Barbara Davidson Awarded Honorary Doctorate From Concordia University

Barbara Davidson, renowned photojournalist, of Montreal, Canada, is one of four accomplished individuals who received an honorary doctorate from Concordia University on November 18, 2019. This honorary doctorate honors Davidson’s work in photojournalism for capturing the reality of the human condition across the world. Davidson graduated from Concordia University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1990.

Throughout Davidson’s career, she has devoted her time to making photographs that document tragedy, hardship, suffering, and hope. She has traveled across the globe to more than fifty countries and covered stories on prisoners of war in the Middle East, religious celebrations in Africa, and gang violence in the United States.

Davidson’s most recognizable work is “Caught in the Crossfire” which highlights the everyday violence and grief that accompanies gang violence in Los Angeles. She received her first solo Pulitzer prize for the photographic and journalistic work in this project, and the documentary she produced and directed about gang violence in Los Angeles earned her an Emmy Award for New Approaches to News and Documentary Programming.

Currently, Davidson is working on a Guggenheim Fellowship as she travels across the United States using an 8x10 film camera to document survivors of gun violence.

“My aim is to put a human face on the statistics and hopefully my photographs will introduce to audiences an understanding that this it can happen to any of us,” she said in an interview with Intrepid Camera. Through all of her photography, Davidson says she aims to provide a vehicle for her subjects’ stories and depict an honest portrayal of the world.

Davidson delivered a speech during the convocation ceremony and spoke of her experiences as well as the importance of education, aspiration, and perseverance.

Source: Concordia University

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