Gali Tibbon has become a fixture at the Jordan River, where she currently spends her personal time documenting the rituals and activities of the people who come from all over the world to be baptized and visit the historic site.

She is the first of three subjects the Knight Center for International Media will feature on a documentary film to give insight into international female photojournalists and their dedication to telling stories that shed light on the human condition.

Two University of Miami professors and Knight Center’s associated faculty members, Jim Virga and Ed Talavera, travelled to Israel recently to start the project.

“One of the reasons we decided to start with Gali is that her ‘life’ assignment is about people who make religious pilgrimages,” Virga said. “We watched her as she observed the activities and put herself in a position to gather precise moments in the best and worst of technical conditions.”

Tibbon has already shot thousands of images there and is currently editing for a variety of displays, as well as shooting new images.

“To watch Gali at work is inspiring because it is obvious she loves what she is doing and is extremely dedicated to it,” Virga said.

Tibbon is a Jerusalem-based photojournalist that has been working in the field for more than 12 years. She has covered news all over the world – as well as the complex newsgathering in Jerusalem and the West Bank. Tibbon also contributes on a regular basis to Agency France Press, and other mainstream publications such as Newsweek and Time, but she often takes time to work on personal or “life” assignments as she calls them, as is the case of the Jordan River.

While is Israel, Virga and Talavera also accompanied Gali to The Old City in Jerusalem, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, The Western Wall, The Dead Sea and The Sea of Galilee. “These historic sites are basically Gali’s stomping grounds, and we were fortunate to have seen these places with the benefit of her access and contacts around the country,” Virga said.

Virga and Talavera will be gathering the content for this three-subject documentary and Dia Kontaxis, also a film professor at the University of Miami School of Communication, will be editing the project with the support of the Knight Center.

"It has been several years since Lelen Bourgoignie-Robert and I finished the film about the photographer Carol Guzy, said Sanjeev Chatterjee, executive director of the Knight Center for International Media. “I am glad that colleagues are helping in carrying that work forward through creating documentary projects about women photojournalists."

Posted on December 22, 2008