Amy Toensing
New Paltz, NY, United States
Amy Toensing, an American photojournalist committed to telling stories with sensitivity and depth, is known for her intimate essays about the lives of ordinary people.
Toensing has been a regular contributor to National Geographic magazine for over a decade and recently completed her fourteenth story for them. She has covered cultures around the world including the last the cave dwelling tribe of Papua New Guinea, the Maori of New Zealand and the Kingdom of Tonga. She has also covered issues such as the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina and Muslim women living in Western culture. For the last four years she has been documenting Aboriginal Australia which was published in the June, 2013 issue of National Geographic magazine.
Toensing’s work has been exhibited globally and recognized with numerous awards, including an exhibit at the 2012 Visa Pour L’image in Perpignan France. Her work has also appeared in Smithsonian, The Boston Globe, The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, and National Geographic Traveler. A photograph she took in the Australian outback was chosen as one of National Geographic magazine’s 50 Best Photos.
Toensing began her professional career in 1994 as a staff photographer at her hometown paper, The Valley News, in New Hampshire. She then worked for The New York Times, Washington D.C. bureau covering the White House and Capitol Hill during the Clinton administration. In 1998, Toensing left D.C. to receive her Master’s Degree from the School of Visual Communication at Ohio University.
In addition to her photojournalism work, Toensing is committed to teaching photography to kids and young adults in under-served communities. This includes working with National Geographic PhotoCamp on numerous projects including teaching Somali and Sudanese refugees in Maine and Burmese refugees in Baltimore photography. Last year she traveled to Pakistan and Kenya to train local journalists in visual storytelling and covering issues in their own communities.
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