Born 1942 in Israel, Amnon Bar-Tur served in the Israeli army as a military photographer and correspondent/photographer After completing his national service he was invited to join “Haartz” leading daily paper photographing for their weekend supplement. In 1966 Bar-Tur moved to England to study photography and graphic design at London College of Printing and Graphic Art now London College of Communication, UAL). In 1968 Bar-Tur joined forces with friend Jeff Vickers to expand DPM design consultants, providing photography, graphic design services to high profile clients. His work was widely syndicated and published worldwide. In 1976, Bar-Tur moved his family from England to the United States to grow his graphic design & production business. In 1981 he established Chroma Copy (later named C2media) in York City with two English partners Jeff Vickers and David Manning. C2media grew to be one of the largest digital imaging companies in the US with 6 offices and more than 500 employees. Bar-Tur and his partner sold the business in 2010 and it is still thriving under the name c2imaging. For the last fifiteen years, Bar-Tur and his son Armon have worked together developing student housing in the UK, Germany, Scandinavia and Poland.

Brian Byrd is a freelance photographer with more than two decades creating powerful narratives that drive social change. He serves on the board of governors for the Overseas Press Club of America, which champions journalism by promoting excellence in global reporting, fostering emerging journalists, and defending press freedom worldwide. He is on the advisory board for WITNESS, the pioneering human rights organization founded by Peter Gabriel that leverages digital technology to document human rights violations worldwide.

Kate is a lead photo editor at The Wall Street Journal and the former photo director for BuzzFeed News. She has spent her career translating complex topics into tangible visuals and storylines that connect audiences with issues in a powerful way. Her work has been widely recognized for its impact, including recognition by the Covering Climate Now Journalism awards, the Overseas Press Club, the National Press Photographers Association, the Society of Publication Designers, and American Photography

François Hébel is a French artistic director and curator who has been on the side of photographers for over 40 years. He is Director at Large at The International Center of Photography (ICP). He was the director of the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson from 2017 to 2023. He was the initiator and art director of the first Month of Photography of Grand Paris in April 2017, art director and co- founder of the Biennale Foto/Industria in Bologna, Italy, in 2013, 2015 and 2017, and art director of the “French protocol” program at FIAF gallery, New York 2015-2018. He served as a consultant for the Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation Paris, 2015- 2017. He is the former director of the Rencontres d’Arles photo festival (1986, 1987 and 2001-2014) and was the co-founder of Photo Spring in Beijing, 2010-2013. He advised on the creation of photo festivals in Kyoto and New Delhi in 2010 and 2011. He has also served as vice-president of Corbis photo agency (2000-2001), director of Magnum Photos Paris and International (1987-2000), and as director of Fnac stores and galleries (1983-1985). He has been the producer and curator of numerous exhibitions, books, educational initiatives, slide and live shows across five continents, and he collaborated early on in the careers of now major artists such as Martin Parr, Nan Goldin, JR, Robert Doisneau, Wang Qingsong, Paul Graham, Raymond Depardon, Annie Leibovitz and Sebastiao Salgado. His most recent single projects include: Nan Goldin’s Ballad of Sexual Dependency (first shown in Arles in 1986 and most recently at the Triennale Mufoco in Milan in 2017); Raymond Depardon’s New York: A Picture a Day (FIAF/Libération 2017); and Josef Koudelka: Industries, (Editions Xavier Barral 2017). He was curator of Lucien Clergue (Grand Palais Paris), of Eaux trouble, eaux calmes (Fondation François Schneider Wattwiller, 2016); of 36 000 communes, 36 000 cicatrices (for the Centennial 1914-1918, Panthéon, Paris, 2016); and international curator at the Chongqing Photo Biennale in China, 2015.

Nathalie Herschdorfer is a curator and art historian specializing in the history of photography. She is the Director of the museum Photo Elysée, the photography museum in Lausanne, Switzerland. Before that, as Director of the Museum of Fine Arts Le Locle, she organized important shows featuring the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson, Stanley Kubrick, Vik Muniz, Alex Prager, Viviane Sassen, Hiroshi Sugimoto and Andy Warhol, amongst others. She is an active voice in contemporary photography and has been invited to organize numerous exhibitions outside Switzerland. She teaches the history of photography at the Lausanne University of Art and Design (ECAL) and is the author of several books, including: Deborah Turbeville Photocollage(2023); 160 Years of Photography from the Collections of the Red Cross (2022); Body: The Photography Book (2019); Mountains by Magnum Photographers (2019); The Thames & Hudson Dictionary of Photography (2018); Coming into Fashion: A Century of Photography at Condé Nast (2012); and Afterwards: Contemporary Photography Confronting the Past (2011).

Hideko Kataoka is a photo editor, educator and curator and was appointed director of photography at Newsweek Japan in 2001. In 2004, she created the 'Picture Power' section, a weekly photo essay that captures underreported topics from around the world and was celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2024. She has been a lecturer in photojournalism and documentary photography at Tokyo Polytechnic University since 2013 and a member of the External Review Committee at Tokyo Photographic Art Museum since 2016. She participates in portfolio reviews and has served as a juror at international photography festivals and competitions, such as World Press Photo, Visa pour l'image, Sony World Photography Awards, and many others. Hideko is also the founder and director of Miiraii Creative.

