Fred Ritchin

Fred Ritchin is the director of PixelPress.org, a former editor at the New York Times, and the author of several books.

Biography

A 1973 graduate of Yale University, Ritchin was a picture editor of The New York Times Magazine from 1978-82. He was executive editor of Camera Arts magazine from 1982-83, and founding director of the Photojournalism and Documentary Photography Program at the International Center of Photography. Ritchin created, with photographer Gilles Peress, the Web site for the "New York Times, Bosnia: Uncertain Paths to Peace", which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in public service in 1997. Currently, Ritchin is an Associate Professor of Photography and Communications at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and a former adjunct at Temple University’s senior lecture Journalism department and the director of PixelPress.

In 1999, Ritchin created PixelPress. PixelPress works with humanitarian groups to eradicate polio, explain humanitarian law, and explore the juvenile justice system. PixelPress also publishes an online journal which received the Pictures of the Year International award for best multimedia publication (small circulation) in 2003. PixelPress curated and produced the 2005 exhibition, " Chasing the Dream.org " in collaboration with the United Nations agencies concerning the Millennium Development Goals. Ritchin continues to consult with some of the world's largest philanthropy organizations such as the Soros Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Ritchin conducts lectures and workshops internationally on new media and documentary.

Books

*"In Our Own

*"In Our Time: The World As Seen by Magnum Photographers" (W. W. Norton, 1989)
*"Mexico Through Foreign Eyes, 1850-1990" (W. W. Norton, 1993).

Essays

Essays by Ritchin appear in the following books:
*"Photo Video: Photography in the Age of the Computer" (1991)
*"A New History of Photography" (1994)
*"National Geographic Photos: Milestones" (1999)
*"Sahel: Man in Distress" (2004)
*"Under Fire: Great Photographers and Writers on the Vietnam War" (2005)
*"The Critical Image" (1990).

Exhibits Curated

*"Contemporary Latin American Photographers" (1987)
*"An Uncertain Grace: The Photographs of Sebastiao Salgado" (1990)
*"The Legacy of W. Eugene Smith: Twelve Photographers in the Humanistic Tradition" (1991)
*"Mexico Through Foreign Eyes: Photographs, 1850-1990" (1992).

Awards

* Markle Foundation grant (1993-1994)
* Presidential Fellowship for Junior Faculty (1994)
* David Payne-Carter Award for Teaching Excellence (1995)
* Nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in Public Service by the New York Times for the Web site, "Bosnia: Uncertain Paths to Peace"(1997).
* Hasselblad Foundation Grant (1999) for future web project "Witnessing and the Web: An Experiment in Documentary Photography”