About the VII Academy

The strategy of the VII Academy is to promote, teach, and foster high-quality international journalism in the majority world and underrepresented communities in G20 countries.

We do this by providing tuition-free education to emerging professionals and students from these communities in media practice, visual journalism, narrative, ethics, business, and entrepreneurship, thereby enabling in the long term a culture whereby the information narrative is democratized.

The VII Academy is the education branch of the VII Foundation, and is funded by Jennifer Stengaard Gross and Peter Stengaard of Blue Chip Foundation and The William, Jeff, and Jennifer Gross Family Foundation. The VII Foundation is an independent, charitable media and education non-profit organization. It was founded by Ron Haviv and Gary Knight in 2001 when they recognized that media funding for long term projects was diminishing. In order to continue to produce work that addressed complex social, economic and human rights issues they started the VII Foundation as an independent non-profit structure to secure support for continuing documentary practice and education.

With campuses in two strategic locations, the VII Academy offers the highest standard of education in photography, journalism ethics, business practice, and real-world training. Through scholarships to established programs, on-campus seminars and workshops, and events like 2019’s “VII in Sarajevo: Festival of the Image,” the VII Academy is creating a valuable mentorship network between seasoned veterans and talented and committed young photographers.

Staff

Gary Knight

President

Gary is co-founder and principle architect of the VII Photo Agency. Gary is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Frontline Club, London; co-founder of The GroundTruth Project, Boston; founding Director of the Program for Narrative & Documentary Practice at the Institute for Global Leadership at Tufts University, twice Chair and President of the World Press Photo Award; was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University in 2009, a Logan Non Fiction Fellow at the Carey Institute in 2017 and is a photographer.

www.garyknight.org

Andrew Turner

COO

Andrew Turner has extensive international experience across different industries from FMCG to Biotech. After working for Whirlpool Corp and launching the iconic KitchenAid brand in to Europe and Asia, he spent twelve years with DeLaval on their executive board. Currently, he serves in an advisory capacity to a number of companies, supporting start up and small cap companies to develop strategies for growth and success.

Marianne Tollié

Executive Assistant and Financial Director

Marianne Tollié holds a B.A. in Economics and a Masters in Corporate Finance from Sciences-Po Paris, as well as a Masters in Fashion & Luxury. After a career focused on brands operations, team management and international franchises both in Europe and the Middle-East, she is now focused on assisting Gary Knight in all his projects for VII, an ecosystem committed to addressing complex social, economic and human rights issues.

Ron Haviv

Ambassador at Large

Ron Haviv is co-founder of the VII Photo Agency. He has dedicated his career to documenting conflict and raising awareness about human rights issues around the globe. In the last three decades, Haviv has covered more than twenty-five conflicts and worked in over one hundred countries. He has published four critically acclaimed collections of photography. His work, which has won numerous awards has been featured in museums and galleries worldwide.

www.ronhaviv.com

Dr Paul Lowe

Academic Advisor

Dr. Paul Lowe is a Reader in Documentary Photography and the Course Leader of the Masters programme in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography at the London College of Communication, University of the Arts, London, UK.

Paul is an award-winning photographer, whose work is represented by VII, and who has been published in Time, Newsweek, Life, The Sunday Times Magazine, The Observer and The Independent amongst others. He has covered breaking news the world over, including the fall of the Berlin Wall, Nelson Mandela’s release, famine in Africa, the conflict in the former Yugoslavia and the destruction of Grozny.

His book, Bosnians, documenting 10 years of the war and post war situation in Bosnia, was published in April 2005 by Saqi books. His research interest focuses on the photography of conflict, and he has contributed chapters to the books Picturing Atrocity: Photography in Crisis (Reaktion, 2012) and Photography and Conflict. His most recent books include A Chronology of Photography and Photography Masterclass, published by Thames and Hudson, Understanding Photojournalism, co-authored with Dr. Jenny Good, published by Bloomsbury Academic Press, and Photography Rules: Essential Dos and Don’ts from Great Photographers.

Bosnia

Hasnija Zulic

Manager of Operations

Lejna Čelebičić

Program Coordinator

Ziyah Gafić

Curator

Ziyah Gafic is an award-winning photojournalist and videographer based in Sarajevo focusing on societies locked in a perpetual cycle of violence and Muslim communities around the world. He covered major stories in over 50 countries including conflicts in Chechnya, Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon and Afghanistan. Ziyah’s work received many prestigious awards such as multiple awards at World Press Photo, Grand Prix Discovery of the Year at Les Rencontres d’Arles, Hasselblad Masters Award, City of Perpignan Award for Young Reporters at Visa pour l’Image, Photo District News, Getty Images grant for editorial photography, TED fellowship, Prince Claus grant, and Magnum Emergency fund grant. His work is regularly published in leading international publications. Ziyah authored several monographs including Troubled Islam - short stories from troubled societies, Quest for Identity, and the most recent, Heartland. Ziyah is TED speaker and Logan fellow.

France

Yonola Viguerie

Manager of Operations

Philip Blenkinsop

Curator

A member of l’Agence VU from 1997 to 2007, Blenkinsop was one of the founding members of the prestigious Noor Photo Agency. He is an Honorary Fellow of Falmouth University in recognition of his services to photojournalism. In 2009, acclaimed film director David Bradbury released his 70-minute documentary on Blenkinsop and his work entitled “My Asian Heart.”

Monographs include The Cars That Ate Bangkok, (White Lotus 1997) and Extreme Asie (Nathan/Delpire-Photopoche).

Major awards include the Felix H Man Prize for his work on the suppression of the Pro-Democracy Movement in Thailand, The Grand Prix Photo Jean-Louis Calderon for his reportage on ethnic cleansing in Borneo, The Nuit des Yeux d’Or, the Prix Scam ‘Roger Pic’ and Amnesty International’s Award for Investigative Journalism for his expose of the ‘Secret War in Laos’ and three-time recipient of the Visa d’Or for his work on Laos, the Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami, and the Great Sichuan Earthquake.

Blenkinsop sits on the advisory boards of the Program for Narrative and Documentary Practice at The Institute for Global Leadership, Tufts University, USA and Photo Kathmandu Festival in Nepal.

In 2018 he joined VII Photo Agency.

Ecole Ephémère

Russia

Mary Gelman

Curator

Mary Gelman is a Russian photographer based in Saint Petersburg. In 2016, she received a BA in sociology, and she graduated from the School of Modern Photography Docdocdoc (Saint Petersburg). She has been a participant in various international and local workshops, and works as a photojournalist and teacher. The most important part of her professional life is personal projects. She explores the larger world through close personal narratives. Mary focuses on issues of gender and body, boundary and identity, discrimination and the human relationship with the environment.

Mary Gelman’s photography has been published in The Washington Post, National Geographic, Internazionale, Buzzfeed, and other international magazines.

Board of Trustees

École Éphémère

Jennifer Gross, Gary Knight, Ron Haviv, Andrew Reid

Sarajevo Campus

Jennifer Gross, Gary Knight, Ron Haviv, Andrew Reid, Atka Reid

Boulat Campus in Arles

Jennifer Gross, Gary Knight, Ron Haviv, Andrew Reid, Annie Boulat

Partners

U.S. Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina

London College of Communication, University of the Arts London