigade in collaboration with Women Photograph for a conversation about the motivation behind our work. Why do we photograph? We may have different answers or may not have one at all, but every time we ask ourselves we get closer to our inner truth. Join us in person at Adorama in NYC or tune in online via The Photo Brigade's FB Live or AdoramaTV on YouTube!

Muyi Xiao is the current Director of Visuals at ChinaFile, an online publication under Asia Society's Center on U.S.-China Relations. She won Magnum Foundation Human Rights and Photography fellowship in 2015. She formerly worked in China for Reuters as an editor and Tencent News as a visual reporter. She covered breaking news and feature stories with photos and videos. MuyiXiao.com

Alice Proujansky Murray is a documentary photographer covering women and labor: birth, work, motherhood and identity. Her personal projects include Birth Culture, Women's Work and Migrant Families. Her first book, Go Photo! An Activity Book for Kids was published by Aperture in 2016. Alice's work has been published by New York Magazine, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Nation, the Boston Globe, The New Republic, Fast Company, the Guardian, Harpers, Cosmopolitan and others. She has received support from the International Women's Media Foundation, the Magnum Foundation, the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, the Solutions Journalism Network and the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, and was selected for Review Santa Fe 2014 and the New York Portfolio Review 2016. Her photographs have been exhibited at the Museum of the City of New York, International Photo Festival Leiden, Photoville, the Oso Bay Biennial, San José Foto and United Photo Industries. AliceProujansky.com

Kholood Eid is a documentary photographer working in mixed media and interested in exploring the complexities of identity, gender-based issues, mental illness and the concept of “Home.” Her clients include The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Reuters, CNN, ESPN’s The Undefeated and others. Kholood is a member of Women Photograph as well as Diversify Photo, received an International Women’s Media Foundation reporting fellowship and earned a master’s degree in photojournalism from the University of Missouri. When not on assignment or working on personal projects, she’s teaching photography to middle schoolers at the Bronx Documentary Center. Kholood has also taught graduate students at New York University as well as teen photo workshops through NYC Salt. KholoodEid.com

Kathy Shorr is a freelance photographer based in New York. Her work has been exhibited widely at such galleries as Howard Greenberg Gallery, NY and Sariedo Gallery, NY. Her series, "Limousine," was included in the prestigious Visa Pour L'Image, International Photo-Journalism Festival in Perpignan, France. Her work has been published in The Guardian, Newsweek Japan, Photodot Korea, Popular Photography, Newsweek, French Photo, Camera Austria, Photo Review, On Seeing, The New York Observer, The Village Voice, Huck, Juxtapoz, The Huffington Post, People Magazine, The Denver Post, The Times Picayune, The Atlantic, Slate, BBC and American Photo. She teaches documentary photography at schools and non-profits including The School of Visual Arts. Her book "SHOT: 101 Survivors of Gun Violence in America" was published by powerHouse in 2017. shotproject.org