What People Say

Comments from Workshop Participants:

“…engaging, fun, and practical. Teachers expressed how inspiring and helpful Josh’s photography examples and technical tips were for their own work.”

-Lisa Falk, Director of Education
Arizona State Museum, Tucson, AZ

“Josh’s presentations on photography were among the highlights at two summer training institutes for Arizona educators and students that I helped coordinate. The workshops were insightful, detailed and thorough, and staff, teachers, and students all benefited from his careful and creative insights as to the differences between taking a photo and telling a story through images. His presentations were full of solid practical advice and concrete examples of how the camera can provide us with new ways of seeing & capturing the world.”

-Guha Shankar, Ph.D., Folklife Specialist
American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

“I have seen Josh teach the young and the old. He does it with a calm self-effacing ease that puts everyone in his or her comfort zone…He just teaches you to see. Then he helps you capture the moment. I never miss a chance to be around when he is teaching.”

-Bob Rodriguez, Community Activist
Co-Founder, Voices, Inc., Tucson, AZ

Comments from Photography Clients:

“The imagery Josh Schachter has created for the Urban Resources Initiative (URI) captures many values of our work in a way that the written word cannot. His pictures depict the human connections that are forged, the beauty of transformed open spaces, the joy of a child’s exploration of nature. These powerful images help URI to share our work with funders that support our programs, with conference audiences interested in this arena, with neighborhood groups who are attempting their own restoration efforts, and with the global audience of the internet. Josh’s images are critical to the success of our efforts.”

-Colleen Murphy Dunning, Executive Director
Urban Resources Initiative, New Haven, CT


Selected Awards:

  • Grand Prize Activist Award for Community-Based Organizations, PhotoPhilanthropy (2010)
  • Arizona Teaching Artist Award for Outstanding Achievements & Innovation in Arts Learning, Arizona Commission on the Arts (2009)
  • Nominee for “Patron Saint of Photography” Teaching Award, The Center (2007)
  • Compass Healthcare “Making a Difference in the Community” Dynamic Duo Award (September 2005)
  • Selected for the Arizona Commission on the Arts Artist Roster (Since 2005)
  • Selected as a “Top Photographer” in the Environment/Nature & Personal Documentary Categories, Golden Light Awards, Maine Photographic Workshops (2004)
  • Second Place, California’s Ocean Realm Category, California Wild Magazine Photo Competition (2003)