TORONTO, ON (06/11/2017) – Desiree Gatoto poses for a portrait at her home in Toronto Jun 11, 2017. Gatoto worked in social work at the Council for Education and Development (COPED) in Burundi prior to arriving in Canada. She was finally reunited with her husband Jean-Claude, who fled the first Burundian genocide, in December 2015, after 10 years of waiting. Photo by Annie Sakkab.
Annie Sakkab is a Canadian-Palestinian, born and raised in Jordan. She has lived in Amman, Dubai, London, Rome and Toronto. As a visual storyteller and social documentarian, she is drawn to explore the customs, lifestyles and values that characterize her subjects. Annie’s work often raises questions of identity and awareness of the experiences of exile, uprooting and displacement among marginalized groups.
Before turning to photography, Annie received a degree in Fine Art from Northumberland University in the UK, and held various positions as a graphic designer, creative director and art director. A graduate of Loyalist College in Photojournalism, Annie won the News Photographers Association of Canada (NPAC) NPOY Student Photographer of The Year Award (2015), CPOY College Photographer of the Year Award: Award of Excellence in Portraiture (2015), and the NPAC 1st Place Feature Photo (2016), among other awards. Her work has been exhibited in Canada, UAE and the United States.
She is currently on assignment as photojournalist and filmmaker for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), documenting refugee stories in Canada.
Loyalist Photojournalism testimonial
Loyalist gave me the space and time to explore and figure out who I want to be as a photographer. Throughout the two years I was in the Photojournalism program, I immersed myself into what I love most and I gave it everything I have. I’ve learned new skills; I’ve met some incredible individuals who continue to inspire me, and it opened up new opportunities.
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