Announcing Our 2024 Animal Photojournalism Fellows

We are thrilled to have received project proposals for our 2024 Animal Photojournalism Fellowship from candidates across four continents, with submissions spanning Asia, North and South America, and Europe. Of particular note this year was the interest from individuals working within other NGOs seeking the opportunity to level up their skills via the Fellowship.

Two proposals particularly impressed us and we are pleased to announce that we have awarded two Animal Photojournalism Fellowships this year. We’ll be introducing you to this year’s Fellows through May and June, beginning this month with Bogna Wiltowska.

Introducing Bogna Wiltowska

Bogna Wiltowska is the Director of Investigations at the Polish non-profit Otwarte Klatki and has worked in several countries documenting the reality of industrial farming and conducting direct animal rescue actions. She is interested in showing the realities of factory farming from the perspective of the individual animal. Despite being an eyewitness to enormous suffering, she still believes in a better world for animals.

Bogna is awarded a Fellowship in recognition of her experience, well-planned project, and the outline of how she would like to grow in the animal photojournalism space.

For her Fellowship, Bogna will be documenting farmed animals in Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan) or the Caucasus (Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan) – regions experiencing gradual industrialization of animal agriculture that remain under-researched from an animal advocacy standpoint. This project will bring these stories to light, which will broaden awareness and provide advocates in the region with strong images to use in their educational campaigns.

Poultry hatchery: This little goose looks at the world in their first minutes of life. Poland 2023. Bogna Wiltowska

“Over the past decade, I have investigated animal cruelty, trained other investigators, and collaborated with various animal advocacy organizations. Now, I feel I need this support myself. This fellowship is an invaluable opportunity to develop and work more effectively for animals, and to learn from the best.

 

I am looking for ways to tell impactful stories. When faced with so much harm and suffering, words can often fall short. However, I believe that words and images are powerful tools in this challenging fight. The Fellowship is an opportunity for me to become a better activist and to support the animal advocacy movement in a more impactful way.” ― Bogna Wiltowska, 2024 Animal Photojournalism Fellow

Beginning in June, Bogna will work remotely with Jo-Anne McArthur and the We Animals team for approximately six months. The Fellowship honorarium, $6,500 CAD, will cover project costs and a stipend for the duration of her project.

We’d like to extend our thanks to everyone who applied to this year’s Fellowship – we loved reading your project proposals and learning more about your work. From the compelling story pitches we received with the applications this year, we are also excited to consider several new photojournalists for commissioned assignments.

We’ll be announcing our second Fellow next month! Subscribe to our newsletter or follow us on social media to stay updated.

This is an inspiring time for animal photojournalism, and we look forward to sharing these new stories with you over the coming months.