whnpa news

WHNPA PROJECT GRANT - ANDREA BRUCE

2009 Project Grant winner is announced!

Andrea Bruce, freelance photographer on contract for the Washington Post, has been chosen as the recipient of the White House News Photographers 2009 Project Grant. The grant total of $10,000, half from the WHNPA and a matching amount of $5,000 from PNY Technologies Inc., will fund ‘The Caucasus at the Crossroads: Ingushetia’s Decisive Moment’, which Bruce plans to publish in magazines, major news web-sites and a traveling exhibition in the Caucasus.
 
The Republic of Ingushetia is a splinter of land west of Chechnya that is caught in Russia’s struggle to hold on to the North Caucasus. Bruce’s project focuses on the Ingush people and the changes they confront in the wake of violence in Chechnya and Georgia as well as the choices they make while faced with harsh Russian forces and a conflicting wave of Muslim extremism gaining support in the area. Bruce said of the project, “One of Russia poorest and most restive regions, Ingushetia has been destabilized by corruption, a number of high-profile crimes and an increase in religious extremism. It’s a region that has received very little international attention and yet has the potential to become one of the most dangerous places in the world..”

While photographing in Iraq for The Washington Post, she has witnessed similar power struggles and outlets for Muslim extremism.  WHNPA Education Committee Chairman Pablo Martinez Monsivais announcing the award said: “Andrea Bruce’s project is in part of the world that is often overlooked but should not be ignored and with this grant she can bring more attention to the region.” Bruce is a four-time winner of WHNPA’s Photographer of the Year Award.
 
“Photojournalists are unspoken heroes who have the ability to connect the world through photographs, and in times of conflict give war a memorable face.  We wish Andrea the best as she takes a stand for the Ingush people and bears witness to capture the societal destruction of this area, a region many people may have not even heard of, and bring it into focus for the public’s eye,” said Tony Gomez, vice president of sales and marketing at PNY.
 
Bruce also commented, “WHNPA has been great at encouraging photographers to go beyond one-time news stories and cover an issue in a more complete and nuanced way. I also thank PNY for their continued commitment to photojournalism.”
 
In commenting about the grant award White House News Photographers Association president John Harrington said, “ The WHNPA is committed to supporting member projects through the project grant program for work that makes an impact and potentially changes lives.   These grants re-enforce the power of photography and its place in the visual media as a catalyst for change. Andrea’s passion for bringing stories to light from remote regions of the world will be supported and rewarded through this grant. The WHNPA is so pleased that PNY has stepped forward with a matching grant that will allow Bruce to commit more of her talents and time to this worthwhile project.”
 
For more information please contact John Harrington at john.harrington@whnpa.org or executive director Heidi Elswick at heidi@whnpa.org (301-606-8251). For further information about ‘The Eyes of History™’ and to view images of Andrea’s work visit the WHNPA member gallery.