A staff photographer at the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Richard Tsong-Taatarii seeks out the stories of marginalized communities that might otherwise go uncovered by the mainstream media—both in his city and further afield—in simple black-and-white. His work has focused on the systemic injustices suffered by indigenous people living on reservations, the plight of Rohingya refugees living in Bangladesh, and the water crisis that followed the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. In 2017, Richard covered a memorial for Philando Castile—a Black man who was shot and killed by a police officer in Saint Paul, Minnesota—held two days after police officer Jeronimo Yanez was acquitted of all charges. One photo in particular, of a close friend of Philando, was nominated in 2018’s World Press Photo General News category. As part of WeTransfer’s partnership with the awards, Richard explained to us what made that image so powerful.
