04/04/2024

We present MontPhoto’s 2024 jury panel

For this 2024 edition, we are presenting the selected jury, as always, diverse and with an important variety of specialties and points of view. Combining experience and young talents.

Joining us:

Sirachai (Shin) Arunrugstichai - https://www.shinsphoto.com/

Sirachai (Shin) Arunrugstichai is a Thai photojournalist, based in Bangkok, Thailand. Formally trained as a marine biologist, Shin studied community-based coral reef restoration and shark fisheries. But after witnessing detrimental changes in the marine environment that he loves, he shifted his career toward conservation photojournalism. It becomes his purpose to tell the stories of our intertwining relationships with the oceans, so as the natural wonders that remain and need protection. Shin mainly works with conservation organizations, including IUCN, Save Our Seas Foundation, WildAid, Ocean Conservancy, and others, while also photographing news for Getty Images as a stringer. His images have been published by National Geographic, the Smithsonian, TIME, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Guardian, amongst others. Shin is a National Geographic Explorer, an Associated Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers, one of the World Press Photo 6x6 Global Talents, listed among the PDN’s 30s, and an Xposure Global Focus Program talent. He gave TEDx talks on marine conservation photography for Bangkok in 2017, and Hong Kong in 2021. His photographs were awarded in multiple international competitions. Although his focus is now on conservation photojournalism, he is still active within the scientific community. Shin is a co-founder of Thai Sharks and Rays, an independent research collective, and he regularly collaborates on sharks and rays research in the Southeast Asia region, which he calls home. He serves as a consultant for the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources of Thailand.

Morgan Trimble - https://morgantrimble.com/

Morgan Trimble is a photographer, writer, and conservation scientist focused on nature and our relationship with the environment. She aims to inspire appreciation for wildlife and wild places and strives to present truthful, nuanced views of conservation challenges while capturing the awe of nature. Morgan is an associate fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP).

Her work has appeared in the Guardian, New York Times, Scientific American, Lonely Planet, Earth Island Journal, Hakai, BBC Wildlife, and Travel Africa, among others and has been exhibited around the world. She was the 2019 Royal Photographic Society Science Photographer of the Year.

Morgan grew up in rural Kansas, studied biology and physics at MIT, and completed master’s and doctoral degrees in conservation ecology in South Africa. Her scientific work has spanned diverse topics—from elephant population dynamics to bird, reptile, and amphibian community ecology. Recent work focuses on big-picture challenges in managing conservation areas across Africa.

Arturo Rodríguez - https://arturorguez.com/

Arturo Rodríguez is a National Geographic photographer working on various projects all related to science and technology.
His professional path has been woven through his camera capturing diverse stories around the world. He started working with EFE agency and later with local and national newspapers, before going freelance with Reuters, The Associated Press and Agence France Press.
His most notable clients include National Geographic USA, GEO, Stern and Paris Match, among others.

He has undertaken compelling assignments, such as documenting the refugee camps of the Sahrawi people in northwest Africa, as well as unforgettable experiences in Kosovo in 1999, Palestine in 2000 and the cholera epidemic in Haiti in 2010.
His unique gaze has left its mark in various exhibitions throughout Spain and internationally, such as Enciende África in 2008, where he tackled the problem of African migration to Europe.
Arturo's images were part of the World Press Photo Foundation's exhibition '(Un)Settled' - Migration stories in the 21st century.
Among his most remarkable projects is "Playas Vacías" (Empty Beaches), a documentary project that addresses the economic consequences of Covid-19 in the Canary Islands, supported by the National Geographic Society.
Arturo has become the first Canarian and Spanish photographer to be featured on the cover of National Geographic, including the International cover with a photo of the eruption of the volcano on La Palma

Grégory Pol - https://www.gregory-pol-photographie.com/

Grégory Pol is a French photographer and explorer who has won numerous awards for his work, his photographs and his books.

He started travelling at an early age. As a child and teenager he lived successively on Reunion Island, in New Caledonia and in French Guiana. It was diving that first got him interested in photography.

Grégory then began to photograph nature and animals in general.

Fascinated by wild nature, whose beauty only reveals itself to those who risk admiring it, he produces images of disarming vitality. His committed images open the doors to the wild and untouched spaces of territories located at the ends of the earth. Travelling in images with him means discovering the fearsome and fascinating beauties of our blue planet. His photographs are committed and capture with talent the lives of animals whose protection must be guaranteed at all costs.

Sophie Stafford - www.sophie-stafford.com

A passionate storyteller, Sophie has over 25 years of experience of exciting people about the wonder of nature through words and pictures.

As the Editor of the prestigious British nature magazine, BBC Wildlife Magazine, Sophie co-managed the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition with the Natural History Museum of London for 10 years. During that time she was privileged to sit on the jury of this prestigious competition with photographers and photo editors from all over the world.

Since then, Sophie has joined the juries of many other nature photo competitions around the world, including World Press Photo Award in Amsterdam, Big Picture Natural World Photography in California, and HIPA in Dubai. She has also advised on the launch of several influential photography contests, notably Mexico’s one-off Por el Planeta competition and Wildscreen’s Photo Story Panda Award in the UK. She is an Affiliate of the International League of Conservation Photographers and a champion of ethical imagery.

Today, her goal is to inspire greater support for the conservation projects and scientific work of leading charities such as WWF-UK and the Natural History Museum of London through powerful visual storytelling.