Zoriah.net Birthday! - The World's First Photojournalism and War Photography Blog is One Year Old Today

One year ago today I posted my first entry onto the Zoriah.net blog, the world's first independent photojournalism and war photography blog. In one short year and 131 posts, this blog has made some pretty big waves: one post in particular created an international incident that got me removed from my embed in Iraq and touched off debate about the freedoms of the press. It wasn't my intention to become the news with this blog, but hopefully it has inspired a few people to learn more about the world around them. The blog has gone from having one subscriber to nearly 1,300 and has viewers from nearly every country on earth! It has shown that there is an alternative to blindly following corporate media, which dictates what news is by what sells the most product.

All of this has been possible with the support of you, my readers! I would like to thank each and every one of you and assure you that this is just the beginning.

There are a few people who I would like to thank individually, as their support has gone a long way in making this possible. First off, my sincerest thanks to my friend Laurel who pushed me into starting this blog in the first place. Her support and kindness made all of this possible, and I thank you for your help and friendship.  Thanks to Michael Totten for his friendship, support and guidance. Also, once again my thanks go out to Jeff Cagle for editing all of my posts. Thanks to him, hundreds of thousands of people have no idea how bad my spelling is!  

My deepest and sincerest thanks to my family, especially my mothers and grandfather, who stand by me and support my work even though they suffer through stress and long nights when I am in dangerous places. You have never questioned me, or asked me to stop...I know it is not easy for you, so I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

My thanks to Drew for your friendship from the age of seven until today.

Thanks to Ami Vitale and Chris Walton for helping me on my path. Thanks to Kit Roane for your support and explaining to me what the word blog means and giving me my start in this world. A big thanks to Madeleine Montano for your help, design work and your friendship.  Thanks to the people of Gaza for giving me unprecedented access to document your lives. Thanks to Jarek, Sev, Lars, Austin, Mark Aleshnick, Moh, Khalil, Margaret and Sarah, Annika, Katherine, Kim, Donna, the VII Photo Agency, the Iraqi people, the U.S. Army and General David Petraeus and all the soldiers and Marines who kept me safe in Iraq, The BBC, The Guardian, Amy Goodman and all at Democracy Now, Jeanne and Mansoor, Ramzy, Trilby, Darrell, Mitch and Luke and everyone on the "In Harms Way" production and post-production crew, Alissa, The IRC, Kakuma Refugee Camp and Joanne, the residents of the Kibera and Soweto slums, all of my CouchSurfing friends and hosts all around the world, my workshop students Drew, Nancy, Michael and James, Bill and SaniRobin, and all at The Evergreen State College, Cindy and Craig and RCF, Massachusetts School of Law and Dean Velvel, Ali, Michigan State University and Oren in Israel.

And a very special thank you to those who have become paid subscribers to this blog and all of you who have made one-time donations. Without you, this would not be possible!

I am sure there are many names that should be on this list that I have forgotten—it has been a long year and above are just a few who have helped me during it. To the others, I beg your forgiveness :)

Thanks to all of you, I look forward to year two!

Comments

[Shawn]

Very cool Zoriah! Happy First Birthday! I look forward to more great work from you in the year ahead!

[Dahlia]

Thanks to the U.S. Army and General David Petraeus, because without you, there wouldn't be nearly as many atrocities to cover. Best wishes for your next surge.

WTF??!!

[Helen Bascom]

Happy Birthday!

[Zoriah]

I think it is obvious by the work that I do to see that I am not a fan of war. That being said, yes, my thanks to General Petraeus for refusing to listen to the Marine Corps command and allowing me to keep my military press credentials. He and his staff took a lot of abuse for that decision but they allowed me to present my case, ruled in my favor and then stuck by that decision, and that deserves thanks.

And yes, all politics aside, I thank the U.S. army for allowing me into their world and into their lives to document from that intimate position. The treated me like a brother and kept me safe while working in the most dangerous place on planet earth. They let me photograph as they watched their friends die and as they mourned the loss of those friends. I am happy to thank them publicly for that.

[Michel de Groot]

!!!!!!!!!!!! ;)

[monike]

thanks to you for …well, all that's in here.
It's only a little i kow by now. I'm looking forward to what will come.
good luck and take care.

[monike]

uups, adding one "n" ;)

[jarek]

Thank you for all your hard work over the last year to keep this blog alive and the result is simply stunning.

[Jeff Cagle]

Thanks to Zoriah for letting me be a part of this great blog and letting me help him bring these great stories to the masses. It's truly been an honor to work with such a talented, dedicated individual and I know first-hand that there is a wealth of great stories and posts that are waiting to be told. I'm excited to see what the future of Zoriah.net brings!

[Lisa]

Thank you for your exquisite work. Here's to Year Two!