the work of julia cumes

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Personal Statement by Julia Cumes concerning her work and her purpose:

As a photographer, I am passionate about storytelling and capturing real moments of human connection as well as expressive portraits. Having grown up in Apartheid-era South Africa under a repressive and racially discriminatory regime, I understood early on the power of photography to reveal truth, evoke empathy and catalyze change. Perhaps because of this, I believe in using photography as a tool for engaging in dialog about the complex issues facing our society today, including climate change, gender inequality, and more. My favorite projects have been focused on women and the struggles they face around the world as well as wildlife conservation and I've worked on stories with these themes both locally and internationally. 

Over the course of my career, I've photographed for a wide range of magazines, newspapers, humanitarian and wildlife rescue organizations, businesses and private clients. I've found myself witnessing and capturing the aftermath of some of our most dramatic natural disasters including Hurricane Katrina, the 2004 Tsunami, multiple wildfires in California, the dramatic floods of Kentucky, Cape Town's water crisis and more. My work has appeared in publications such as the Boston Globe and New York Times and as well as a variety of other national and regional publications. Among my awards, I've received a Cape Cod Arts foundation Fellowship, an Art Within Reach grant and an Alexia Foundation student grant and my work has been exhibited locally and nationally.

While I completed a B.A. at Brandeis University, an M.F.A. in writing at Cornell University, a Masters in Photojournalism at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School, most of what I've learned has been from being out in the field, listening to the stories of people I've been lucky enough to meet and photograph. I particularly loved my time teaching photography to teenagers in Rwanda and tribal Samburu Women at the On'gan Women's Cooperative in Kenya as well as photography workshops in Cuba and Greece.

As a photographer, I’ve had the opportunity to travel widely and explore many cultures and communities through my work. Having this unique and privileged access to other lives and cultures, I try to always be respectful in my approach, capturing a sense of place and moment and conveying the humanity of the people I’m photographing. I strive to present viewers with a version of the world they may not otherwise get to see and engage them in a dialog about this extraordinary, beautiful and complex world we live in.