About
Jenn Ackerman is an award-winning photographer who splits her time between New York City and the Mid-Atlantic Region specializing in documentary, editorial and travel photography, photojournalism and portraiture. She is available for editorial, corporate and advertising work worldwide. Digital and print versions of her portfolio are available for delivery and review in person.
Jenn picked up her first camera after critiquing images and their effectiveness. She discovered the power of an image and quickly became enthralled with its storytelling abilities. She has an excitement for storytelling and believes it is a great honor and privilege to share the stories of people who otherwise might not be heard. It is from this privilege that she feels an obligation to tell intimate stories with dignity for the subject and truth for the reader.
She entered the journalism field because of her interest in investigative journalism as a research editor and writer at Inside Business in Norfolk, Va. Since, she has studied photojournalism at The Danish School of Journalism in Aarhus, Denmark and finished her master’s from Ohio University in March 2008.
Jenn is currently producing a film on mental illness in prison and in August will be a producer for the Miss Universe Pageant in Paradise Island, Bahamas.
Her work has been featured in PDN, USA Today, The New York Times, Washington Post and many others. Her most recent project, Trapped: Mental Illness in Prison, was recently named Non-Traditional Photojournalism Publishing Project of the Year.
Awards & Honors:
2009: Won an Emmy for Trapped: Mental Illness in America’s Prisons.
2009: Communication Arts - 2009 Photography Annual
2009: Telly Awards: Bronze Award
2009: Webby Awards - Official Honoree for Documentary: Individual Episode
2009: Best of Photojournalism Awards: 1st Place - Non-Traditional Photojournalism Publishing
2009: Best of Photojournalism Awards: 1st Place - Documentary Video, 2nd Place - Feature Multimedia Package
2009: PGB Photo Award: 3rd Place - Portrait
2009: Finalist for the Center for Documentary Studies / Honickman First Book Prize
2009: Nominated for Photojournalism Competition on Human Rights
2009: Nominated for the PGB Photo Award
2008: Atlanta Photojournalism Contest: 1st Place - Multimedia Project, 2nd Place - Feature Picture Story
2008: College Photographer of the Year: Gold - Picture Story, Gold - Feature, Gold - Multimedia Project
2008: Southern Short Course: Student Photographer of the Year
2008: Speaker at The National Security Conference on mental illness in prison
2008: NPPA Best of Photojournalism: 1st Place - News Video, 3rd Place - News Video, 1st Place - Sports Video
2008: White House News Photographer’s Association - Student Portfolio
2007: College Photographer of the Year: Gold – Picture Story
2007: Atlanta Photojournalism Contest: HM – Picture Story
Click here for my CV.