Kang-Chun Cheng
photojournalist

 

About Me

[usually and currently in Nairobi, Kenya]

KC 鄭康君 (b. 1995) is a Taiwanese American photojournalist covering climate change exacerbates insecurity, cultural continuity within Indigenous communities, foreign aid, and outdoor adventure. She has been based in Nairobi for 3 years and uses photography as a tool for storytelling. She has reported from Uganda, Egypt, Norway, Finland, the US, Sri Lanka, India, the Western Sahara, and Morocco.

In her work, KC examines themes of belonging and nostalgia against our shifting relationships with the natural world. As overwhelming as both manmade and natural catastrophes may seem, it’s the tenderness of human connections that makes survival possible.

KC has herded reindeer in the Arctic, roasted lamb with pastoralists in the mountains of Xinjiang, hitchhiked through Tunisia, harvested honey with the Yaaku in Kenya's Laikipia North, walked the Camino de Santiago, and free-dived on the south Sinai peninsula. She loves big landscapes and can be found climbing rocks whenever possible.


Selected Publications

The New York Times, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera, Christian Science Monitor, BBC Future

Translated and Republished

 Courrier International, Internazionale

Education

2013-2017 Dartmouth College, Hanover, USA; B.A. Environmental Science, minors Studio Art & Chinese

Certifications

2022: HEFAT Nairobi, Kenya

2021: Scuba Schools International (SSI): Freediving Level 1

Languages

Mandarin, English


Grants, Awards, & Recognition

2023: Der Greif 15th Anniversary, "Past & Present"

2023: Pulitzer Center Grantee: From herders to fishers–a tale of climate-induced livelihood adaptivity

2022  Pulitzer Center Grantee: Trust and Distrust in Western Sahara, Africa's Covid "black hole"

2022 Howard G. Buffett Fund for Women Journalists Grantee: IMWF

2022 Women Photograph Mentorship Class

2021 Rory Peck Hardship Assistance Fund

2021 Freelance Journalist Assembly safety clinic 

2021 OPC Freelance Journalist Microgrant

2020 Laluz Workshop Scholarship: Your Work and Its Audience

2020 Der Greif Issue 13: Surplus Management

2020 Fulbright Semi-Finalist

2017 H. Allen Brooks Travelling Fellowship

2016 Neukom Institute of Computation ScienceTravel Grant

Associations

International Press Association of East Africa

Women Photograph

The Journal Collective

Frontline Freelance Register

Overseas Press Club of America

Diversify Photo

Authority Collective

Uproot Project

Using Format