Theresa Campagna

Visual storyteller with a concentration in journalism, documentary, and marketing, since 2011. Bilingual in French language with B1 proficiency. Limited working proficiency of Tagalog language. My work has been featured in: WYCC PBS, Getty Images, Chicago Reporter, and Free Speech Radio News (to name a few ) and multiple screenings around the midwest and in LA. For a complete list of my work, including my latest, check out linkedin.com/in/theresalcampagna

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English below. La fête Diversi-été à Mile EX, Montréal le 8 août 2015. Je ne sais pas le groupe. Ils sont Colombien-Canadien. C’est de la musique et de la danse Colombien. S’il vous plait, aidez-moi et envoyez-moi un message avec le nom du groupe. Merci! This is the festival called Diversi-été in Montréal’s Mile Ex neighborhood, one known for having a vast range of cultures including: Indian, Middle Eastern, some African, and Latino cultures. I don’t know the name of the band photographed here. But they are Colombian-Canadian. This is one type of Colombian music and dance. Please, help me and send me a message with the group’s name if you know it. Thanks!

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Pictured above, my latest photos for FSRN. Click them for captions. You can read more about how some believe documentation of LGBT refugees can help give more aid to those starting their lives over the in U.S., after fleeing sexual orientation persecution in Nigeria, and worldwide. Read the story here: http://fsrn.org/2015/08/lgbtq-africans-seeking-asylum-from-homophobic-laws-are-an-uncounted-population/

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This is the last of my series of photos that were taken during my coverage of the Chicago 2015 mayoral runoff election but were not published. I will be posting more photos throughout this week. Listen and read my story for Free Speech Radio News here. Thank you to my editors Shannon Young and Nell Abrams for working with me, making me sound really good, and giving me the opportunity to do my first election story. To see a bigger photo, click on the photo.

Top: Logan Square: Children at an endorsement rally sit in front of the stage holding #Chuy2015 signs inside the Logan Square Auditorium on March 12. Left: Chuy Garcia addresses the crowd at an endorsement rally in Logan Square on March 12. Behind him, Cook County Clerk David Orr (left) photographs the crowd while aldermanic runoff candidates Milly Santiago and Gillbert Villegas talk with each other.    Right: March 12 – Logan Square: A Chuy Garcia supporter, wearing a false Chuy moustache checks her phone as the crowd cheers behind her. 

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This is one of a series of photos that were taken during my coverage of the Chicago 2015 mayoral runoff election but were not published. I will be posting more photos throughout this week. Listen and read my story for Free Speech Radio News here. Thank you to my editors Shannon Young and Nell Abrams for working with me, making me sound really good, and giving me the opportunity to do my first election story. For bigger photo sizes, click on the photo. Top: March 16 – City Hall: City Treasurer Kurt Summers (left) listens to City Clerk Susana Mendoza (right) as she shares her thoughts on Commissioner Garcia's budget strategy, ''It honestly copies reforms that we’re already putting in place by the Emanuel administration.''       Middle: March 16 – City Hall: City Clerk Susana Mendoza (far left) and City Treasurer Kurt Summers (far right), listen to U.S. Congressman Mike Quigley discusses his Transparency Caucus, which he says eventually led to more transparency in government. Bottom: March 16 – City Hall: Congressman Quigley holds his report, ''A Tale Of Two Cities,'' that exposed how Mayor Daley's administration misappropriated tax dollars set aside for developing poor neighborhoods. Congressman Quigley explains his report in part led to the Emanuel administration publishing city funds usage online.

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This is one of a series of photos that were taken during my coverage of the Chicago 2015 mayoral runoff election but were not published. I will be posting more photos throughout this week. Listen and read my story for Free Speech Radio News here. Thank you to my editors Shannon Young and Nell Abrams for working with me, making me sound really good, and giving me the opportunity to do my first election story. For bigger photo sizes, click on the photo. Top photo: New City: Construction workers listen to Mayor Emanuel on March 10 as he announces his new plan to repairs streets after -30 degree temperatures left the city with some of the deepest potholes in recent Chicago history. Potholes was one of the hot button issues during the 2015 mayoral runoff election.

Bottom photo: March 10 – New City: Shortly after the media event, Mayor Emanuel tells the press, ''I’m proud to have the endorsement of the President, of other individual elected officials. Also other type of sports individuals. But at the end of the day, you have to earn it.'' A week later, a Chicago Tribune investigation revealed former basketball player Magic Johnson donated $250,000 to Emanuel's campaign in exchange for an $80 million CPS custodial and facilities management contract. This contract was later found to have increased complaints concerning poorly cleaned schools.

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My latest for xojane.com I learned a lot doing this and even more as the comments have been rolling in. Thank you to my editors for this opportunity. I’m happy people are talking about it. California's Terrible Drought Inspired Me to Spend a Week Trying to Eat Less Water. I Failed. I stared up in surprise. My Tito (Uncle in Tagalog) Robert was climbing up a coconut tree, shaking its dying branches above us. I had just spotted some ripe fruit there and my photographer’s urge to document surfaced. I had turned to grab my camera for this rarity when he began his climb. Read the piece in its entirety, here

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This is part of a series of photos that were taken during my coverage of the Chicago 2015 mayoral runoff election but were not published. I will be posting more photos throughout this week. Listen and read my story for Free Speech Radio News here. Thank you to my editors Shannon Young and Nell Abrams for working with me, making me sound really good, and giving me the opportunity to do my first election story.

