Frost Art Museum: Photojournalism in the Digital World - Panel on Wednesday

Please join us this Wednesday afternoon at the Frost Art Museum on the Mitch Madique Campus for a panel discussion, “Photojournalism in the Digital World.”  The panel will consist of distinguished photojournalists and editors Al Diaz, Maria Mann, Luis Rios, Charles Trainor, Jr., and will be moderated by Associate Professor Michael Scott Sheerin. The event will begin with a social hour at 3:00 p.m.  Hors d’oeuvres and beverages will be served outside on the museum patio.  The panel discussion will begin at 4:00 p.m.  This event is open to the public.  We look forward to seeing you there.

Al Diaz

For over 30 years, Miami photojournalist Al Diaz has been capturing dramatic events, sports and important people for the Miami Herald. From the US invasion of Panama and the 50th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, to the attempted coup against Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and the deadly earthquake in Haiti, he has had his boots on the ground. From President Reagan on through to President Obama, he’s captured them all.

Diaz has been presented the Humanitarian Award by the National Press Photographers Association, a member of the Miami Herald staff that won the Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal for coverage of Hurricane Andrew, granted a Green Eye Shade Award for sports and shared a Robert F. Kennedy Award for his portraits of disadvantaged families during the holidays. A graduate of the University of Florida, Diaz doesn’t need an assignment to shoot—he’s always on the move for the next important moment.

Maria Mann

Maria Mann is Director International Relations & Creative Images for European Pressphoto Agency, Frankfurt, concentrating on forging relationships with professionals  in photojournalism, creative photography, education, curating exhibits and conducting workshops.She joined EPA in 2007. Previously, she was director of global current events at Corbis, Paris. She was director of photography for Agence France-Presse for the Americas and international photo editor-in-chief in Paris. Maria was a member of the IAPA/Knight Foundation Workshops for Advanced Photojournalism, conducting workshops in Latin America. She also taught in Lithuania, World Press in Turkey, Pentagon Military Workshops and China. She was editor of a two-year project on the Ukraine, exhibited at the EU. Maria worked with the Newseum, Washington, co-curated several exhibits, and a produced a multimedia piece “Children of Kosovo”. She is co-producer of an e-learning module on visual language of photojournalism for the Poynter Institute.She has lectured in universities in Europe and the Americas, most recently at Cambridge University in the UK, and mentors young photojournalists. 

Maria has judged photojournalism contests including World Press, Unicef, Lithuanian Circle of Life, Belarus Photos of the Year, Bayeux War Correspondents, POY, Joop Swart Masterclass portfolios and CHIPP/China and was the founding chair of the NPPA Best of Photojournalism Contest..She was a member of the Forum: Code de déontologie de la Presse écrite Maghrébine in Tunis, that formulated and ratified the first code of ethics for the media in the Maghreb region.She is the recipient of the National Press Photographers’ Joseph Costa Award for ‘leadership and continuing service to photojournalists and photojournalism.’

Luis Rios

San Antonio Express-News Director of Photography Luis Rios is a national award-winning editor whose editing work is highlighted by two Pulitzer Prizes, a RFK Photojournalism Award, two Scripps Howard Photojournalism Awards and numerous National Headliners photography awards. Rios was the Director of Photography at the Miami Herald from 2003 through 2009. He directed and edited the coverage for the Herald’s 2009 Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Photography by Patrick Farrell.  He began his photo-editing career as the night picture editor at the Washington Post in 1996.  He edited three Washington Post photographers who won the Pulitzer Prize in Feature Photography in 2000. Carol Guzy, Lucien Perkins and Michael Williamson were recognized for their work after spending numerous months chronicling the ethnic strife and the war that ravaged Kosovo.

Charles Trainor, Jr.

Charles Trainor, Jr. joined The Miami Herald in 1981, and has covered most of the major news events that have impacted South Florida. His extensive coverage of Cuba and the rafter’s crisis’ of 1994 won him awards in national and international photography contests. Trainor recently has been involved in the coverage of the Miami Heat and LeBron James’s NBA Championship title, the University of Miami’s football season and the Miami Dolphins struggle for a winning season.

 Trainor’s documentary work includes an eighteen-year project called “The Corridor”.  The black and white project follows five subjects that live between the railroad tracks and Interstate 95, and it proves that life in this depressed area can be difficult but these subjects still live with hope and success.

In his career he has been honored by University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, Sigma Delta Chi, American Photography Magazine, Atlanta Seminar on Photojournalism, Inter-American Press Association, National Headliner Award and was a member of The Miami Herald news team that won the Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal for the newspaper's coverage of Hurricane Andrew.

 Moderator:  Michael Scott Sheerin

            Michael Scott Sheerin, M.S., Director, SJMC Online, and associate professor at FIU and has been a professional in the broadcast and new media industry for the past 18 years. He has developed interactive TV prototypes for Disney and has worked as a designer, animator, art director, creative director, commercial director and producer for such clients as ABC, The U.S. Armed Forces, DirecTV, J. Walter Thompson and Nickelodeon. He currently sits on the board of the AICP.

    Sheerin’s research includes many aspects of new technologies  and television. He has written book chapters and articles on the history of television, post-production, and digital photography. An award winning photographer in his own right, Sheerin uses photography as an outlet for his artistic side and he brings his knowledge of visual communication, garnered in part to his participation and research in the medium of photography, to the classroom.