Award-Winning Photojournalist Talks Travel, Careers and Storytelling

Take risks and follow your creative passions—that was the advice award-winning photographer Andre Lambertson offered a group of about 15 students after school on Tuesday, November 8.

Lambertson told the group, which included members of the HERO Club, Art Club and Media Club, that when he was young he knew only that wanted to tell stories. After a stint in college as an apprentice for a news photographer in New York City, Lambertson decided to devote himself to visual media. You might not make money starting out, Lambertson told students, but if you are passionate about the daily grind then you will find a way to make it work.

Lambertson showed a series of photographs from his travels to impoverished regions of Liberia and Haiti. Speaking at length about the relationships he built with the people he met, Lamberston explained the stories behind each photograph. Students learned about child soldiers in Liberia and about Haitians surviving after the devastating earthquake that took place there in 2010. Lambertson explained that he develops personal relationships with his subjects and in doing so can often tell their stories in a more truthful way than what is portrayed in typical media reporting.

He advised students to travel widely as a means of broadening their perspectives.

“Traveling changes you,” Lamberston said.

Lambertson has published photographs in many publications, including Time, The New York Times Magazine, the Baltimore Sun, and National Geographic. Currently, he is working on a documentary film about marching bands that work to reduce street violence in New Orleans.

Lambertson’s visit to TMA was arranged in cooperation with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, a DC-based non-profit that funds international journalism projects.

Students interested in photography, journalism, media or related career tracks should see Mr. Bein about contributing to TMA student media. Sophomores should also speak with Mr. Bein about developing potential placements for Job Shadow Day in the spring.