SAN FRANCISCO BAY PHOTOGRAPHER
Summary
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 19 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.
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.
Clients + Commissions
Alameda Sun, Amanda Palmer, Amnesty International, Arxan Technologies, Beehively, Bless by Bless Couture, Bospar, Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, The Cambrian, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Coleman Advocates, Compassion & Choices, Cormac McCarthy, Elephant Walk Restaurant, Foster's Daily Democrat, Harvard University, Independent Television Service, John Burton Advocates for Youth, Life Is Good Kids Foundation, The Massage Clinic California, National Park Foundation, The Noise, Oakland Literacy Coalition, The Oracle, Portsmouth Magazine, Pretty Instant, The Princess Project, Rising Star Optometry, Shuk Shuka, SLO Magazine, Smule, Stitch Fix, Swervedriver, True Mountain Tea, Unique Thai, The Wire, and Yankee Magazine.Publications + Press
Alameda Magazine, Asian Boston Magazine, Bloomberg, Boston Globe, Boston Phoenix, The Culture Trip, East Bay Express, Format Magazine, Gentry Magazine, HuffPost, Hybrid Magazine, Improper Bostonian, Leica Fotografie International, Le Magnifique, Let the Kids Dress Themselves, Metrowest Daily News, National Geographic.com, NPR, Nowhere Magazine, Omnibus Magazine, Performer Magazine, Point Magazine.com, San Luis Obispo Tribune, Shadows in the Dark Television Series, Still Love Film, The Weekly Dig, Wellesley Townsman, and White Space Poetry Anthology.Select Exhibitions
2017 Nobel Peace Prize Forum - Oslo, Biltmore Hotel - Miami, Boston City Hall, Contemporary Art Museum (Tampa), Silvermine Guilds Art Gallery, Tampa Bay Public Library System, UC Berkeley Art Studio, The Wine Gallery, and Ybor City Historical Museum.Education
2022 - Online class by the Social Documentary Network / SDN of "Funded! A workshop on how to find funding for your documentary project," with Michael Snyder.
2017 - Longterm photographic projects masterclass in San Francisco with Matt Black / Magnum Photos, Jacqueline Bates and Leo Jung / California Sunday Magazine, Shannon Simon / Magnum Director of the Americas, and Judy Walgren / Viewfind.
2014 - Street photography workshop in San Francisco with documentary photographer Thatcher Cook.
2011 / 2012 - Taught various film and digital photography classes as an adjunct faculty member at the Berkeley Art Studio on the grounds of University of California Berkeley to undergraduate and graduate level students, as well as the greater SF Bay area community.
2005 - Digital Service Bureau Internship at the Maine Media Workshops in Rockport, Maine. Photographed for annual catalogue and taught students privately. Regular duties included managing campus photographic equipment rentals, scanning small through large format and flatbed, digitally printing small to large format, high volume post production, and preparing weekly campus slideshows.
2004 - Graduated from Tampa's University of South Florida with photography concentration. Worked as staff photojournalist at The Oracle daily newspaper alongside fine art degree for 3 years.
2000 - Graduated High School from Conant in New Hampshire. Captain of 3 Varsity sports teams and received the Distinguished Athlete Award from the U.S. Marine Corps.