Lisa Wiltse
b.
1977From:
Weston, ConnecticuttBased:
Sydney, AustraliaPosition:
Staff photographer, Sydney Morning HeraldEducation:
BFA, Art Institute of Boston, 1999Background:
Wiltse began her career freelancing and generating self-funded projects focusing on humanitarian issues in Central America, Uganda, India, and most recently Bangladesh, where she felt strongly about documenting the aftermath of the crisis in Dhaka long after the international media had moved on. As a staff photographer for the Sydney Morning Herald, her work has been awarded several honors including first prize at PX3 Prix de la Photographie, the Paris Oxfam Humanitarian award, the Gordon Parks International Photography contest, and the Australian Walkley Award in the daily life/feature category.
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Work by Lisa Wiltse
#17 | Little Voice
Following the disastrous floods of 1998 the population of Dhaka, Bangladesh has risen to over 10 million, largely due to an influx of "climate refugees." These refugees, displaced rural citizens who flock to Dhaka from the countryside to find shelter, food and water, have arrived to an already crumbling mega city searching for hope in one of the world's most densely populated countries, 147 million strong.Annual flooding and natural disasters add to this population crisis; flooding in 2007 displaced an estimated nine million Bangladeshis. But the problems are more deep rooted in a country where 80% of the population lives on less than a dollar a day. Scientists estimate that a global rise in oceans of just 1 meter is enough to submerge half of the low-lying country, which also faces educational, agricultural sustainability, and other environmental challenges. Beneath the extreme hazards of life in Dhaka, however, are scores of people working together in a raw human will to survive and overcome.
