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JIM HUBBARD, while photographing the homeless in Washington, D.C., in the late 1980s, gave cameras to his subjects and encouraged them to document their own life stories through photography. Mr. Hubbard empowered homeless, at-risk children and youth by giving them a voice for their despair, and he opened the eyes of lawmakers to their struggle, thus pioneering a new form of photography--“participant- or subject-produced photography.” An award-winning social documentary photographer and photojournalist for 40 years, he is the first photographer to receive the Distinguished Service Award for his lifelong pursuit of the truth with his camera, just like Lewis Wickes Hine. Mr. Hubbard is being honored for using his camera to call attention to the plight of low-income, homeless, Native American, gang-involved, and disabled children and youth, as well as for his photo/media program “Shooting Back” and the “Shooting Back” Education and Media Center. “Shooting Back” photo exhibits have been displayed across the country and overseas. His photographs and those of his subjects are found in the books Shooting Back, Shooting Back from the Reservation, American Refugees, and American Photography 2003. Currently Mr. Hubbard is Creative Director of “Venice Arts: In Neighborhoods,” a California-based nonprofit mentoring organization, in which professional photographers, digital artists, and filmmakers are paired with at-risk, low-income youths, “to nurture their creativity, imagination, and talent.” The mentor-artists guide disadvantaged youths on how to use photography and film to tell their life story, how to put together a portfolio, as well as help prepare them for college and/or start a career. The organization also arranges for the photographs to be displayed in galleries and at other venues. Prior to focusing on homelessness, Mr. Hubbard traveled the globe for United Press International capturing images, raising awareness, and calling attention to the horrors of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre, 1979 Cambodian genocide by the Pol Pot regime, the death of 10,000 people during a Calcutta cyclone, and the Wounded Knee siege. He has received numerous awards for his commitment to educating the public about homelessness including United States Congressional Recognition, the Leica Medal of Excellence Award, ARA Spirit of Service Award, and Parent’s Magazine’s “As They Grow Award for the Arts.” He has also received over 100 photography awards and three Pulitzer Prize nominations. Mr. Hubbard continues to carry on the mission of the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC) and expand the legacy of Lewis Wickes Hine. Although the photographic equipment used by Jim Hubbard and Lewis Wickes Hine may differ, Jim Hubbard’s photographs and those of his students confirm that photography is as powerful a medium in 2007 in shining a light on the ills and inequities of the nation as photography was during Hine’s time, the early 20th century.
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