Announcing Our 2015 HUMAN RIGHTS Fellows

The Photography and Human Rights program provides photographers from the Global South with scholarships and intensive training in the ethical use of photography in the advancement of human rights at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts in New York City.This year’s Fellows are:

• Muyi Xiao, 23
  Beijing, China

Xiao is a photojournalist based in Beijing. Her most recent work, ‘Teenage Bride,’ documents rural communities in the Southwestern Yunnan Province, where it is common for children as young as 12 to marry and have children.

Xiao Jie’s 18-year-old husband, Xiao Wen, touches her pregnant belly at home. Xiao Jie got married to Xiao Wen, who is 5 years older than her, in February, 2014. She dropped out of school at fifth grade due to her marriage,  Tangzibian village, Mengla county, Yunnan province, China. November 3, 2014 © Muyi Xiao 

• Nour Kelze, 27
  Aleppo, Syria

Kelze is a former English teacher covering the current conflict in Syria. She is most interested in documenting the environmental consequences of war, such as alternative oil production and the cumulative effects of pollution and defunct waste management systems. 

A Free Syrian Army fighter sits behind a desk in Palace of Justice, Aleppo, Syria. June 6, 2014 © Nour Kelze

• Anastasia Vlasova, 22
  Kyiv, Ukraine

Vlasova has been covering the EuroMaidan Revolution in the Donbas region since 2013 with commitment to telling the story from an unbiased perspective, even at the risk of being detained. She documented the events of the Malaysian Airlines crash through her freelance work.

A pro-Russian protester checks a vehicle with local people on board at a checkpoint near Izvarino village of Lugansk. The boy is wearing a traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirt, Oblast, Ukraine. May, 14 2014 © Anastasia Vlasova

• Xyza Cruz Bacani, 27
  Hong Kong, China

Born in the Philippines, Bacani has been a domestic worker in Hong Kong for nearly a decade. She spends her days off from work photographing in the street and documenting a women’s shelter for abused domestic workers. 

One resident of Bethune House is Shirley, who is showing images of her burns, which required hospitalization.  Her employer refused doctor-recommended sick leave for recuperation and terminated Shirley’s employment contract which is against Hong Kong labor laws, Bethune House, Hong Kong. July 2, 2014 © Xyza Cruz Bacani

• Basel Alyazouri, 19
  Gaza, Palestine

Alyazouri’s most recent work covered the 2014 attacks on Gaza. He is interested in documenting Palestine’s youth culture and continuing to contribute to the photography collective, ActiveStills.

Fishermen walk along the Northern shore of Gaza beach during a stormy day, Gaza Strip, Palestine. December 11, 2014 © Basel Alyazouri

• Sipho Mpongo, 22
  Langa, Cape Town

Most recently, Mpongo completed a four-month tour around South Africa documenting the “Born Free Generation,”20 years after the conclusion of apartheid. He is also a member of the photography collective, Iliso Labantu.

Rudolph Mulder, 16, and his neighbour. Rudolph wants to become a social worker and open an orphanage when he is older, Coronation Park, South Africa. 2014 © Sipho Mpongo

• Chery Dieu Nalio, 33
  Port Au Prince, Haiti

Nalio is a documentary photographer who has been focused on day-to-day life and events in Haiti since the 2010 earthquake. He is most looking forward to developing his practice to produce long-form stories on Haiti’s recovery and rebuilding. 

Professional dancer Georges Exantus sleeps as his prosthetic limb lays on the floor in his bedroom in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Exantus thought he’d never dance again. He was lucky just to be alive. The earthquake three years ago in Haiti’s capital flattened the apartment where he was living, where he spent three days trapped under a heap of jagged rubble. After friends dug him out, doctors amputated his right leg just below the knee. Exantus says he has learned to ignore the long stares and quiet whispers, products of longstanding stigma in Haiti against people with disabilities. Before the quake, few resources existed to accommodate Haiti’s disabled, and many regard people with disabilities as misfits. Jan. 17, 2013 © Dieu Nalio Chery / AP Photo

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