PHOTOGRAPHY

Annie Barker

Annie Barker is a 25-year-old freelance photojournalist and Michigan State University graduate with two bachelor's degrees in journalism and creative advertising. Previously, she was a staff photographer at The Everett Herald and a photo intern at Detroit Free Press, Grand Rapids Press, and Deseret News, as well as a photo fellow with Boyd's Station. Annie has attended the Eddie Adams Workshop and the Missouri Photo Workshop. Between taking photos, you can find Annie with her partner, preventing squabbles between their cats, Marinara and Pesto, or looking to set the high-score on Pac-Man at the local arcade.

Justin Taylor

As a visual journalist for The Current, Justin Taylor covers the stories of the challenges and cultural changes residents face with sea-level rise and fast growth in Coastal Georgia's six counties. He is a self-taught photographer who started his own photography business in 2017 and began freelancing in photojournalism in 2023. Before journalism, Taylor spent 15 years in the marine industry as a captain on a tugboat in the Savannah River. His journey with photography began during his time in the U.S. Marine Corps, where he served two combat tours in Iraq, including the 2003 invasion. Taylor brought a 35mm camera with him and started photographing daily life in a war zone, sparking a lifelong interest in documentary photography.

Russell Sun Eagle

Prior to joining Crosswinds News, Russell traveled the state of Oklahoma capturing stories of Indigenous athletes. In 2021, he created the Okie Podcast, showcasing indigenous actors, athletes, comedians, entrepreneurs, filmmakers, and musicians from across the United States. Russell attended the Institute of American Indian Arts, studying Cinematic Arts. Russell won host of the year in 2023, and best documentary short award at the Will Rogers Motion Picture Festival in 2024. He loves creating and learning, working on his passion projects, and helping people in any way he can.

Annie Bresee

Before becoming a Report For America Corp Member, Bresee was the editor of two community newspapers in Georgia and Alabama. While there, she covered issues like the local school boards' efforts to consolidate under a federal desegregation order, citizens protesting a proposed quarry, and abuse in a small town church. Bresee became interested in journalism late in college when she began writing for the university’s newspaper and would later write a long-form feature for her undergraduate thesis. She received her undergraduate degree from St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas.

Katherine Lin

Before joining Mississippi Today, Katherine Lin graduated with her master’s in journalism from Columbia Journalism School reporting on business, housing and economics. She attended UC Davis where she worked at the student paper, The California Aggie. After graduating with a degree in history, she spent four years working in the biotech industry. She then returned to journalism through an internship at The Palo Alto Weekly on their editorial and audience engagement desks. Five generations of her family have lived in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Amaya Edwards

Prior to joining Santa Cruz Local, visual journalist Amaya Edwards worked as the visuals intern for the San Francisco Chronicle and freelanced for different news organizations throughout the Bay Area, including the Oaklandside and San Francisco Chronicle. Edwards earned a bachelor's degree in photojournalism with a minor in race and resistance studies at San Francisco State University in 2022. She was a recipient of the Fran Ortiz grant during her time at SFSU, allowing her to work on her documentary photo essay about Black women doulas and their commitment to Black maternal health justice in and around Oakland.

Arielle Robinson

Prior to joining the Arkansas Times, Robinson covered general assignment stories for Verite News in New Orleans as a newsroom fellow. She has also freelanced in Georgia for the Atlanta-Journal Constitution and covered city council, as well as issues related to race, at the Cobb County Courier. She also has completed a CNN internship and a ProPublica mentorship program. Robinson got her start in journalism at her university newspaper, The Sentinel, where she served as a reporter and editor. While there, she was president of her school’s Society of Professional Journalists chapter. She holds a bachelor’s degree in international affairs and a minor in gender and women’s studies from Kennesaw State University. Robinson enjoys reading, spending time in nature and journaling in her free time.

Lev Gringauz

Before joining Silicon Prairie News, Lev Gringauz reported on the Jewish communities of Minnesota and Cincinnati for Jewfolk, Inc., and was a regular freelancer for MinnPost, covering the business of media in Minnesota. His writing career started with making love songs for high school sweethearts. On a two-year leave of absence from college, he fell into journalism while exploring Ukraine and Belarus, where his parents were born. Lev cut his teeth with internships at The New York Jewish Week and MinnPost. As a freelancer he developed a niche in enterprise philanthropy reporting, while also writing stories on subjects ranging from cybersecurity issues to the intersection of AI and journalism. Lev speaks Russian (begrudgingly), has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Minnesota, and his favorite journalism movies are “The Paper” and “Spotlight.”

Gabriella Chavez

Gabriella Chavez covers growth and development on the Gulf Coast of Alabama for Gulf Coast Media. Chavez graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and an outside concentration in public health and health sciences. During her senior year, Chavez worked on an international reporting project in Costa Rica, where she explored the limits of ecotourism, focusing on the intersections between tourists and animals. Her journalism career began in college, where she reported for WUFT News and the Independent Florida Alligator, the university’s independent, student-run paper. As the El Caimán reporter, she covered the Hispanic and Latino community beat, reporting on issues affecting local Latinx populations, including cultural events, education, immigration and local policy. At WUFT News, she covered stories on science, environment and weather in North Central Florida. Chavez was born in Miami, Florida, was raised in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, and is fluent in Spanish. Outside of the newsroom, she enjoys reading and running.

Brett Phelps

Before joining Mirror Indy, Brett Phelps documented stories in Boston and the New England area during his co-op at The Boston Globe. He also covered community news stories during his photojournalism internships at The Indianapolis Star, The Chautauquan Daily, and the Nelson County Schools. During college, Phelps served as the print and web visuals editor of Western Kentucky University’s Talisman cultural and lifestyle magazine. Phelps thrives on telling human-interest stories and has been recognized for his work by the Hearst Journalism Awards, White House News Photographers Association, Adobe Digital Edge Awards, Ohio Valley Emmys, Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar, College Photographer of the Year Award Program, National Press Photographers Foundation, and Associated Collegiate Press. He graduated in 2025 from Western Kentucky University with a B.A. in visual journalism and photography and a B.S. in marketing. In his personal time, he enjoys traveling, attending concerts, hiking, and playing the piano.