Erin Grace Trieb is an American

photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (suc ...

. Trieb focuses on international social issues and is currently based in Istanbul, Turkey.

Early life and career

Trieb was born on July 1, 1982, in Dallas, Texas. Her parents are Michele Pegues and Mark Alan Trieb. She received a bachelor of arts degree from

Texas A&M University-Commerce East Texas A&M University (ETAMU; formerly Texas A&M University–Commerce) is a public university in Commerce, Texas, United States. With an enrollment of over 12,000 students as of fall 2017, the university is the third-largest institution in ...

. Trieb started her career in photography in Israel and Palestine in 2004. In 2005 she worked as a part time newspaper correspondent for the ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. ...

'' and ''

The Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation in 2022 of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885, by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ' ...

.''

Professional photojournalism

Trieb began her career as a professional photojournalist in 2007. She has worked for numerous magazines and newspapers. She has worked all over the world but is focused on the Middle East and the United States. Some countries Trieb has visited for her

photojournalism Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...

include Israel, Syria, Palestine, Iraq, Bosnia, and Turkey. Director of Photography at

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...

James Collins described Trieb as "a visually creative person but also as a solid journalist."https://www.proquest.com/docview/1799895536 The work of photographs and visual news like Trieb's is starting to change the way certain cultures look at their identity.

Projects and notable photographs

Women's Protection Units (YPJ)

Trieb spent six days photographing an all female branch of the

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

military, the

Women's Protection Units The Women's Protection Units (YPJ) or Women's Defense Units is an all-female militia involved in the Syrian civil war. The YPJ is part of the Syrian Democratic Forces, the armed forces of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and Ea ...

(YPJ). She photographed their daily lives as well as combat situations, and the refugees they protect.

The Homecoming Project

One of Trieb's biggest projects is The Homecoming Project. It was designed to draw attention

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that develops from experiencing a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, warfare and its associated traumas, natural disaster, traffic collision, ...

and begin a dialogue about how to help soldiers who struggle with it. Trieb followed members of the United States Army's

tenth mountain division The 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) is a light infantry division in the United States Army based at Fort Drum, New York. Formerly designated as a mountain warfare unit, the division was the only one of its size in the U.S. military to ...

in Afghanistan. She notes that the hardest part of this project was not the shootouts, the landmines, or the fact that she was the only woman in sight (a commonality that is starting to be brought to the surface), it was seeing the effect war has on these people. Trieb recounts that most of the soldiers had some psychological problems. The Homecoming Project started a conversation about how to deal with the mental health problems soldiers face. This work has been shown all around the world. Trieb's website describes the Homecoming project displaying "the trauma, loss, courage, and struggle so many service members experience after exiting the battlefield."

Girls basketball in Iraq

Trieb photographed a women's basketball team in Iraqi Kurdistan shortly after the 2014 ISIS conflict between the two. During this time, women's sports were not widely accepted in the area. Trieb photographed the story of women trying to change the way their country sees them.

Women's issues

Roughly 10% of those involved in photojournalism are women. Trieb is part of Women Photograph, an organization that highlights women photographers and photojournalists worldwide and works to reduce the large gender gap in the industry. She was a featured "icon" in ''

Outside Outside or Outsides may refer to: * Wilderness Books and magazines * ''Outside'', a book by Marguerite Duras * ''Outside'' (magazine), an outdoors magazine Film, theatre and TV * Outside TV (formerly RSN Television), a television network * '' ...

'' magazine's special adventurous women issue. Trieb is an avid advocate for gender and ethnicity diversification in photojournalism, saying "

Minorities The term "minority group" has different meanings, depending on the context. According to common usage, it can be defined simply as a group in society with the least number of individuals, or less than half of a population. Usually a minority g ...

, especially women and people of color, have a unique perspective and voice that needs to be seen and heard. And it is partly up to our industry’s willingness and invested effort in order for serious changes to be made in that regard."

Awards

*2005: Women in Photojournalism, Scholarship Recipient *2007: AI-AP Award, selected work for annual awards book *2007:

Pictures of the Year International Pictures of the Year International (POYi) is a professional development program for visual journalism, visual journalists run on a non-profit basis by the Missouri School of Journalism's Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute. POYi began as an a ...

(POYi) Award, Magazine News Picture Story, Kinky Friedman for Governor, 2nd Place *2007:

World Press Photo World Press Photo Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Founded in 1955, the organization holds the annual World Press Photo Contest for press photography. Since 2011, World Press Photo has orga ...

