WASHINGTON, DC, Day 14 of 40 — I interview freelance photojournalist Meghan Dhaliwal in her Mexico City apartment for the upcoming pilot of my series, FREELANCERS with Bill Gentile.
While downing my first round of espresso coffee this morning, I was delighted to see Meghan’s images published in this VICE story about trans women in the Mexican border city of Tijuana. You can see the story HERE.
The craft of foreign correspondence has changed radically since I began my career 40 years ago. Then dominated by white, middle- and upper-class men, the ranks now are heavily populated by female journalists like Meghan.
Freelancing as a foreign correspondent is a choice made by courageous men and women, like Meghan, seeking a lifestyle of freedom, exploration, meaning and purpose. They are print reporters, photojournalists and filmmakers. They carve out their livelihoods with fellowships and grants, with assignments from mainstream media, with teaching gigs, workshops and more.
It was my visit with Meghan and her partner, Dominic Bracco II, that made the deepest impression on me during my trip to Mexico. Perhaps because I experienced many of the struggles and aspirations that define their lives now, I felt a special kinship with them. I came away hoping their journey will be a successful one.
Please take a look at the Indiegogo campaign, now in its 14th day of 40, launched and managed by the team I’ve built to fund post-production of the FREELANCERS documentary. Freelance foreign correspondents, past and present, believe in truth. In facts. In science. If you do, too, please support our effort to tell the important story about these men and women searching for truth and explaining to us the world in which we live.
Contribute. Share. Get the word out. Join our cause.
Thank you.
(Photo by Matt Cipollone)