In Brief..

I'm Doug. I make photographs to express our collective stories and for the joy of the craft. A focused skill that ages smooth like fine French cheese. I specialize in portrait, reportage and editorial in SF Bay, Downeast Maine and abroad. I'm known for a warm welcoming vibe that invites strength and sincerity. You can find me in my Alameda portrait studio, the webz, or on a longboard blurring atop Shoreline Avenue. I've become a trusted go-to photographer for many a brand, family and business - to refine legacy images over time.

Summary (3rd Person, article friendly)

Douglas Despres is an American photographer (b. 1981), based out of San Francisco Bay. He photographs for non profits & NGO's as well as brands, news outlets and private foundations. His stories primarily focus on social and human rights issues in the United States. Editorially, Doug works with magazines, small business, and travel & lifestyle brands and publications. He also photographs self-assigned documentary and portrait projects.

Doug has been a freelance photographer for 18 years. He has photographed for four newspapers, interned at the Maine Media Workshops, taught film and digital photography classes on the grounds of UC Berkeley, earned an art degree from the University of South Florida and has imagery in public and private collections around the United States. He has also volunteered as a photographer with the American Red Cross.

Doug's lastest reportage work, commissioned by the Life Is Good Kids Foundation, was in Minneapolis documenting the recovery and road of hope of kids with severe childhood trauma. His latest personal project focused on multi-generation tobacco farm life in Cuba's Pinar del Rio province.

Before Cuban farm life, Doug focused on the Oceti Sakowin main camp daily life of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, fighting against the Dakota Access Pipeline in order to maintain clean water for themselves and countless others along the proposed oil route. Those images were featured online alongside a 25 page printed photo-essay by Nowhere Magazine in their 2017 Annual Print Issue as well as being part of an exhibition running alongside the Nobel Peace Prize forum in Oslo, Norway in 2018.

Clients + Commissions

Alameda Sun, Amanda Palmer, Amnesty International, Arxan Technologies, Beehively, Bless by Bless Couture, Bospar, Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, The Cambrian, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Coleman Advocates, Compassion & Choices, Cormac McCarthy, Elephant Walk Restaurant, Foster's Daily Democrat, Harvard University, Independent Television Service, John Burton Advocates for Youth, Life Is Good Kids Foundation, The Massage Clinic California, National Park Foundation, The Noise, Oakland Literacy Coalition, The Oracle, Portsmouth Magazine, Pretty Instant, The Princess Project, Rising Star Optometry, Shuk Shuka, SLO Magazine, Smule, Stitch Fix, Swervedriver, True Mountain Tea, Two Dudes Photo, Unique Thai, The Wire, and Yankee Magazine.