Kublaiklan is a curatorial collective that explores widely accessible ways of interacting with photography by designing exhibitions and educational projects. Over the years, Kublaiklan has specialized in exhibition design for photography, with a particular focus on unconventional and site-specific modes. Members of the collective met in 2016 at Cortona On The Move. They currently carry out various collaborations with festivals, foundations and private clients; they hold a course in Exhibition Design for Photography at the IED Turin, and teach at Spazio Labò, Fondazione Studio Marangoni and other institutions.

Lars Lindemann is a Hamburg based curator, adviser and editor. At the moment he's working on a number of exhibition projects inside and outside of his native Germany. Lars has been a jury member for various national and international photo contests, including the Prix Carmignac and the World Press Photo Award in 2020 and 2021. He was GEO magazines Director of Photography from 2015 till 2023. Lars is one of the founders of the Hamburg Portfolio Review and International Projects Curator of the Italian photo festival Cortona On The Move.

Marie A. Monteleone is a senior photo editor for Bloomberg News, where she commissions visuals for Enterprise stories globally. While at Bloomberg News, she has lead the expansion and diversification of the roster of freelance photographers. Prior to Bloomberg, she worked for ABC News, T: The New York Times Style Magazine, The New York Post, and W Magazine. Ms. Monteleone has been a guest speaker at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, The International Center of Photography, Parsons School of Design, The Bronx Documentary Center, Leica Gallery New York, The Women Photograph Workshop, The Eddie Adams Workshop and Zoom Photo Festival Saguenay. She has served on the jury for World Press Photo in 2024 and 2023, International Photography Awards 2024 and 2023, World Press Photo 6x6 Global Talent Program, Diversify Photo, The Women Photograph X Getty Grant, and Photoville - The Fence. Marie Monteleone studied photography at Parsons School of Design in New York. She lives and works in New York, United States.

Veronica Nicolardi (Lecce, Italy, 1980), a graduate in Management Engineering, works on the conception and realisation of cultural events, exhibitions and photography festivals, following all their vital production processes. She seeks funding from public and private institutions and creates partnerships and stakeholder networks. It focuses on engaging audiences, from fans to tourists and the local community, and creating innovative cultural programmes. In 2016 she co-founded OTM Company that works in the world of photography in all its fields and declinations. Since 2021 she has been the director of Cortona On The Move, an international photography festival, a reference point for experts in the field and for a national and international public attentive to contemporary culture. In 2022 she cofounded Yeast Photo Festival together with members of the cultural associations ONTHEMOVE and BESAFE, taking over as its co-director. In 2023, she co-founded OTM Gallery.

Paul Ninson is a founder/executive director, educator, scholar, curator, photographer and cultural practitioner. Highly skilled in executing creative projects and driving business growth, Paul has established Africa’s biggest photography library, nested within the groundbreaking Dikan Center.

Established in Accra, Ghana in 2022, Dikan stands as a visionary non-profit institution dedicated to shaping the next generation of Africa's creative leaders. Since its official opening, the Center has swiftly gained recognition for its unwavering dedication to visual education through curated exhibitions, international internships, and its flagship Photojournalism and Documentary Practice Program, of which Paul serves as an instructor.

Paul’s work is an accumulation of over a decade of photography and photojournalism experience. After receiving his first degree in Industrial Art from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana, Paul was awarded a scholarship for the Documentary Practice and Visual Journalism program at the distinguished School of the International Center of Photography in New York.

During his time in New York, Paul was able to accumulate over 30,000 photography books from local bookstores, galleries, and private collectors, setting in motion the vision for Dikan. Prior to establishing Dikan, Paul contributed his talents to globally renowned entities like BBDO, AstraZeneca, Vivo Energy, Next Door, and Humans of New York, where he served as a producer and photo editor. Currently, he is a scholar at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania.

As a pioneer in visual education for Africa, Paul, his journey, and his continual accomplishments have been recognized globally by media outlets such as Forbes Africa, CNN, and Reuters News. He was also notably featured on the popular Humans of New York platform, a photojournalism outlet with a followership of over 12 million.

Having witnessed firsthand the impact of young African photographers and creatives being denied resources, Paul’s mission is to impact lives through the transformative power of visual education. He continually strives to make visual education accessible for all through educational programs, curating exhibitions, culture heritage and archiving, and community engagement. .

