About Jon Vidar

Jon VidarJon Vidar is a freelance photographer who focuses on capturing moments and telling stories through new media and visual imagery.

Based out of Los Angeles, CA, Jon works regularly for the Associated Press with photos published by the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, USA Today and NEED Magazine. His work has received honors from Getty Images, the National Press Photographers Association, FotoweekDC, and Microsoft.

In 2009, Jon was chosen from more than 400 applicants to be one of eight fellows for the Academy for Alternative Journalism at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and he has recently been invited to be one of 15 instructors at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Istanbul, Turkey in June 2010. Jon has developed self-assigned projects spanning six continents, including work in Iraqi Kurdistan, Southeast Turkey, Rwanda, and Brazil. He is currently on a two-month assignment from Modern Overland producing content for a travel guide on South Africa.

Jon Vidar also serves as the Interim Executive Director and the Director of Near East Operations for the Tiziano Project. The Tiziano Project is a nonprofit that seeks to empower communities through self-sustaining journalism. In 2007, Jon helped this project establish it's first base of operations in Kigali, Rwanda and in the Summer of 2008, he piloted a two-week long multimedia workshop in Northern Iraq. Jon recently helped the project secure a $25,000 grant from Chase Trust to conduct a three-month program in Iraqi Kurdistan during the summer of 2010.

He holds a Master of Arts in Communication Management from USC's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

Fellowships and Honors
Award of Distinction, Travel Photography at FotoWeek DC - November 2009

Featured Photo, Boston Globe's The Big Picture - "Wildfires in Southern California" - September 2009

First Place, Spot News from the National Press Photographers Association - August 2009

One of eight Fellows for the Academy for Alternative Journalism at the Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University - Summer 2009

One of ten Outstanding Finalists for Getty's Grants for Good - June, 2009

Finalist, Microsoft's Name Your Dream Assignment - April 2009


Future Exhibitions
Real Beauty Campaign - March 13, 2010 | Orlando, Florida
A selection of Jon's photos of women from around the world will be on display during an evening entitled It's a Small World After All: The Global Impact of Media on Body Image at the 25th Annual Conference and fundraiser dinner for the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals.

Snap! 2010 - March 21, 2010 | Toronto, Canada

An invitation only fundraiser for the AIDS Committee of Toronto featuring 60 hand selected pieces by MaryAnn Camilleri, President of the Magenta Foundation.
Past Exhibitions
Hope and Reflection: Images of Kurdish Culture from Turkey and Iraq - May 14 - December 3, 2009 | Berkeley, CA
Hope and Reflection: Images of Kurdish Culture from Turkey and Iraq features hopeful images of daily life in a troubled region and intimate portraits of the Kurdish people. The exhibit presents a selection of photographs taken during four visits to Diyarbakir Province, Turkey in the summers between 2005 and 2008 and one month spent in Northern Iraq in 2008. Photographer Jon Vidar developed close relationships with residents of cities and villages throughout the region, capturing a Kurdish culture that is largely unknown by Western observers.

FotoWeek DC Exhibition - November 7, 2009 - November 14, 2009 | Washington, DC

This exhibition of the finalists from the 2009 Awards competition recognizes and honors extraordinary work in photography. Entries from sixteen states and twenty-eight foreign countries were made in several categories, including Fine Art, News/Feature Reporting, Advertising, Travel, and Sports.

It Is What It Is: Conversations About Iraq - April 21 - May 17, 2009 | Los Angeles, CA

It Is What It Is is a new work by British artist Jeremy Deller. The artist has invited a diverse group of individuals-including Iraq war veterans, journalists, scholars, and Iraqi nationals who have first-hand experience of Iraq - to take up residence at the Hammer Museum with the express purpose of encouraging discussion with visitors to the Museum. It Is What It Is: Conversations About Iraq is part of the Three M Project - a series by the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; and the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, to commission, organize, and co-present new works of art.