Portrait of Laura Emiko Soltis by Omar de la Riva
Laura Emiko Soltis
Emiko is a freelance photographer and human rights educator based in Atlanta, Georgia. Her work focuses on the people and places she encounters as a social justice activist, musician, and movement photographer in the South. Specifically, as a participant in the migrant farmworkers' movement, the undocumented youth movement, and racial and economic justice movements, she is able to capture vibrant images of individual courage and collective struggle on the front lines of radical democratic change.
As a classically trained violinist and vocalist, and daughter of a violin luthier, Emiko also finds joy in photographing music performances and the more behind-the-scenes labor of making instruments.
Emiko received her bachelor's degree from the University of Georgia and her doctoral degree from Emory University. She currently serves as the Executive Director of Freedom University, an underground freedom school for undocumented students banned from public higher education in Georgia. Emiko is also a member of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chamber Chorus.
If you are interested in contacting Emiko for photographic work or exhibition opportunities, please send her an email here.
Publications
Smithsonian Magazine 4th Annual Photo Contest June 2007
Univision International. Desigualdad Photo Essay, "Sin papeles, sin miedo."
National Center for Civil and Human Rights' Freedom University Blog Series, January 2015
"Underground Education" Richard Blanco Blog, January 2015
Huffington Post, Coverage of Undocumented Student Protests. February 2016
"From Freedom Schools to Freedom University" Photo Essay in Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture, and Society. 2015
Syracuse Cultural Workers 2012 Peace Calendar
Photographic work has appeared in numerous online and print media, including National Public Radio, the Orlando Sentinel, and Art Papers Magazine.
Exhibitions
Emory University Chace Gallery "Documenting the Undocumented" January 2014
Emory University Center for Ethics Artist in Residence Fall 2015 Exhibition, "No Papers, No Fear."