Nancy Shia

"I began photographing people in the projects and on park benches in New Haven, Connecticut in 1965. Two years later, I was photographing the same subjects in New York City. I graduated from the City College of New York in 1970 with a major in sociology and minor in photography. I got an MS from Columbia University School of Social Work in 1972 and came to DC to go to Antioch Law School the same year. In DC, I continued photographing people on park benches, as well as political movements, human struggles and extensively documenting the community I live in. I graduated from Antioch Law School in 1978. For 20 years, I worked for a news service where my beat was Capitol Hill and the State Department. I’ve been a member of the National Press Club for 25 years. For three years (2012-2015) I worked for The Washington Informer. I was an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner in Adams Morgan for seven years. First, from 1982 to 1984, and second from 2007 to 2010. My collection of hard copy photographs has been in the Washingtoniana section of the Martin Luther King Jr. Library since its temporary closure in March 2017. Since then, I’ve been working on digitizing my 36 linear feet and 50+ years of negatives. I’ve completed the digitization of 3 years, 1976, 1977 and 1978. My photos have been published around the world, including in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, USA Today, Paris Match and more."