Produced for Foreign Policy
Hiking the 'Rat Tracks', hunting for al Shabaab
Meet the khat-chewing, rifle-toting volunteer army that forms Kenya’s first line of defense against the Somali terrorist group.
- Editorial Photographer / Photojournalist
Will S.
Kenya
$500 - $1250 / Day
About
Will Swanson is a freelance photojournalist and documentary videographer working in East Africa. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy Magazine, Netflix, Takepart.com and other publications globally. He has worked as a contract photographer for NGOs and the UN refugees agency. In 2015 Will received a grant from the Pulitzer Center to focus on the marginalization and extra-judicial killings of ethnic Somalis in Kenya's north east border with Somalia, a volatile and under-reported region. Will is a member of the Foreign Correspondent's Association of East Africa, and the Frontline Freelance Register, a representative body for freelance journalists exposed to risk while gathering news.
Top Services
- Editorial Photographer / Photojournalist
- Documentary DP
- Video Editor - News
Clients
Top Projects
Produced for Al Jazeera English - Digital
Al Jazeera English | Mogadishu Night Patrol
On patrol with the security forces from Nigeria and Uganda that have been helping Somali forces to oust al-Shabab fighters from the capital.
- Editorial Photographer / Photojournalist
Produced for The New York Times
The New York Times | Education Suffers at the hands of al Shabaab Extremists
Kenya has suffered mightily at the hands of al Shabaab, a Somali islamist extremist group whose deadly attacks have left a painful void in North East Kenya's schools.
- Editorial Photographer / Photojournalist
Produced for The Washington Post
The Washington Post | Ethnic Somalis are dying in Kenya and some say the government is to blame
A growing number of Kenya’s ethnic Somalis have vanished or turned up dead after being detained amid a crackdown by security forces on Islamist extremists. The authorities have denied involvement, suggesting that many of the deaths are at the hands of al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda affiliate based in neighboring Somalia. Supported by a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.
- Editorial Photographer / Photojournalist
Produced for Quartz
Quartz | The Nairobi slum skating club born from a flawed UN aid project
After a UN project paved roads in a slum where nobody owned cars, a local NGO started a skate club for kids on the empty streets. Now, rather than playing on the neighbouring Dandora dump site after school, local children race each other in time trials and learn skate tricks. The founders of 'Hope Raisers' say it doesn't just keep them off the dump but also from joining local gangs.
- Editorial Photographer / Photojournalist
Equipment
Video
- Full HD video camera
- Multiple cameras
- DSLR or equivalent
Video
Audio
- External recorder
- Wireless lavalier mic
- Shotgun mic
Audio
Miscellaneous
- Stabilizer
Miscellaneous
All Services
Production Support
- News Shooter / Video Journalist
- Documentary DP
- Reporter / Journalist
- Editorial Photographer / Photojournalist
Production Support
Post Production
- Video Editor - News
- Video Editor - Documentary
- Video Editor - Commercial
Post Production