Renée C. Byer

Renée C. Byer (1958) was born in Yonkers, New York.

Since 2003,[1] she has served as the senior photojournalist at The Sacramento Bee.

In 2007, Byer won a Pulitzer Prize for her photo essay "A Mother's Journey".

Byer was also a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2013, "For her heartwarming photographs of a grandfather raising three grandchildren after the violent death of his daughter and the loss of his wife to cancer."[2]

Early life

Byer was first introduced to photography by her father who had a dark room in their apartment in the Bronx.[3] She was given her first camera, a Brownie Starmite II Kodak, by her mother for her 8th birthday, and went on to study photography in high school and took the pictures for the school yearbook. She went to Ulster County Community College to study art and humanities, before transferring to Bradley University in Peoria, IL where she majored in art and mass communications.[3]

Career

Byer worked for different newspapers before starting at the Sacramento Bee as a documentary photojournalist.

A Mother's Journey

"A Mother's Journey", her photo series which won her the Pulitzer prize for Feature Photography in 2007 was shot over the course of a year, about the relationship between a mother, Cyndie French, and her 11 years old son Derek who was battling neuroblastoma, a type of cancer.

Living on a Dollar a Day

Byers worked for four years on a photography project called Living on a Dollar a Day. She collaborated with Thomas A. Nazario to write the book Living on a Dollar a Day: The Lives and Faces of the World’s Poor[4] released in April 2014. They travelled to ten countries on four continents for the San Francisco-based nonprofit The Forgotten International detailing the lives of people around the world living in extreme poverty.[3] The book won First Place Documentary Book from the International Photography Awards in 2014. A documentary about the project was released in 2016 narrated by Byer herself.

The Dalai Lama wrote a foreword for the book where he states, “Living on a Dollar a Day shows images of women, children and families in our global community who suffer every day from the effects of extreme poverty. Their stories tell us that they have the same hopes and dreams for themselves and for their children as anyone else in the world.”[3]

Non-Profit

In 2017 Byer started a non-profit named “Positive Change Can Happen” which works to end extreme poverty by 2030.

Personal life

Byer is married to fellow Sacramento Bee photographer Paul Kitagaki, Jr.[5] She is of Irish descent through her mother's grandfather who came from County Galway, Ireland.

Awards
  • 2021, “Homeless Struggle” was the Feature Photo at the NPPA Best of Photojournalism
  • 2018-19, “When Paradise became Hell: The Story of the Camp Fire” was Emmy-nominated for Outstanding Achievement Documentary -Topical as Videographer
  • 2017 The White House News Photographers Association Multimedia documentary award in the annual ‘Eyes of History’ competition, "No Safe Place." 1st Place"
  • 2016 EPPY for Best Photojournalism
  • 2016 Inland Press Association, 1st Place News Picture Photography - Picture Story Renée C. Byer, The Sacramento Bee, "No Safe Place."
  • 2016 Inland Press Association, 1st Place Creative Use of Multimedia, "No Safe Place"
  • 2016 SPJNORCAL, 1st Place Community Journalism (Print/Online), "No Safe Place"
  • 2016 SPJNORCAL, 1st Place Photojournalism (Photo Essay), "No Safe Place"
  • 2015 Best of Photojournalism, Nature and Environmental Picture Story, National Press Photographers Association, First Place[6]
  • 2015 World Understanding Award, Pictures of the Year International, Finalist[7]
  • 2015 Scripps Howard Photojournalism Award, Finalist[8]
  • 2015 LensCulture Earth Awards, Documentary Series on electronic waste, Second Place[9]
  • 2013 Pulitzer Prize, Feature Photography, The Sacramento Bee, Finalist[10]
  • 2007 Pulitzer Prize, Feature Photography, “A Mother’s Journey,” The Sacramento Bee, Winner[11]
  • 2007 World Understanding Award, Pictures of the Year International, Winner[12]
  • 2007 Multimedia Feature Picture Story, Pictures of the Year International
  • 2007 Days Japan International Photojournalism Award, Second Place[13]
  • 2007 Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism, Winner[14]
  • 2007 Photo of the Year Award, The United Nations Children Emergency Fund, Honorable Mention[15]
  • 2007 Award of Excellence, Feature Photography, Pictures of the Year International[16]

