About me
I'm Eli, a freelance visual journalist and documentary photographer in Denver, Colorado. I often explore policy, injustice, trauma and healing, culture, identity, place and more through visual storytelling for regional, national and international news organizations. I also love telling stories through audio, video and words. I'm a member of Diversify Photo, the NPPA and an alumnus of the 74th Missouri Photo Workshop. I teach as an adjunct instructor of visual journalism at the University of Colorado, Boulder and a guest lecturer each summer at the Western Slope Photojournalism Workshop. Client info and honors below.
Previously, I interned as a visual journalist at The Arizona Republic, Austin American-Statesman and Bozeman Daily Chronicle, producing news photography and some videography. I earned a BA in journalism from the University of Montana in 2019, where I worked for the independent student paper, the Montana Kaimin.
I grew up in the suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona. My interest in photography stemmed from escaping the sprawl to bask in the natural world of the Colorado Plateau. It eventually evolved into a passion for documenting the human experience in all of its complexity and wonder. Growing up in a liminal space, the son of an American Jewish mother and a Kabyle and Muslim father, has afforded me a unique and layered perspective to tell stories.
I love food and cooking, identifying flowers, basketball, biking in the city, jumping in rivers, skateboarding, and exploring places new and old. Photo at right by Irynka Hromotska.
Editorial photography: The New York Times, ProPublica, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, The Washington Post, Bloomberg Businessweek Magazine, The Guardian, People, High Country News, Los Angeles Times, HuffPost, Reuters, Agence France-Presse, Kaiser Health News, Chalkbeat, The Denver Post, The Colorado Sun, Colorado Public Radio, Denverite, Headwaters Magazine
Commercial photography and/or videography: FWD.us, Colorado State University, The Colorado Trust, Bank of the West, Northwest Energy, Grinnell College
Editorial videography: ProPublica, The Arizona Republic, Austin American-Statesman, Montana Kaimin
Audio reporting and/or production: NPR, Colorado Public Radio, REI Wild Ideas Worth Living, CNN Margins of Error, CPR Colorado Matters, City Cast Denver, Sounds of Our Lives, KBGA College Radio.
Writing: The Guardian, NPR, Indian Country Today, Denverite, Colorado Public Radio, Boulder Reporting Lab.
Contact
- +1 (480) 512-2035
- eimadali16@gmail.com
- Denver, Colorado
- Available for assignments
Honors: Diversify Photo full member, 2023; SPJ Top of the Rockies 2023: 1st in social justice photography/videography, 2nd in climate photography/videography & team 2nd in multimedia story; Missouri Photo Workshop alum, 2022; Economic Hardship Reporting Project grant, 2021; The Denver Post, Year in Photos 2020-2022; Hearst Journalism Awards: 6th nationally in audio storytelling, 2019; University of Montana Pollner Award & Dean's Award, 2019; SPJ Mark of Excellence, Region 10: 1st in online in-depth reporting & feature photography, 2019.