Jessica (Jess) Bal (she/her) is a photographer, educator, and researcher pursuing a PhD in Art History at The Graduate Center, CUNY, along with a certificate in Interactive Technology and Pedagogy. Her research focuses on documentary ethics, histories of photographic illusion, and emerging imaging technologies.

Jess has taught media literacy and visual storytelling to teens and graduate students in New York City, coordinated education programming for the Photoville festival, and managed the digital archive of photographer Susan Meiselas. Her documentary work has been supported by the International Women’s Media Foundation, Magnum Foundation, The Polis Project, UnionDocs, Eddie Adams Workshop, and Fledgling Fund, and published in The New York Times, BuzzFeed News, VICE, The Miami Herald, Narratively, and others.

Jess received a B.A. in Art History and English from Tufts University, and an M.A. in Journalism at CUNY.