Amira Karaoud

Karaoud is a photographer, journalist, and visual anthropologist researcher. She explores themes surrounding agency, gender, identity constructs and the profound influence of movement across borders in shaping both societies and their individuals. Karaoud traveled to more than 60 countries and lived in three continents. Throughout her career, she delves into the intricate layers of cultural and personal narratives driven by sharing stories on the margins and thriving in telling stories of tight-knit communities who flourish on finding their own authenticities and creating connections around their subculture. Her work appeared in Reuters, PBS, Bloomberg, Nawaat, Hyphenonline, and many other clients in the US, UK, and Tunisia.... She also reported for Foreign Policy's podcast "The Negotiator '', contributed to the show "the other Latif" with RadioLab, and collaborated with other NPR radio programs and podcasts in the US and Nigeria.  

 

Her current artistic and anthropological endeavor in Senegal, seeks to unravel the nuanced ways in which movement across borders and movement in the performing art serves as a potent practice that unveils insights into the essence of self. Working primarily with African Diaspora women artists, Karaoud explores the world of VR and its potential to cultivate empathy in creating dance films that aim to provoke a reevaluation of societal perceptions, paving the way for meaningful dialogue and cultural exchange.

Karaoud’s work has won multiple prizes and grants in journalism and the arts. One of her photographs in 2023 was selected by the British Journal of Photography's book "2023 Portrait of Humanity". In 2021 her coverage of the eviction crisis in the US won CNN picture of the year. In Jan 2023 she received a grant from the Kentucky Foundation of Women in recognition of her 2022 reporting story on an Afghan migration settlement in Bowling Green, Kentucky, small-town America, for Reuters. 

 

Karaoud is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Anthropology, Media, and Performance and a member of the University of Manchester’s steering committee of CoDE Early Career Race Network.