Within months of President Donald Trump retaking office, administration officials eradicated the world’s largest humanitarian agency, slashing thousands of lifesaving programs and putting millions of lives at risk. ProPublica found that senior officials cut these programs—at one point celebrating with cake—even after they were warned people would die. ProPublica’s reporting unequivocally connected the deaths of people, including children, who depended on this aid to decisions by U.S. policymakers and political appointees.
Photographers Peter DiCampo and Brian Otieno traveled with reporters Anna Maria Barry-Jester and Brett Murphy to find the people affected by these changes in some of the most desperate places on earth. In South Sudan, US aid had been helping to stave off a cholera epidemic; when aid was cut, the disease came roaring back. In Kenya, American funds had helped feed hundreds of thousands of refugees; when it was cut, children starved.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other State Department officials have insisted that no one died as a result of the aid cuts. In response to questions from ProPublica, a senior State Department official said fast, drastic changes to foreign aid were necessary to reform a “calcified system.” The world, especially US interests, will be better for it in the long run, the official said, despite “some disruptions in the short term.”
Artist Bios
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Peter DiCampo
Peter DiCampo is a Visuals Editor at ProPublica. His editing and art direction have been awarded by the National Press Photographers Association, the Society for News Design, The Society of Publication Designers, and the Online Journalism Awards. Before turning to editing, he worked for more than a decade as a freelance photojournalist, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa, with publications in National Geographic, The New York Times, Time, and many more. He was a 2019 John S. Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford University, and he is the recipient of grants and awards from Brown Institute for Media Innovation, Code for Africa, Magnum Foundation, Open Society Foundations, PhotoWings, Pictures of the Year International, and the Pulitzer Center, among others. DiCampo is a co-founder of Everyday Africa, a collective of photographers using social media to broaden coverage of Africa beyond the headlines, and The Everyday Projects, a global community of photographers and visual literacy nonprofit. He is a co-author of the photo book Everyday Africa: 30 Photographers Re-Picturing a Continent and the graphic novel Flying Kites: A Story of the 2013 California Prison Hunger Strike.
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Brian Otieno
Brian Otieno is a freelance photojournalist and documentary photographer based in Nairobi, Kenya. He was raised in Kibera, where he documents the everyday realities of ordinary life through his photo project KiberaStories, which he started in 2013. His passion and commitment lie in capturing the stories of the vibrant community of Kibera and attempting to look beyond the chaotic appearance of his hometown and depict a broader spectrum of life from socio-economic, cultural, political, and environmental perspectives. Otieno has exhibited his project KiberaStories in Paris, Kampala, Lisbon, and New York. He was among the 12 visual storytellers selected for the World Press Photo East Africa Masterclass and has been selected to attend The New York Times Portfolio Review. Since 2017, he has been a contributor to Everyday Africa—a collective of photographers sharing images from across the continent aimed at undermining stereotypes and clichés. He works regularly for Agence France-Presse and has contributed visual stories to media outlets including The New York Times, Al Jazeera, BBC, Der Spiegel, and Roads & Kingdoms.
Organizations
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ProPublica
ProPublica is an independent, nonprofit newsroom that produces investigative journalism with moral force. We dig deep into important issues, shining a light on abuses of power and betrayals of public trust — and we stick with those issues as long as it takes to hold power to account. Find us at propublica.org.
The End of Aid
Featuring: Peter DiCampo Brian Otieno
Locations
ON VIEW AT: #56
View Location Details Download a detailed map of this location Brooklyn Bridge Park – Emily Warren Roebling Plaza1 Water St
Brooklyn, NY 11201
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The views and opinions expressed in this exhibit are those of the exhibition artists and partners and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Photoville or any other participants and partners of the Photoville Festival.
Reporting by Anna Maria Barry-Jester and Brett Murphy. Design by Sophie Greenspan and Allen Tan. Visual editing and art direction by Peter DiCampo. Graphics by Chris Alcantara. Alex Mierjeski contributed research. Yiel Awat and Molly Redden contributed reporting.
