2025 SDN Visual Storytelling Festival Speaker Series

The Intersection of AI and Visual Storytelling

Tuesday, March 25, 1:30 pm ET via Zoom

Santiago Lyon:  Advocacy and Education with the Content Authenticity Initiative.
Rickey Rogers: Global Editor, Reuters
Kate Bubacz: Formerly WSJ, now head of visuals, Rest of World
Cheriss May: Editorial/Portrait Photographer & Educator
Nathan Kellum-Pathe: Moderator. Trade Marketing and Product Communications Manager, Leica.

Stalin with – and without – Nikolai Yezhov (WikiCommons/FourAndSix)
 

This panel will explore the intersection of AI and visual storytelling. It will examine how software designers, equipment manufacturers, and media organizations are teaming up to create new standards and protocols to protect the integrity and authenticity of images used across the internet, in broadcast, and in print. 

Join us for an insightful discussion with leading media practitioners on this important topic affecting all photographers working in the journalism and documentary space today.
 

Kate Bubacz

Kate is the head of visuals at Rest of World, a media nonprofit organization focused on global technology. Known for transforming complex ideas into powerful visual narratives, she works with worldwide editorial teams on critical coverage that drives impact.  Previously, Kate was a lead photo editor at The Wall Street Journal and ABC News, and the Photo Director at BuzzFeed News. Her creative direction has consistently earned recognition, including from the Society of Publication Designers, American Photography, and the Peabody Award. 

Nathan Kellum-Pathe

Nathan Kellum-Pathe grew up in France and has had a passion for photography since he first started capturing images at the age of 15. After earning his baccalaureate, he decided to move to the United States to pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Photography. 

Nathan has worked at Leica Camera USA since 2015 — starting as a Brand Ambassador in the retail division before joining the Akademie team to provide training and support for creators of all experience levels. Today, as the Trade Marketing & Product Communications Manager, Nathan is responsible for the brand’s relationships with North American press and media, in addition to overseeing the production and implementation of product launch marketing initiatives within Leica’s dealer network. 

Santiago Lyon

Santiago Lyon is the Head of Advocacy and Education for the Adobe-led Content Authenticity Initiative, working to combat misinformation through digital content provenance.  He has 40 years of experience in photography as an award-winning photojournalist, photo editor, media executive and educator.  As a photographer for Reuters and the Associated Press for 20 years, he won multiple photojournalism awards for his work between 1989-1999 where he photographed 9 wars on 4 continents. In 2003/2004 he was a Nieman Fellow in journalism at Harvard University before being named VP/Director of Photography at the Associated Press, a position he held until 2016. Under his direction, the AP won three Pulitzer Prizes for photography as well as multiple other major international photojournalism awards.  In 2012, he was a Sulzberger Fellow at Columbia University and was Chair of the Jury for the 2013 World Press Photo contest.  Lyon serves on the board of directors of the Eddie Adams Workshop and the advisory board of the VII Foundation.

Cheriss May

Cheriss May is a lauded editorial and portrait photographer, selected by Peerspace as one of “The 12 Best Editorial Photographers in Washington, D.C.”. She is a frequent contributor to The New York Times, and People magazine, and has been published on The White House website, ABC News, and other publications. Her work is featured at Le Coin in Gansevoort Meatpacking NYC, the permanent collections of the African American Museum in Philadelphia, Pa., and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, NY, and currently exhibiting at Leica Galleries in Washington, D.C., and Boston, MA. Cheriss is an educator, a Leica Ambassador, a mentor at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), and an Adobe Content Authenticity Pioneer. Cheriss is based in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, Ca.  

Rickey Rogers

Rickey Rogers is Global Editor for Reuters Pictures. He started his career working for five years as a geologist in the oilfields of Egypt before switching to photography, his first passion. Self-described as a “backpacker with a Leica,” Rickey began his new career in South America in the late 1980s, founding in Bolivia the first news picture agency on the continent to offer only digital photos, while contributing to Reuters and other global news media. He became Reuters chief photographer for Latin America in the late 1990s, then Picture Editor for the Americas, and finally Global Editor for Reuters Pictures in 2017. Rickey and his family have lived in Buenos Aires, São Paulo, Miami, New York, and London, while recently moving to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he continues as Global Editor.
 

Sponsors: