Kael Alford

Born in Middletown, NY, 1971. Kael is a freelance photojournalist who has spent more than eight months of the last year and a half in Iraq. She was based in Baghdad during the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. Her recent work from Iraq focuses on the growing culture of resistance, conservative religion and the grass roots movements developing since the invasion of Iraq.

Kael has worked extensively covering culture, politics and conflict in Southeast Europe and the Middle East for many major US and European magazines and newspapers. Her work from the conflicts in Kosovo and Macedonia was recognized in the Pictures of the Year competition in 2001 and 2002. She has a master's degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism and has taught photojournalism at the American University of Bulgaria. She is based in Amsterdam and New York and is represented by Panos Pictures in London.

Kael is one of the photographers featured in the CBC documentary Beyond Words. The film focuses on the world's top war photojournalists, and attempts to turn the lens of attention onto them as they reflect upon their experience photographing war and conflicts.