Introducing our 2025 Jurors
Michael Wichita
Photo Director, AARP
Michael Wichita has been with AARP since 2005, and works with AARP's print publications, websites, newsletters, and social presence. Wichita previously worked as a professional photographer, his work for AARP has been recognized by SPD and American Photography amongst others. Michael is a frequent speaker and portfolio reviewer at industry events. He graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design.
Natalie Jasmine Harris
FILMMAKER
Natalie Jasmine Harris is an award-winning Black queer filmmaker from Maryland with a BFA from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Her latest short film, GRACE, had its world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival and recently received a Vimeo Staff Pick. PURE, her NYU thesis short film, received the 2020 Directors Guild of America's Student Film Award and was acquired by HBO to stream on Max.
While in a documentary filmmaking fellowship with Traverse32 and Outfest Film Festival, Natalie directed the documentary short film, BEN IN BLOOM, which was released in partnership with the It Gets Better Foundation and has screened at festivals such as The Philadelphia Film Festival and BFI Flare.
In 2024, Natalie was hired to direct an episode of the documentary short film series FLOWERS for YouTube and Academy Award-winning Breakwater Studios. Her episode became the series' first to surpass 1 million views, ultimately amassing over 7 million and receiving a Webby Award. Natalie has participated in artist programs with Film at Lincoln Center, GLAAD, The New York Foundation for the Arts, Outfest, PBS, and Sundance Institute – currently a Sundance Ignite Film Fellow. Her work has been featured in publications such as Teen Vogue, THEM Magazine, Huffington Post, The Cut, W Magazine, NBC, and more.
DEE WILLIAMS
PHOTOGRAPHER & SOCIAL CONTENT DIRECTOR
Dee Williams is a queer, Jamaican-American, photographer and social content director whose work centers around stories of the African diaspora. Inspired by the rich diversity of unique cultures and communities, Dee seeks to celebrate those stories through fashion and portraiture, while deconstructing and redefining the outside monolithic views, ideas, and representation of Black culture and people.
MATTHEW LEIFHEIT
Photographer, editor & Professor
Matthew Leifheit is an American photographer, magazine editor, and professor based in Brooklyn, New York. A graduate of Rhode Island School of Design and the Yale School of Art, Leifheit is Editor-in-Chief of MATTE Magazine, the journal of emerging photography he has published since 2010. Leifheit's photographs have appeared in publications such as The New York Times, The New Yorker, Aperture, TIME, and Artforum, and have been exhibited internationally. His work has been supported by residencies at the Corporation of Yaddo and The Watermill Center, receiving grants from the New York State Cultural Council and the Fund for Lesbian and Gay Studies. He is currently on facutly at the Yale School of Art.
