Michael Christopher Brown, a photojournalist with Magnum Photos, was in a rut, both personally and professionally. After spending a year on a failed photography project in China, Brown knew he needed a change. While in Beijing, he caught CNN’s coverage of the Libyan revolution and saw the opportunity for growth he was looking for. Caught up in the revolutionary spirit, Brown made a decision that would ultimately change the direction of his life; he left for Libya.

A year later, Brown was recovering from a near fatal injury, and the wounds of a loss that shook the photography community to its core.

Since 1985, the International Center of Photography has recognized outstanding achievements in photography with its prestigious Infinity Awards. The awards ceremony is also ICP’s primary fundraising benefit, with its revenues assisting the center's various programs.

Harbers Studios

 commissioned MediaStorm, on behalf of ICP, to create a short film about each of the recipients to screen at the awards ceremony and to display online. The films pay tribute to the contributions of each artist to the craft and field of photography and demonstrate ICP's commitment to them.

This year’s winner for Artist’s Book is Michael Christopher Brown, a photojournalist who documented the revolution and its aftermath in Libya. His groundbreaking book, Libyan Sugar, serves as a record for Michael’s time in Libya, in which he documents both the tragedies and triumphs of revolution; and the ways that it transformed a young photojournalist struggling to find his voice.

Michael Christopher Brown’s story from, and photographs of, the Libyan Revolution are legendary in the photojournalism world. But as this year’s ICP winner for Artist Book, the challenge was to both detail Michael's dramatic personal story of transformation, and connect that story to his book. In this way, we wanted to tell the story of both the Libyan Revolution from one photojournalist’s perspective, and the story of how the experience changed Michael. We were also very cognizant of the ramifications of this story for the photojournalism community itself, which was rocked by the deaths of two of its beloved members, Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros, in Libya. Michael witnessed these deaths and was himself severely wounded in the attack. Our job became to tell this story within the larger context of the revolution while making his book an integral part of the film.

After reading his book and a wide variety of interviews with Brown, MediaStorm decided to use the journal entries in Libyan Sugar to frame the film, making the book an integral part of the plot. The book juxtaposes Michael’s vivid, and sometimes gory, imagery of the Revolution with his own personal correspondence. The film mimics this juxtaposition, positing the documentation of the war alongside loving notes from his mother and friends. This format allowed for a more natural transition between Brown’s story and his remarkable book. It also followed the intent for Michael’s work, which was to show not only what happened to Libya as a result of the revolution, but what happened to him, as a professional and a person.

The film premiered on April 24, 2017 at the ICP Infinity Awards Gala in Chelsea Piers, New York City. The films were the special feature of the evening and a critical fundraising tool.

This film was a collaboration with Harbers Studio and the International Center of Photography.

Harbers Studios turbocharges the efforts of charitable entrepreneurs by helping them tell their stories. Our goal is to help them articulate and share the value of the work they do so they can inspire others to help them do it. Working with some of the best filmmaking talent in the world, Harbers Studios creates compelling visual narratives that enhance the endeavors of organizations working to make the world a better place.

The International Center of Photography (ICP) is the world’s leading institution dedicated to the practice and understanding of photography and the reproduced image in all its forms. Through exhibitions, educational programs, and community outreach, ICP offers an open forum for dialogue about the role images play in our culture. Since ICP’s founding, they have presented more than 500 exhibitions and offered thousands of classes, providing instruction at every level. ICP is a center where photographers and artists, students and scholars can create and interpret the world of the image within our comprehensive educational facilities and archive.

As a privately funded nonprofit arts and education organization, ICP depends in large part on friends such as you for support. Your generosity is vital to ICP as it continues to grow and succeed in its mission: to present photography's extraordinary power to the public.

There are many ways to give to ICP: Donate to the Annual Fund, create a scholarship, sponsor exhibitions and education programs, contribute to the Collection, or make a planned gift.

Since 1985, the International Center of Photography has recognized outstanding achievements in photography with its prestigious Infinity Awards. The awards ceremony is also ICP’s primary fundraising benefit, with its revenues assisting the center's various programs.

Harbers Studios commissioned MediaStorm, on behalf of ICP, to create a short film about each of the recipients to screen at the awards ceremony and to display online. The films pay tribute to the contributions of each artist to the craft and field of photography and demonstrate ICP's commitment to them.