Award Portrait story, Kinky Friedman for Governor, 3rd Place *2009: Rory Peck Trust Scholarship Recipient *2010: AI-AP Award, selected work for annual awards book *2010: Pictures of the Year International Award, General New Reporting, Afghanistan: Behind the Frontline, Award of Excellence *2011: Selected, Art Director's Club Young Guns 9 Competition For Creatives 30 and Under *2012: FotoVisura Grant Recipient *2014: Alumni Ambassador Award,

*2015: International Photography Of The Year, Documentary, 3rd Place, ''We Are The YPJ'' *2015: Photoville's The Fence, Selected work and exhibition, ''We Are The YPJ'' *2015: Magenta Foundation Flash Forward Emerging Photographer Award *2015: AI-AP Award, selected work for annual awards book *2016: AI-AP Award, selected work for annual awards book *2016: Head On Photo Festival Portrait Prize

Exhibitions

*2007: ''In Focus: Texas Documentary Photographers,'' The Majestic Ranch Arts Foundation, Boerne, Texas *2007: ''Kinky Friedman For Texas Governor,'' Projection, at Visa Pour L’Image Festival, Perpignan, France *2007: 64th Pictures of the Year International Traveling Exhibition, Exhibited worldwide *2007: World Press Photo Awards Traveling Exhibition, Exhibited worldwide *2008: ''Kinky Friedman For Texas Governor,'' Projection, Slideluck Potshow, Shangrila, Austin, Texas *2009: ''Afghanistan: Behind The Frontlines,'' Exhibition, Forward Operating Base Shank, Logar Province, Afghanistan *2009: ''Afghanistan: Behind The Frontlines,'' Projection, Slideluck Potshow, Shangrila, Austin, Texas *2010: ''Afghanistan: Behind The Frontlines'', Projection at Pecha Kucha, Austin, Texas *2011: ''Portraits of Soldiers in Kandahar,'' Projection Installation, Operation Warrior Wellness Conference hosted by Donna Karen and The David Lynch Foundation, Urban Zen Center, New York City *2011: Art Director's Club Young Guns 9 Winners Exhibition, sponsored by Corbis, ADC Gallery, New York City *2011: ''The Homecoming,'' Projection at LOOK3 Photography Festival, curated by Scott Thode, Charlottesville, Virginia *2011: 29th Annual Juried Membership Exhibition, Houston Center For Photography, Houston, Texas *2011: ''The Homecoming,'' Projection at Bursa International Photofest, Bursa, Turkey *2012: ''iSee Exhibition,'' VII Group Show, Griffin Museum of Photography by Digital Silver Imaging, Belmont, Massachusetts *2012: ''Battle Company, Our Voices Exhibition,'' hosted by Rose Charities, Milk Gallery, New York City *2012: ''The Homecoming Project,'' Projection in partnership with The Austin Symphony Orchestra at The Long Center For The Performing Arts, curated by Scott Thode, The Long Center Campus, Austin, Texas *2012: FotoVisura Exhibition, Curated by FotoVisura, United Photo Industries Gallery, Dumbo, New York *2012: ''Women in Photography,'' Projection of work from The Homecoming Project, curated by FotoVisura & Photoville, Photoville Festival, Brooklyn, New York *2012: ''Winter in America,'' curated by FotoVisura,

Third Floor Gallery Third Floor Gallery was an independent charitable photography gallery in Cardiff Bay, Wales that operated from 2010 to 2016. It predominantly featured documentary photography, often premiering new work with the direct involvement of the photogra ...

, Cardiff, UK *2012: ''The Homecoming Project,'' The End Of War Exhibition, Tilt Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona *2012: ''The Homecoming Project,'' The End Of War Exhibition, Northlight Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona *2012: ''Soldier, At Ease,'' Houston Center of Photography, Houston, Texas *2012: ''War/Photography: Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath,'' Museum of Fine Arts Houston; work included in the permanent collection, Houston, Texas *2013: ''In War's Wake: The Aftermath of Iraq and Afghanistan,'' hosted by The Homecoming Project, The Dougherty Arts Center, Austin, Texas *2013: ''The Gun Show,'' Fovea Exhibitions, Beacon, New York *2013: ''Battle Company'' at The Somerville Toy Camera Fest, Nave Gallery Annex, Somerville, Massachusetts *2013: ''War/Photography: Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath,'' The Annenberg Space for Photography, Los Angeles, and The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. *2014: 2014 Print Auction Exhibition, Houston Center For Photography, Houston, Texas *2014: ''Bosnia: 20 Years After The War,'' Projection, Slideluck Potshow, Austin *2014: ''War & Memory,'' co-curator and presenting artist, Fovea Exhibitions, Beacon, New York *2014: ''Soldier-Citizen-Artist,'' co-curator and presenting artist, The Mid-America Art Alliance Culture Lab Gallery, Kansas City, Missouri *2014: ''War & Memory,'' presented by The Homecoming Project in partnership with Fovea, Co-curator and artist, Photoville Festival, Brooklyn, New York *2014: ''The Homecoming,'' Projection, Besiktas International Festival of Photography, FotoIstanbul, Istanbul, Turkey *2015: ''1 in 20'' exhibition, featuring work from The Homecoming Project, Head On Photo Festival, Sydney, Australia *2015: ''We Are The YPJ,'' presented by United Photo Industries in The Fence exhibition, Boston; Atlanta; Houston; New York *2015: ''Battle Company and The War At Home,'' solo exhibition at Texas A&M University Gallery, Commerce, Texas *2015: ''War & Memory,'' presented by The Homecoming Project with Fovea and Photoville, Co-curator and artist, Photoville Festival, Hamburg, Germany *2015: ''The Homecoming Project,'' The University of Texas - San Antonio Gallery, San Antonio, Texas *2016: ''The Homecoming Project'' Screening, The PhotoJourn Festival in Bangkok, Thailand

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trieb, Erin Living people 1982 births East Texas A&M University alumni American photojournalists American women photographers 21st-century American women American women photojournalists