Ken Blackbird grew up on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. He left when he was 19 after his parents passed away. He spent time as a welder in Texas and as a forest ranger and firefighter in Yellowstone before graduating from the University of Montana with a degree in journalism. Working for a newspaper eventually led him to photography. Ken is Assiniboine/Gros Ventre and an enrolled member of the Fort Belknap Indian Community of Montana. He has been a photojournalist and freelance photographer for over 30 years. Ken was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 2003 for his depictions of modern life in Cuba. In his photography, you will notice the focus he has on light, layers, and the people themselves. Ken Blackbird strives to capture people as they truly are—the way they should be.

Ken currently lives and works as a photographer in Cody, Wyoming.

Jeff Bundy started his photojournalism career as a freelance photographer for The Associated Press while still in high school in Nebraska. At 20, he was hired as a staff photographer by the Omaha World-Herald.

Over 18 years as a photojournalist, Bundy covered high school state championships, several NCAA Final Fours, numerous presidential candidates’ stops at the Iowa Caucuses, and natural disasters throughout the Midwest. Internationally, he documented soldiers from Nebraska and Iowa during conflicts in Bosnia and Iraq.

Bundy was named Director of Photography at the Omaha World-Herald in 2007, leading a staff of 14 visual journalists. In 2011, after Warren Buffett acquired the paper, he oversaw the photo departments of 103 additional newspapers, managing approximately 450 photojournalists.

Jeff lives in Omaha with his wife, Pam, and currently publishes Huskers Illustrated, a magazine dedicated to covering Nebraska athletics.

Stephen Crowley began his career as a photographer in 1972 at a community newspaper in Jupiter, Florida. In his personal work, Crowley searches for morsels of humanity, irony, and humor, collecting images that capture the country’s character through physical structures, shifting light patterns, and happenstance.

In 2002, Crowley was named Photographer of the Year by the White House News Photographers’ Association for a portfolio that included his essays “Voices of Afghanistan” and “A Day in the Life of President Bush.”

That same year, he was part of a team at The New York Times awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography for work produced during the war in Afghanistan. He also received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from the Corcoran College of Art + Design in Washington, D.C. In 2005, American Photo Magazine included Crowley in its list of the 100 Most Important People in Photography.

His personal photography has been exhibited in shows at the Library of Congress, The National Geographic Society, and the Corcoran Art Museum.

Steve lives in Washington DC.

Cathaleen Curtiss is the former Director of Photography at the Buffalo News where she was recognized in 2023 by Pictures of Year International with an award of excellence in picture editing, along with awards from Best of Photojournalism, Society of News Design, and NY News Publishers Association. In 2021 she was named picture editor of the year by the Best of Photojournalism. As a strong advocate for visual storytelling, she continues to mentor photojournalists. Cathaleen has twice been a juror for the Pulitzer Prize in photography. Her work has been exhibited in NYC, Washington DC, and Buffalo.

She is an award-winning photojournalist being named in 1990 as Photographer of the Year by the White House News Photographers Association. As Vice President of Global Photography at AOL/Time Warner, she built and managed a staff of visual content editors around the world. While at AOL, she and her team won an Emmy for their coverage of Live8. She recently retired from the Buffalo News, wrapping up nearly 42 years in photojournalism. She continues to mentor others, is a member of the National Press Photographers Foundation Board and was the board president from 2020-2024.

Cathaleen resides in East Amherst with her husband Mickey Osterreicher.

MaryAnne Golon is the Photography Professor of Practice at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

She was the Director of Photography at the Washington Post for over twelve years. Before that, she was the Director of Photography at Time Magazine, where she worked as a senior photography editor for more than twenty years.

MaryAnne curated Look 3: The Festival of the Photograph and helped guide the two-year product build of a digital asset management system for a major non-profit organization.

Golon has received many individual and team picture-editing awards from the POYi (Pictures of the Year International) and NPPA's (National Press Photographer’s Association) Best of Photojournalism competitions. Communication Arts, Society of Publication Designers, and American Photography have all recognized her work. She was awarded Picture Editor of the Year from the IFA Lucie Awards in 2013. She was twice selected for American Photo magazine’s list of the 100 most important people in photography.

Kenneth Jarecke discovered photography at age 15 in Omaha, where he began experimenting with his father’s 35 mm camera. His interest grew while attending college, leading him to move to New York City to pursue a career in photojournalism.

In New York, he studied with Gilles Peress, David Burnett, and Robert Pledge, and shortly after, became a member of Contact Press Images.

Jarecke has worked at the White House and on Capitol Hill for Time magazine, Life magazine, and U.S. News & World Report. He has covered numerous presidential campaigns, nine Olympic Games, and conflicts in China and Iraq. His work has earned him several World Press Photo Awards and the Leica Medal of Excellence.

Ken resides with his wife, Souad, in Montana, where he continues to publish books, limited edition magazines, and articles.

Carla Morrison is a goldsmith, designer, and the inspiration behind one of the county's most unique fine jewelry houses. Carla began her journey at the age of twenty when she took the increasingly rare path of apprenticeship, a path that required both patience and a deep commitment to this lifelong pursuit. Carla's early artistic talents prompted an invitation to work in collaboration with a studio in Portland, Oregon, composed of renowned jewelers creating pieces for a discerning, international clientele. Carla's perseverance led to the establishment of her namesake Morrison-Rink Gallery, where she created her first collection and showcased the nation's most up-and-coming jewelry alongside her own in-demand designs. In 1993, Carla moved to Boulder, Colorado, as the lure of a visually stunning setting seemed ideal for building her boutique jewelry house. Carla has built a team of the industry's finest craftsmen. Together, they create small but inspired collections as well as one-of-a-kind commissioned pieces for a dedicated following. You can see her work in her studio on the West End of Pearl Street and the renowned Sotheby's Marketplace. Carla Morrison is committed to the use of recycled gold and conflict-free diamonds.

Carla lives in Boulder, Colorado.

William Philpott is a photojournalist and media professional with a diverse background. He began his journalism career as a Copy Aide at the Washington Post, then worked for Time and Newsweek magazines covering the aftermath of the Murrah Federal Building bombing in Oklahoma City. After returning to Washington, D.C., Philpott worked for Reuters, AFP, and the Associated Press, and was a member of the White House Traveling Press Corps.

William now resides in Austin, Texas, where he is an attacking midfielder for Real Macondo FC.

Jeffrey D. Smith is the Executive Director of Contact Press Images. Freelancing as a photographer while a student, he received a B.A. in Journalism from New York University and a M.S. in Magazine Reporting and Writing from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. After serving as a picture editor at Woodfin Camp and Associates in New York City syndicating the work of Newsweek staff photographers, he joined Contact Press Images in 1986 as director of sales, becoming its executive director a few years later. He has directed the photographic coverage operations of the agency for more than three decades. He routinely negotiates complex editorial and commercial agreements and maintains a strong background in intellectual property and copyright law.

Jeffrey has served on photographic juries at the International Center of Photography and the Overseas Press Club of America. In addition to serving as an expert witness at trial in the valuation of archives, he has written on electronic rights for the Columbia-VLA Journal of Law & The Arts.

He lives in New York City with his wife, Sandra and children, Leanna and Ethan.