Douglas Despres is an American photographer (b. 1981), based out of San Francisco Bay. His commissions span both the everyday and business worlds, where he photographs for non profits & NGO's as well as brands, news outlets and private foundations. His stories primarily focus on social and human rights issues in the United States. Editorially, he works with magazines, small business, and travel & lifestyle brands and publications. In between commissions, he photographs his own documentary projects. Doug has been a freelance photographer for 18 years. He has photographed for four newspapers, interned at the Maine Media Workshops, taught film and digital photography classes on the grounds of UC Berkeley, earned an art degree from the University of South Florida and has imagery in public and private collections around the United States. He has also volunteered as a photographer with the American Red Cross. Doug's lastest commission, by the Life Is Good Kids Foundation, was in Minneapolis documenting the recovery and road of hope of children dealing with severe childhood trauma. His latest personal project focused on multi-generational family tobacco farm life in Cuba's far West province of Pinar del Rio. Doug's Current project focuses on Downeast Maine's lobstering community. Before Cuban farm life, Doug focused on the Oceti Sakowin main camp daily life of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, fighting against the Dakota Access Pipeline in order to maintain clean water for themselves and countless others along the proposed oil route. Those images were featured online alongside a 25 page printed photo-essay by Nowhere Magazine in their 2017 Annual Print Issue as well as being part of an exhibition running alongside the Nobel Peace Prize forum in Oslo, Norway in 2018.
2015 - California Local Favorite 2015 Award, 2004 - Citigroup Merit Award
A pair of young dancers of the Alameda Civic Ballet practice in the academy one week prior to their performance at the "United We Dance" event in downtown Alameda, California. The event, hosted by ACB, brought ten varied dance troupes from throughout San Francisco Bay together, which included Polynesian, Cambodian, Hawaiian, Appalachian, Peruvian, Bolivian and Chinese dance styles.
A public beach in Grand Isle, Louisiana, four months after the historic devastating Deepwater Horizon BP Oil Spill in 2010. An estimated 4.2 million barrels were spilled, 11 crew members died, millions of animals and birds killed and displaced, and the regional economy decimated. Now, at the expense of the environment and indigenous lands and rights, is another big push for big oil. A dying, bloated, beast.
A 96 year old resident of Kyoto Japan, enjoys a family visit of three generations as spend time on their way to a wedding in Seoul, South Korea. He is fond of sumo wrestling and above him shows a framed painting of the time he earned a medal from the Japanese government.