Fiona has over twenty years' picture editing experience across a range of newspaper titles as well as being a curator, speaker on photojournalism and mentor within the photography community. 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, 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, The Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize and is a regular nominator for the prestigious Prix Pictet Prize. Fiona was the chair of the global jury for the World Press Photo Awards 2024 and is a voluntary board member for Stills Gallery, Edinburgh.

Lee-Ann Olwage is a visual storyteller from South Africa who uses collaborative storytelling to explore themes relating to gender and identity. She is interested in using the medium of photography as a mode of celebration and aims to create a space where people she collaborates with can play an active part in the creation of images, they feel tells their stories in a way that is affirming and celebratory. Her work has been featured in National Geographic, Vogue, The British Journal of Photography, Foam magazine, Geo, The Guardian, Atmos, Vanity Fair Italy, Dazed, Wired, Musee Magazine and IMA Magazine. Notable awards include a World Press Photo Award, 2020, 2023 & 2024, Sony World Photography Awards, 2023, International Women in Photo Award Laurette 2023, Winner of This Is Gender, 2021, Pride Photo Award, 2021, CAP Prize winner, 2022, Marilyn Stafford Fotoreportage Award shortlist, 2021+2022, International Photography Awards Honourable Mention, 2020 and selected for The New York Times Portfolio Review 2022.

Zimbabwean artist Tamary Kudita, of dual heritage, explores the legacy of historical hierarchies and layered African identity through fine art photography. A Michaelis School of Fine Art graduate (2017), her work has been exhibited internationally, including solo shows at Visu contemporary (Miami), Xposure International Photo festival (Sharjah), and Art Basel (Miami). Key awards include the Sony World Photography Awards Open Photographer of The Year (2021) and J.M.D Manyika Harvard fellowship. Her work has been featured in BBC News, CNN International, Forbes, Vogue Italia, and is part of The Fitchburg Art Museum’s permanent collection.

Fadzai Veronica Muchemwa is a researcher and curator from Chirumhanzu. She is currently the Curator for Contemporary Art at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe. Her research interests are notions of care in practice and social justice issues. Her recent curatorial work includes The Unseen (Lusaka National Museum, 2018), Progression (KKNK virtual Gallery, 2021), I did not leave a sign? and Undone (Zimbabwe’s National Participation at the 59 th and 60 th La Biennale di Venezia, 2022 and 2024) and An Im/perfect Balance(2022) for Ayanda Fine Art in Dusseldorf. Muchemwa is a fellow of the ITP, and an ICI collaborator. She is a founding member of the Practice Theory Collective. Muchemwa is working on the ongoing projects: Feed Me, Harare/Insomnia and The Oxymoronic Tea Party.

Ala Kheir is a photographer and educator whose work actively engages with his home country, Sudan. Through his photography, he creates personal perspectives and narratives that reflect his immediate surroundings. Ala has been actively engaged with the Sudanese photography archives, researching, archiving, restoring, and exhibiting the work of photographers like Elsharif Aboud and Abbas Habiballah. He also has been involved in training and networking for photographers in Africa, notably with the Centers of Learning for Photography in Africa in Johannesburg, South Africa. This network brings together African platforms active in photography education, where the members exchange ideas and teaching methodologies, and also learn as trainers. Currently, Ala runs The Other Vision (TOV), a photography platform that focuses on photography education and training in Sudan, through which he assists young photographers and connects Sudanese artists to the rest of the continent. Through TOV, he engages with the public in an attempt to address social issues and change in Sudan.

Nyancho NwaNri is a Gambian/Nigerian visual artist, documentarian, cultural researcher whose work explores the intersections of indigenous African spiritual traditions, cultures, history, personal and collective identity, the natural environment, and human experience. She is a National Geographic Explorer and her works have been exhibited at various museums, festivals and shows both locally and internationally including Zeitz Museum of Contemporary African Art, Hong-gah Museum, Bamako Biennial, Eyes On Main Street Festival, VideoEX Festival, Ndiva Women's Film Festival. She was nominated for the Reuters Journalist of the Year Award 2022 after being awarded the Reuters Yannis Behrakis Photojournalism Grant in 2021. She was named a finalist for the 2021 Art X Prize, and has been shortlisted for the Wellcome Photography Prize 2020 and Forecast Platform 2022. She has also been a recipient of the French Embassy/Cite Des Arts Residency in Paris, France and the Goethe Institut Vila Sul Residency in Salvador, Brazil. Nyancho NwaNri's documentary work revolves around environmental and social issues and has been featured in various publications including The New York Times, Reuters, The Guardian, Aljazeera, The Irish Times, Quartz, Geographical Magazine and many others. With a strong passion and dedication towards cultivating and supporting the next generation of storytellers, her work as an educator sees her conducting trainings, workshops, and mentorship programs on film and photography across the African continent and beyond.