Fellow, Photographer

Location: New York, NY; Washington, DC Department: Reporting

The mission of The New York Times is to seek the truth and help people understand the world. That means independent journalism is at the heart of all we do as a company. It’s why we have a world-renowned newsroom that sends journalists to report on the ground from nearly 160 countries. It’s why we focus deeply on how our readers will experience our journalism, from print to audio to a world-class digital and app destination. And it’s why our business strategy centers on making journalism so good that it’s worth paying for.

Join the 2027 New York Times Fellowship class as a photographer.

The Times is a worldwide leader in visual journalism, earning multiple Pulitzer Prizes and World Press Photo awards in recent years and establishing standards for excellence that have been influential across the industry. Our photographers bear witness to events around the world, and our Photo department is one of the treasures of our newsroom.

As a fellow, you will work with Times photo editors, shooting daily news and enterprise assignments for many sections. The goal is to give you exposure to news and feature photography, and the opportunity to learn about news judgment, editing choices, video journalism, building visual narratives, lighting techniques and aesthetic direction. Working with photo editors, you will also initiate enterprise projects.

You should be open to learning from others, and inclusive, generous and empathetic toward our colleagues, our audience, and the communities we cover.

You will work out of either our New York headquarters, where you will cover a mix of assignments, or our Washington bureau, where you will mainly cover Capitol Hill and the White House.

These are in-office positions and include regular attendance in the office four days each week. There may be some flexibility to work remotely per your departmental guidance. You may be required to work some nights, weekends and holidays as needed.

Responsibilities

Create innovative visuals connected to the biggest news and themes of the day

Create photography and video, providing accurate captions, and original reporting on the ground

Ability or ambition to generate and pitch your own story ideas

Work closely with the photographers’ chief

Participate in training and social programs designed for the fellowship

Collaborate with colleagues across the newsroom

Demonstrate support and understanding of our value of journalistic independence and a strong commitment to our mission to seek the truth and help people understand the world

Basic Qualifications

No more than five years of full-time, professional photojournalism experience, excluding internships

A portfolio of work demonstrating excellence in visual storytelling

Some experience reporting and photographing in news situations and on deadline

Some experience with videography or an interest in learning video

Knowledge of photographic equipment, Photoshop, Photo Mechanic, Premiere and/or other photo- and video-editing software

Preferred Qualifications

Strong editorial news judgment and firm grasp of journalistic ethics

Enthusiasm for learning new technologies and working with new equipment in pursuit of innovation in visual journalism

Interest in finding a wide range of voices in your reporting to help our readers and subscribers better understand the world

Record of multiple photojournalism internships or equivalent experience

To apply, upload a résumé and cover letter. You should also include a link to a portfolio of your work. The application will prompt you when to upload materials and ask you for the link to your portfolio. Applications that fail to include any of these materials or follow these instructions will not be considered.

You must be authorized to work in the United States. We will not sponsor work visas for the fellowship, but we will consider applicants with valid work authorization or a valid student visa that can be extended with Optional Practical Training.

You may apply to only one fellowship position per year. For instance, if you apply as a photographer, you should not apply for any other positions in the fellowship. Duplicate applications will be discarded.

The application deadline is 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Nov. 20.

The Times Fellowship generates a high level of interest, so we cannot acknowledge the status of applications upon receipt or during the vetting process, which can take eight weeks or more. We cannot accept applications that are mailed or emailed to us. We will contact you for interviews as needed.

The fellowship program will begin on or about June 7, 2027, and end on May 26, 2028, subject to satisfactory performance. Please note there is no guarantee of a full-time position upon completion of the program.

For more information about the Times Fellowship, visit here.

This position is represented by the NewsGuild of New York.

REQ-020747

Additional Compensation and Benefits

For roles in the U.S., dependent on your role, you may be eligible for variable pay, such as an annual bonus and restricted stock. Benefits may include medical, dental and vision benefits, Flexible Spending Accounts (F.S.A.s), a company-matching 401(k) plan, employee stock purchase plan, paid vacation, paid sick days, paid parental leave, tuition reimbursement and professional development programs.

For roles outside of the U.S., information on benefits will be provided during the interview process.

The annual base pay range for this role is between

$82,414.80—$82,414.80 USD

Candidate Use of GenAI Tools

We’re excited to learn more about you and your experience. To keep our hiring process as fair and authentic as possible, we ask that you submit your own work and not use GenAI tools to generate substantive content during the application and interview process.

If you’re an engineering candidate, we’ll let you know what specific GenAI tools you are permitted to use fo