For bigger photo sizes, click on the photo.

Above: City Hall: Mental Health Movement activists hold signs that spell out the word 'respect,' calling for Mayor Emanuel to respect them and to re-open clinics that were closed in 2012. MHM held a press conference on March 10 after Mayor Emmanuel allegedly said, ''You're gonna respect me!'' when they tried to discuss the clinics closing five days prior.

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This is one of a series of photos that were taken during my coverage of the Chicago 2015 mayoral runoff election but were not published. I will be posting more photos throughout this week. Listen and read my story for Free Speech Radio News here. Thank you to my editors Shannon Young and Nell Abrams for working with me, making me sound really good, and giving me the opportunity to do my first election story.

For bigger photo sizes, click on the photo. Top photo: March 9 – African-American faith leaders and mayoral candidate Commissioner Garcia prepare for an endorsement press conference in Englewood, an area that is mostly African-American and poor. Bottom photo: March 9 – Mayoral candidate Chuy Garcia poses with residents and African-American community organizers surrounded by empty lots in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood.

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This is one of a series of photos that were taken during my coverage of the Chicago 2015 mayoral runoff election but were not published. I will be posting more photos throughout this week. Listen and read my story for Free Speech Radio News here. Thank you to my editors Shannon Young and Nell Abrams for working with me, making me sound really good, and giving me the opportunity to do my first election story. For bigger photo sizes, click on the photo. Above: March 5 – City Hall: Gloria Pinex, mother of her slain son Darius Pinex explained to the press that despite having evidence police lied in court, the jury still let the officers go free. Darius was killed in 2011 by law enforcement after being mistaken for another suspect who was later taken into custody; Pinex has been seeking reparations since her son's death and said she will not vote for Mayor Emanuel or Commissioner Garcia unless they reform their public safety policies.

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My latest for FSRN: Chicago approves reparations for victims of police torture. Chicago is now the first city in the U.S. to enact an ordinance ordering reparations for victims of police torture. Theresa Campagna has the story (listen here.) For photo captions from the photos I took, please click on the photo.

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Some of my photo essay work on the Chicago Teacher's Strike of 2012 for Corbis Images (link to more here). Roll over or click on photo for captions.

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Immigration reform activists plan next move after Obama's executive action.

Check out my latest video report on immigration reform.

Nov. 20 2014 -- Immigration reform activists wait to watch President Obama on the night he promises to commit to,"..fixing our broken immigration system."

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Check out my latest for The Gate Newspaper.

ElevArte Studio sees value in the arts for local youth, holds annual Pozolada fundraiser

Sometimes a bowl of soup can be the right remedy for more than just a cold. Yesterday, around 400 people got together at the third annual Pozolada to sample 30 types of pozole, a traditional Mexican soup. The event was held at the International Union of Operating Engineers building in efforts to raise money for art programs in Pilsen.  Everyone who sampled later voted Joel Fraga’s green pozole as the winner for the second year in-a-row.

The annual fundraiser is held every December to help the neighborhood non-profit ElevArte, formerly known as Pros Arts Studio.

For the last 35 years, ElevArte has been teaching the arts to children of underserved communities in order to build leaders, said Executive Director Giselle Mercier. ”They are not at-risk youth,” she said. “They are at-promise. If we were to give them all the resources they are supposed to be getting as young people, we would receive so much more from these young people.”

To read my article in its entirety, click here Photo caption: Guests sampling one of the 30 pozoles that were available to taste last night.

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Pure Metal Recycling could be the latest addition in Pilsen to a $500 billion scrap metal industry. Check out my latest for The Gate Newspaper below. Photo caption: The potential site for Pure Metal at 2201 S Loomis across the street from Benito Juarez High School on Nov. 29 2013.

Recycling plant proposal in Pilsen draws diesel pollution concerns from residents, gives job hope to others.

Pilsen residents have long advocated for cleaner air in their neighborhood, but now some worry that allowing a recycling plant in the area will be a setback in their efforts to decrease pollution in the community.

Last year, local environmentalists were able to help shut down Fisk, a coal-fired power plant that was emitting health-hazardous contaminants like coal dust into the air and soil in the neighborhood.

Pure Metal Recycling said it wants to move to the Cermak Industrial Corridor. The plant will process and recycle all types of scrap metal. The grinded materials will be delivered in trucks to domestic steel and aluminum mills.

This has created major concerns among local activists, mainly because another recycling company could mean more dust and diesel pollution from cargo trucks.

Resident Jerry Mead-Lucero of the Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization (PERRO) is bringing groups together to organize against having a second recycling plant in Pilsen. To read my article in its entirety, please click here.

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Thousands of people marched on the streets of Chicago Saturday asking Congress to find a comprehensive solution to the country’s outdated immigration laws.

A combination of labor, immigrant and community groups walked from the city’s near....

Is this administration the last chance for immigration reform? To find out what's next for Illinois' pro reform movement, read my article for The Gate Newspaper here

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“I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours.”

Hunter S Thompson (via journolist)

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Some street scenes from Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood. Click the photos for captions. This particular area, known by some of my family as “the second China-town” (even though it is Pan-Asian) I have so many fond memories of coming here as a child to grocery shop, rifling through the Asian high fashion magazines in a small Korean grocery (where Ba-Le Café now sits), and eating Vietnamese Pho. I still visit the area regularly to this day. This neighborhood is currently slated for development which DNAInfo Chicago reported in April as a plan that, 'Excites some and worries others.'