ZEKE Award 2021

Barbara Ayotte is Communications Director for Social Documentary Network and Editor of ZEKE Magazine. She is also a communications strategist, writer and editor for leading nonprofit organizations. Barbara is the Director of Editorial Resources at GBH, America’s preeminent public media organization and the largest producer of PBS content for television and the web and a major supplier of content for public radio and digital audio services. Barbara was the Senior Director of Strategic Communications for Management Sciences for Health, an international non-profit development organization working on global health issues in over 30 countries. Prior to that, she was Director of Communications for Physicians for Human Rights, a co-recipient of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize.  

Greig Cranna is a professional photographer and the founder and director of BRIDGE, a photography gallery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Greig eventually settled in New York City where he began his photography career in 1976. His diverse clientele included The Council on Foreign Relations, The Japan Society, ABC Television, The International Typeface Corporation, and the U.S. Dept. of Energy. For over 40 years he has worked in the Canadian Maritimes photographing seabird research, Atlantic Salmon research, aquaculture, environmental issues and ecotourism. Since relocating to Boston in 1982, his work has expanded into housing, architecture and commercial agriculture. For the past five years he has been traveling extensively, documenting the new generation of architect-designed bridges and their physical and cultural impact on the landscape.  

Michael Ensdorf is Professor of Photography/Journalism & Media Studies and Founder and Director of the Gage Gallery at Roosevelt University in Chicago where he helped develop the Journalism and Media Studies program and teaches documentary photography, photojournalism, and photo history. Ensdorf’s photographic work has been widely exhibited, and was included in the seminal exhibitions and publications “Iterations: The New Image” and “Photography after Photography: Memory and Representation in the Digital Age.” His work is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago. As founding director, Ensdorf has developed the Gage Gallery at Roosevelt University into Chicago’s premier space for showcasing contemporary critical social photo-documentary work.  

Lou Jones maintains a studio in Boston, MA, where has photographed for Fortune 500 corporations, advertising agencies, national and international companies. He has completed assignments for magazines and publishers such as Time/Life, National Geographic, Fortune and Paris Match and covered thirteen Olympic Games. Currently Lou Jones has been documenting the entire continent of Africa with his ambitious panAFRICA project. Jones has received awards from organizations such as Communication Arts Magazine, Art Directors Club of Boston, Travel Photographer of the Year, and International Photographic Council (United Nations). Nikon recognizes Jones as a “Legend Behind the Lens” and Lowepro has honored him as a “Champion”. He has lectured and taught workshops all over the world including at the PhotoPlus Expo in New York City, the Ford Hall Forum at Suffolk University, and Estúdio Brasil in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The first book Jones published, Final Exposure: Portraits from Death Row, earned him the Ehrmann Award from Massachusetts Citizens Against the Death Penalty.  

Chelsea Matiash is Senior Editor, Digital Transition Strategy at The New York Times, managing the visuals pod of the newsroom development team. She is the secretary of the Newswomen’s Club of New York and has volunteered with various industry organizations, including the Eddie Adams Workshop and Women Photograph Workshop. Previously, she was the senior photo editor at The Intercept, deputy editor for multimedia at TIME, and a photo editor at The Wall Street Journal and The A.P. Chelsea served on the executive board of directors at the National Press Photographers Association from 2016-2018, attended the Poynter Leadership Academy for Women in Digital Media in 2018, and has served as a juror for Getty Images Editorial Grants, American Photography and The Fence, among others.  

Maggie Soladay is Senior Photo Editor at the Open Society Foundations based in NYC. The Open Society Foundations is one of the largest philanthropic organizations in the world, working to support freedom, democracy, and human rights. She curates the Open Society Instagram feed, where each week a different photography project is featured exploring different human rights issues. Maggie has over 25 years of experience in the photography industry having worked in nearly every role including photo assistant, photographer, location scout, producer, and editor.