Azu Nwagbogu is an internationally acclaimed curator, interested in evolving new models of engagement with questions of decolonization, restitution, and repatriation. In his practice, the exhibition becomes an experimental site for reflection, civic engagement, ecology and repatriation – both tangible and symbolic. Nwagbogu is the Founder and Director of African Artists’ Foundation (AAF), a non- profit organisation based in Lagos, Nigeria. He also serves as Founder and Director of LagosPhoto Festival, an annual international arts festival of photography held in Lagos. He is the publisher of Art Base Africa, a virtual space to discover and learn about contemporary art from Africa and its diasporas. In 2021, Nwagbogu was awarded “Curator of Year 2021” by the Royal Photographic Society, UK, and also listed amongst the hundred most influential people in the art world by ArtReview. In 2021, Nwagbogu launched the project “Dig Where You Stand (DWYS) - From Coast to Coast” which offers a new model for institutional building and engagement, with questions of decolonization, restitution and repatriation, the exhibition took place in Ibrahim’s Mahama’s culture hub SCCA in Tamale, Ghana. In 2023, Nwagbogu was appointed “Explorer at Large” by National Geographic Society to serve as an ambassador for the Organization and receive support to continue his storytelling work across Africa and globally, a title bestowed on a select few global change makers. Most recently in 2024, Nwagbogu curated the first ever Benin Pavilion at the 60th edition of the Venice Biennale. Nwagbogu’s primary interest is in reinventing the idea of the museum and its role as a civic space for engagement for society at large.

Corinne Perkins is the North America editor for Reuters Pictures. She oversees staff and freelance photographers covering breaking news and in-depth stories across the U.S. and Canada. In 2018, she was part of the team awarded the Pulitzer Prize for comprehensive coverage of the immigration story. Originally from the Australian mining town of Mount Isa, Corinne began her career with Reuters as a freelance editorial assistant at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. She was hired in 2005 as an editor-in-charge on the Singapore global pictures desk, before joining the reuters.com team in Toronto in 2007 as online visuals editor where she developed the “Photographer’s Blog” into a renowned forum to discuss pictures and tell photographers’ stories from around the world. Corinne has built up the Reuters Instagram account to over 5 million followers. Corinne continues to advocate for an inclusive and diverse photo community dedicated to telling important stories through images.

Vivek Prakash is visuals professional with two decades of experience in multiple aspects of journalism.

He has worked as a desk editor, then a staff and chief photographer for Reuters, working across Asia on a variety of high-profile stories. From 2017-2020, reporting for AFP, he covered the political tumult in Hong Kong which culminated in mass street protests and violence, a turning point for democracy in Asia.

At the The New York Times, Vivek edited and signed off on front pages for the paper's International Edition; he also worked closely with photographers in crafting visual storytelling in the Asia-Pacific for the digital report across multiple platforms.

Since 2020, at the helm of Getty Images’ news operations in Asia, he has been bringing his considerable experience to bear in nurturing emerging talent with practical guidance and mentorship; many of these photographers have changed the look and feel of the visual report in Asia.

Under his leadership, Getty Images has become an engine for transformation; his mission is to lift the level of craftsmanship in visual storytelling to the highest degree, while holding the photographers he leads to uncompromising standards of ethics.

Fiona Shields has over 20 years' picture editing experience across a range of newspaper titles. She is also a curator, speaker on photojournalism, and photography mentor.

She was picture editor of The Guardian for ten years before taking up the role of head of Photography for the Guardian News and Media Group. Throughout her career, she has been involved in the coverage of some of the most historic news stories of our time including the events surrounding 9/11, continuing conflicts around the world, large-scale natural disasters, and the humanitarian crises resulting from the growing refugee numbers across the globe.

In addition she has judged numerous high-profile photographic awards including the Sony World Photography Awards, The Carmignac Photojournalism Award, and The Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize. She is a regular nominator for the Prix Pictet Prize and was chair of the global jury for the World Press Photo Awards 2024.

Valerio Vincenzo is an Italian photographer and visual artist. He is the Head of the Photo Department at GEO France, where he develops visual narratives and collaborates with photographers worldwide, commissioning assignments that reflect GEO’s focus on human stories and environmental issues. As a photographer, Valerio has worked on several long-term projects, most notably “Borderline, Frontiers of Peace”—a decade-long exploration of over 20,000 kilometers of European borders. This project, featured in publications such as El País, the Financial Times, Stern, and CNN, has grown into a multifaceted initiative that includes a book, a touring exhibition, and a workshop program designed to encourage dialogue about borders, migration, and identity, particularly among European youth. In addition to his photographic work, Valerio is an educator and speaker. He frequently shares his insights and experiences at conferences, universities, and photography festivals, contributing to discussions on the power of visual storytelling and its role in addressing contemporary issues.

Paolo Woods is a documentary photographer, filmmaker and curator. He is the author of eight books and his work is widely exposed, collected and published. He works on long-term projects that focus on subjects that are crucial for understanding the world we live in but difficult to translate photographically. His projects include A Crude World tackling the subject of the oil industry, Chinafrica were he documented the spectacular rise of the Chinese in Africa, Walk on my Eyes, an intimate portrait of the Iranian society, STATE on what happens to a society when the state collapses, The Heavens which is a unique photographic investigation into the workings of tax havens. In 2021 he published HAPPY PILLS, with Arnaud Robert, on how the pharmaceutical companies sell us happiness. HAPPY PILLS is also his first film released in 2022. He is the artistic director of the festival Cortona On The Move and one of the founders of the magazine Kometa in France. He is co-founder of RIVERBOOM, a collective and publishing house that explores the limits of the photographic language.