Neeta Satam
Women Photograph
St. Louis, MO, USA
About:
I am a freelance photographer and a National Geographic Explorer based in Saint Louis and Mumbai, whose work explores the themes of cultural assimilation, the human condition, and the environment through documentary photography. My photography has been published with various media outlets including, The New York Times, The Guardian, Le Monde, NPR, Bloomberg News, ESPN, ProPublica, The Washington Post, Forbes, and other publications.
I received the IWMF Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice in the Americas in 2019 and the Smith/Patterson Science Reporting Fellowship supported by the Pulitzer Center in 2017. The National Press Photographers Foundation (NPPF) and The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) have recognized my work. I have received Hostile Environment and First Aid Training (HEFAT) with support from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.
I am a Missouri Photo Workshop, Eddie Adams Workshop, and The Kalish Workshop Alumna. I have worked as a staff photojournalist for the Columbia Missourian and as a coordinator at the Pictures of the Year International and College Photographer of the Year. My personal history and cultural identity have always influenced both the issues that draw me as a visual journalist and the work itself.
In 2001, I moved from India to the United States with a geology degree and the rest of my belongings in a single suitcase. My migration was motivated by a desire for economic, personal, and intellectual freedom—a pipe dream for most women in my country. During an eight-year consulting stint as an environmental scientist with a Fortune 200 company in the United States, I observed that economic growth motives rather than concerns about conservation and human health issues often inform environmental policy. This realization, combined with my passion for conservation, ultimately prompted a career switch to visual journalism.
2018 - Society of Professional Journalists, 2017 - National Press Photographers Foundation
- Architecture
- Breaking news
- Editorial
- Environment
- Events
- Food
- Landscape
- Portrait
- Video capture
Loktak Lake, Manipur, India
Neeta Satam
Moirang Themapabi, 60. Thanga Tongbram Leikai, Manipur
Moirang Themapabi has been fishing in Loktak Lake and selling her catch since she was a teenager. The construction of the Ithai Dam has resulted in fish scarcity in the lake, impacting the livelihood of her entire family. She spends more hours fishing than she did before the dam was constructed. Over the years due to long working hours, she has developed severe calf and backache issues.