Book awards
  • 2014 IPA Documentary Book Award, Living on a Dollar a Day: The Lives and Faces of the World’s Poor, First Place[17]
  • 2014 Moscow International Foto Awards, Documentary Book, Living on a Dollar a Day: The Lives and Faces of the World’s Poor, Honorable Mention[18]

Solo exhibitions and presentations
  • 2017 Western Kentucky University MMTH Gallery and Atrium, Bowling Green, Kentucky
  • 2016 Global Women Leaders’ Forum: Inspiring the Next Generation of Leaders, Sofia, Bulgaria
  • 2016 Month of Photography Los Angeles, California; official exhibition[19]
  • 2015 Viewpoint Photographic Art Center, Sacramento, California
  • 2014 Visa Pour L’Image Festival of the Photograph, Perpignan, France; video presentation
  • 2014 Hartmann Center Art Gallery, Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois
  • 2010 Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, State University of New York, New Paltz
  • 2007 Sage Moon Gallery, LOOK3 Festival of the Photograph, Charlottesville, Virginia
  • 2007 Hartmann Center Art Gallery, Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois
  • 2007 Muroff-Kotler Visual Arts Gallery, State University of New York, Stone Ridge, New York
  • 2007 Palm Beach Photographic Centre, Palm Beach, Florida
  • 2007 Exposure Gallery, San Francisco, California

Publications
  • 2014 Living on a Dollar a Day: The Lives and Faces of the World’s Poor, The Quantuck Press, Thomas Nazario
  • 2010 A Mother’s Journey and Selected Photographs, Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, SUNY, New Paltz

TV, Film, and Radio

References
  1. Harlan, Becky (2014-04-15). "Q&A: Renée C. Byer's Living on a Dollar A Day". National Geographic. Retrieved 2018-03-08.
  2. "The 2013 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Feature Photography". Pulitzer.org. 2013. Retrieved 2018-03-08.
  3. "Renée C. Byer: Living on a Dollar a Day". zPhotoJournal. Retrieved 2018-03-08.
  4. A., Nazario, Thomas (2014-04-08). Living on a dollar a day : the lives and faces of the world's poor. New York. ISBN 9781593720568. OCLC 851419314.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. Korber, Dorothy (2007-04-17). "Bee photos win Pulitzer". Retrieved 2020-04-09.
  6. "National Press Photographers Association". nppa.org. Retrieved 2016-03-24.
  7. "Pictures of the Year International Winners List". poyi.org. Retrieved 2016-03-24.
  8. "Scripps Howard Awards honor nation's best 2014 journalism | The E.W. Scripps Company". www.scripps.com. Retrieved 2016-03-24.
  9. LensCulture, Renée C Byer |. "Renée C Byer | LensCulture". LensCulture. Retrieved 2016-03-24.
  10. "Pulitzer Prize Winners 2013". www.pulitzer.org. Retrieved 2016-03-24.
  11. "Pulitzer Prize Winners 2007". www.pulitzer.org. Retrieved 2016-03-24.
  12. "Winners List | Sixty-Fourth Pictures of the Year International Competition". www.poyi.org. Retrieved 2016-03-24.
  13. "Days Japan International Photojournalism Awards". www.daysjapan.net. Retrieved 2016-03-24.
  14. "Meritorious Journalism Casey Medal Winner". www.journalismcenter.org. Retrieved 2016-03-24.
  15. author, page. "The United Nations Children Emergency Fund, Photo of the Year". www.unicef.org. Retrieved 2016-03-24. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  16. "Pictures of the Year International Winners List". www.poyi.org. Retrieved 2016-03-24.
  17. "Winners". Photoawards.com. Retrieved 2020-04-09.
  18. "Honorable Mentions". MIFA. Retrieved 2020-04-09.
  19. "Living on a dollar a day by Renee C. Byer". Monthofphotography.org.
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