I'm Eli, a freelance documentary photographer and journalist based in Denver, Colorado. I often explore systemic injustices, trauma and healing, culture, identity and place through visual storytelling. I also love telling stories through audio, video and words. I'm a member of Diversify Photo, NPPA and an alumnus of the 74th Missouri Photo Workshop. I teach as an adjunct instructor of visual journalism at CU Boulder and a guest lecturer each summer at the Western Slope Photojournalism Workshop. Client info and honors below.
Previously, I interned as a visual journalist at The Arizona Republic, Austin American-Statesman and Bozeman Daily Chronicle, producing news photography and some videography. I earned a BA in journalism from the University of Montana in 2019, where I worked for the independent student paper there, the Montana Kaimin.
I grew up in the suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona. My interest in documentary photography stemmed from escaping the sprawl to bask in the natural world of the Colorado Plateau. It eventually evolved into a passion for documenting the human experience in all its complexity and wonder. Growing up in a liminal space, the son of an American Jewish mother and a Kabyle and Muslim father, has afforded me a unique and nuanced perspective to tell stories.
I love food and cooking, identifying flowers, skateboarding, basketball, biking in the city, jumping in rivers and exploring places new and old. Photo at right by Irynka Hromotska. Cheers!
Editorial photography: The New York Times, ProPublica, NPR, Bloomberg Businessweek Magazine, The Guardian, High Country News, Los Angeles Times, HuffPost, Reuters, Agence France-Presse, Kaiser Health News, Chalkbeat, The Denver Post, Colorado Public Radio, The Colorado Sun.
Commercial photography: FWD.us, The Colorado Trust, Bank of the West, Northwest Energy.
Audio reporting and/or production: NPR, Colorado Public Radio, REI Wild Ideas Worth Living, CNN Margins of Error, CPR Colorado Matters, City Cast Denver, Sounds of Our Lives, KBGA College Radio.
Writing: The Guardian, NPR, Indian Country Today, Denverite, Colorado Public Radio, Boulder Reporting Lab.
Honors: High Country News Western Communities Grant, 2023; SPJ Top of the Rockies 2023: 1st in social justice photography/videography, 2nd in climate photography/videography & team 2nd in multimedia story; Economic Hardship Reporting Project grant, 2021; The Denver Post, Year in Photos 2020-2022; Hearst Journalism Awards: 6th nationally in audio storytelling, 2019; University of Montana Pollner Award & Dean's Award, 2019; SPJ Mark of Excellence, Region 10: 1st in online in-depth reporting & feature photography, 2019.
Contact
- +1 (480) 512-2035
- eimadali16@gmail.com
- Denver, Colorado
- Available for assignments