Atomic Photographers Guild Speaker Series
Atomic Photographers Guild Speaker Series: Panel with Leona Morgan, Shayla Blatchford & Will Wilson
Our 2024 Symposium speaker Jesse Andrewartha, is an APG Advisory Committee Member for the Atomic Photographers Guild and has kindly invited BCA members to an online speaker series at 6pm Pacific time (Canada/USA) on September 23, 2025 . One of the speakers was the keynote speaker for BIOCOMM 2023, Will Wilson. If you missed him at BIOCOMM you can see his presentation along with others online.
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If this presentation doesn't fit with your time zone. Register and you can watch the recording of the presentation at a later date. The recordings will be available for two weeks post presentation.
Photography, Activism, and Representation in Nuclear-Impacted Communities
A panel with Leona Morgan, Shayla Blatchford and Will Wilson
6:00 pm PT, September 23rd, 2025
For the third talk in the Atomic Photographers Guild Speaker Series, the APG is pleased to invite you to a panel discussion exploring how photographers and artists navigate the challenges of representation in nuclear-impacted communities. The conversation will focus on the responsibilities of image makers around issues of exploitation and harm when working with affected communities, especially in the context of renewed uranium extraction and transport on the Navajo Nation.
There is far too little understanding of these issues, and many artists may not fully recognize how their work can harm or exploit the people they depict. By centering this discussion, we hope to open a vital conversation that goes to the heart of many artists’ work and practice. This conversation will bring together three individuals whose work engages deeply with these questions: Leona Morgan, Shayla Blatchford and Will Wilson.
Leona Morgan is a Diné anti-nuclear activist and educator who has spent over a decade organizing against uranium mining and nuclear colonialism across the U.S. Southwest. Shayla Blatchford’s portrait-based work centers Indigenous identity and energy justice, often collaborating with land defenders and community organizers.
Will Wilson, a Diné photographer and trans-customary artist, is Program Head of Photography at Santa Fe Community College and uses historical and emerging photographic processes to reframe representation, sovereignty, and environmental change.
The APG is thrilled to welcome Leona, Shayla and Will for this event. This is a rare opportunity to hear the panelists in conversation; each brings a unique perspective shaped by years of work at the intersection of art, activism, and community engagement. Together, they will reflect on the power and limits of photography, examining the ethical responsibilities that come with representing impacted communities.