About

I trace my love of photography to when I spent most of my free time documenting street life in and around New Haven, Connecticut. That body of work and my portfolio from Paier College of Art earned me a Staff Photographer position at the New Haven Advocate, an alternative newsweekly, where I covered everything from politics and the environment to crime, sports, and social-justice causes. Fueled by my escalating interest in documentaries, my profession veered into television news as a Video Photographer/ Editor for the CBS affiliate in Hartford. Five years later, that gave way to an opportunity that let me combine my two passions—photography and animal protection—after the Humane Society of the United States, the nation’s foremost animal-protection organization, recruited me to launch and run its video production department.

For two decades I traveled the world for the HSUS, photographing everything from the African Elephant ivory trade and the cruelty of puppy mills to habitat protection, wildlife rehabilitation, and innovative spay-neuter programs. I resigned from the HSUS in 2015 and have devoted time on personal projects and photographing for animal-rescue organizations in the greater Washington, D.C., area.

In June 2021, I graduated from the International Center of Photography’s Documentary Practice and Visual Journalism program.

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Awards

  • Bearing Witness: Canada’s 2005 Seal Hunt won First Place at the International Wildscreen Film Festival, the prestigious global wildlife and environmental film festival.
  • On Thin Ice (a sequel to Bearing Witness) was named best non-broadcast documentary at theInternational Wildlife Film Festival, in Missoula, Montana.
  • Society of Professional Journalists, Connecticut Chapter: Second Prize, Television In-depth; Second Prize, Television Sports Reporting,
  • Connecticut Press Club: First Prize
  • Society of Professional Journalists, Connecticut Chapter (non-daily newspaper): First Prize, Feature Photo, Second Prize, Feature Photo; Honorable Mention, Sports Photo; First Prize, Feature Photos, Second Prize, Feature Photos.

kcmilani@gmail.com