STORYTELLING | STILLS + MOTION
The People of Salt Town
Amy Toensing
Amy Toensing is a photojournalist committed to telling stories with sensitivity and depth and has been a regular contributor to National Geographic magazine for over twenty years. She has photographed communities around the globe including the last cave dwelling tribe of Papua New Guinea and remote Aboriginal Australia. She has also covered topics in the United States such as food insecurity and land conservation. Toensing has co-directed short documentary films about urban refugee children in Nairobi and the marginalization of widows in Uganda. Toensing’s work has been exhibited throughout the world and recognized with numerous awards, including two solo exhibits at Visa Pour L’image in Perpignan, France.
Toensing is a National Geographic Explorer (2022-23), FUJIFILM Creator and an Assistant Professor of Visual Storytelling at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.
Joe Gabriel
Joe Gabriel has been honing his craft as a cinematographer and director for over twenty years, moving fluidly between large-scale productions, intimate documentaries, and everything in between. He began his career as lead cinematographer for NBC’s in-house agency before going on to shoot global brand campaigns and acclaimed long-form projects, including the Emmy-nominated Brain Games (National Geographic) and Netflix’s Brainchild, produced by Pharrell Williams.
Joe’s work is deeply people-driven — from documentary subjects to cultural icons — and he has collaborated with numerous celebrities, executives, and thought leaders to bring their stories to life.
Rooted in a minimalist philosophy that embraces natural light and works within limitations, Joe’s cinematography always places story and character at the center. Equally at home directing large crews or working as a solo documentarian, he views filmmaking as a collaborative art built on trust and relationships.
Matt Moyer
Matt Moyer is a photographer, filmmaker and educator dedicated to telling stories that raise awareness and work to improve our world. Matt has photographed multiple feature stories for National Geographic magazine and is currently a National Geographic Explorer. His assignments have taken him all over the world, from the war zones of Iraq, Afghanistan, and the DRC to the holy sites of Egypt, and the ranching communities of the Western United States.
Matt has directed short documentaries that have been featured by a number of outlets including National Geographic Society and PBS.
Matt was named a Knight Wallace Journalism Fellow at the University of Michigan in 2008 and also received a Knight Fellowship at Ohio University in 2012. In 2020 he was named the James H. Ottaway Sr. Visiting Professor at SUNY New Paltz.
Matt also sits on the Board of Advisors for The Siena School, a school for students with language-based learning differences, headquartered in Washington, DC.