Joel Smith
Joel Smith’s Biography
’ve been a journalist for about 30 years, focused on social justice, the environment, militarism and human rights. I’ve worked as a first responder and/or journalist in the United States, Honduras, Rwanda, Iraq, Gaza, and the West Bank. My documentary photography is in the permanent collection of the Houston Museum of Fine Art, and in six books, including my book of photos and essays on the Iraq War: "Night of a Thousand Stars and Other Portraits of Iraq" (Nazraeli Press, 2006, nominated for the Oregon Book Award in 2007 for nonfiction): https://www.abebooks.com/first-edition/Joel-Preston-Smith-Night-Thousand-Stars/16788971397/bd
On Aug. 12 I joined the Leon Volunteer Fire Department (Leon, West Virginia) as a volunteer firefighter. On Aug. 31, 2024 I completed my training as an American Heart Association-credentialed First Aid/CPR/AED instructor.
My press credits are available for download here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FuqZEi75jJmUZphDPHe19ey6E1UXusAg/view?usp=sharing
My website: https://joelprestonsmith.com
Languages spoken: English and Spanish (intermediate proficiency in the latter)
Skills: Teaching English as a second language • Writing • Editing • Photojournalism • Story Design/Structure • Photoshop/Image Editing • Open Source Intelligence Investigations (especially visual investigations/image/video forensics related to influence ops, disinformation and misinformation) • GoogleDocs/GoogleSheets • Python coding on Mac (especially for OSINT-related apps) • Graphic Design (primarily InDesign/Photoshop/Illustrator) • Video Production & Editing (primarily in Davinci Resolve)
Long Bio:
I’ve been a journalist for about 30 years, focused on social justice, the environment, militarism and human rights. I’ve worked as a first responder and/or journalist in the U.S, Honduras, Rwanda, Iraq, Gaza, and the West Bank. My documentary photography is in the permanent collection of the Houston Museum of Fine Art, and in six books, including my book of photos and essays on the Iraq War: "Night of a Thousand Stars and Other Portraits of Iraq" (Nazraeli Press, 2006, nominated for the Oregon Book Award in 2007 for nonfiction).
I write about Nonviolent Civil Resistance for the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict:
https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/contributor/joel-preston-smith/
My book on the Iraq War (essays and photographs on living with Iraqis before and during the 2003 Iraq War; published by Nazraeli Press, 2007) is here:
https://www.abebooks.com/first-edition/Joel-Preston-Smith-Night-Thousand-Stars/16788971397/bd
My data visualization work:
https://public.tableau.com/profile/joel.preston.smith1717#!/
My website:
https://joelprestonsmith.com
I previously worked as a photojournalism instructor for Newspace Center for Photography (an arts NGO) in Portland, Oregon, and at the Pacific Northwest College of Art, also in Portland, Oregon. Much of my time now is invested in OSINT investigations involving influence ops, financial fraud, and debunking disinformation. To that end, I am currently creating tools for image/video forensics in the python programming language.
Languages spoken: English and Spanish (intermediate proficiency in the latter).
My press credits are available for download here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FuqZEi75jJmUZphDPHe19ey6E1UXusAg/view?usp=sharing
Interviews/essays about my work:
https://www.oregonlive.com/visualarts/2008/02/joel_preston_smith_portraits_o.html
https://greg-archer.medium.com/why-we-need-to-know-more-about-joel-preston-smith-and-frontline-wellness-united-cf73d6f30c6
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MI4UFV9ZlwQ
Writing samples
Personal essay from the National Catholic Reporter (to be clear, I’m not Christian or Catholic; the essay is just personal reflection and grief about the 2003 war):
"AS BOMBS DROP, FACES OF IRAQIS STILL HAUNT ME"
https://www.academia.edu/11273022/AS_BOMBS_DROP_FACES_OF_IRAQIS_STILL_HAUNT_ME
Hardscrabble Salvation (learning my work ethic from my mother, from Utne magazine and In Good Tilth magazine)
https://www.utne.com/arts/joel-preston-smith-hardscrabble-salvation/
"Making a killing" (originally published in the Arab American News, 2005)
https://joelprestonsmith.com/writing/writing/making-a-killing/86/
https://joelprestonsmith.com/writing/writing/making-a-killing/86/
“A White Vampire Story” (originally published in Gobshite Quarterly, 2004)
https://medium.com/@joelprestonsmith/a-white-vampire-story-ce91d8c0fb31
Other relevant biographical details:
I have 10 FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) certifications, and have worked (not as a FEMA employee) in disaster relief/humanitarian-aid operations in: Yellowstone Forest Fires (U.S., 1988); the Loma Prieta Earthquake (U.S., 1990); Rwandan Civil War (Rwanda, 1996); Hurricane Mitch (Honduras, 1998); Iraq, 2003; Palestine (Gaza and the West Bank), 2003; Standing Rock Anti-DAPL protests, Cannonball District of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, 2016-2017.
I’m the former acting director for Lines for Life (crisis intervention/suicide prevention) in Portland, Oregon, with about 220 hours of volunteer time on the crisis lines. https://www.linesforlife.org/our-programs/volunteer-internships/
My primary interests are humanitarian service, documentary/investigative journalism on behalf of social justice and human rights, using Open Source Intelligence for social-justice investigations, and employing/teaching Nonviolent Civil Resistance as a tool for bringing down corrupt regimes/dictatorships. In regard to the latter, I teach English as a second language, and assist in editing websites devoted to preventing the torture of dissidents resisting the dictatorship of Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus. I also teach English to activists in Ukraine who are currently fighting the Russian invasion.