Long Award for lenswoman

The National Press Photographers Association, a professional society that promotes the highest standards in visual journalism, conferred its John Long Ethics award for 2019 on lenswoman Kainaz Amaria, "an outstanding photojournalist turned editor, first on NPR’s (National Public Radio) visual team before becoming the visuals editor for Vox (an online news service). This award recognizes an individual who has, through her efforts, upheld, shaped and promoted ethical behavior in all forms of visual journalism,” noted the citation accompanying the trophy presented to her at the 2020 awards ceremony in Virginia on March 7.
"Amaria’s career as a photographer speaks for itself, having held her own work to the highest ethical standards. And now she plays it forward by being a leading voice in the industry and framing the conversations of visual journalism through the lens of representation, always advocating for people to do more and do better, and calling out those who don’t,” added the citation.
"Visual journalists operate as trustees of the public,” notes the website of the Association, nppa.org. "Our primary goal is the faithful and comprehensive depiction of the subject at hand. As visual journalists, we have the responsibility to document society and to preserve its history through images. Photographic and video images can reveal great truths, expose wrongdoing and neglect, inspire hope and understanding and connect people around the globe through the language of visual understanding. Photographs can also cause great harm if they are callously intrusive or are manipulated… The code of ethics is intended to promote the highest quality in all forms of visual journalism and to strengthen public confidence in the profession,” expounded the website.

Kainaz Amaria (holding award) with husband Gene Demby

Having joined the NPR team in end 2011, Amaria is currently based in Washington DC. As visuals editor at Vox, she runs an interdisciplinary team specializing in graphics, interactives, photography, data and design. Her husband Gene Demby is a journalist for NPR.
A graduate in international relations and political science from Boston University, Amaria subsequently did her masters in photography from the School of Visual Communication, Ohio University. After gaining experience working for St Petersburg Times in Florida, she went to Bombay on a Fulbright scholarship in 2010 when she worked on a short film on the Parsi Zoroastrian community. As a freelance photojournalist based in Bombay, her clients included The New York Times, Vogue India and Reuters, notes her website. Earlier Amaria’s images and multimedia collaborations have been recognized at competitions organized by CPOY (College Photographer of the Year), Women in Photojournalism, Atlanta Photojournalism Conference and the South Asian Journalist Association.