Josh with his two sons Gus (left) and Arlo (center)
Josh with his RIT photojournalism colleagues Jenn Poggi, William Snyder, Meredith Davenport at RIT’s 2017 commencement ceremonies

Josh Meltzer joined the faculty in the School of Photographic Arts & Sciences at Rochester Institute of Technology in 2015 as an Assistant Professor where he teaches photojournalism and multimedia storytelling, including interactive storytelling. In 2020, Josh was awarded the Robin F. Garland Educator Award from the National Press Photographers Association for his strong dedication to his students and his commitment to community.

Before coming to RIT, he was first a Photojournalist-in-Residence and then an Assistant Professor teaching similar courses in the School of Media. A native of Athens, Georgia, Josh is a 1995 graduate of Carleton College in Minnesota and received his Masters in Multimedia Communications from the University of Miami in 2013.

In 2008, after 9 years as a staff photographer and multimedia journalist at The Roanoke Times in Roanoke, Virginia, Josh accepted a Fulbright Scholarship to photograph and teach in Mexico where he began working on a project about the migration of indigenous families within Mexico. A selection of his work from his Fulbright year won the Grand Prize Professional Award from Photophilanthropy in 2010. He completed this project in 2014 as part of his Master’s Thesis while at the University of Miami.

He has been a co-coordinator and instructor with the Truth With A Camera workshops in Mexico, Ecuador and Bosnia and has served for several years on the staff of The Mountain Workshops and NPPA’s Multimedia Immersion.

His still and multimedia work has been recognized by the National Press Photographers Association’s (NPPA) Best of Photojournalism competition, where he was the 2006 Photojournalist of the Year for markets less than 115,000 circulation, Pictures of the Year International, which recognized a long-term project on those who care for the elderly with the Documentary of the Year award, KNPA, VNPA, Atlanta Photojournalism Competition, Northern and Southern Short Courses and the Society of Newspaper Design. He is also a recipient of the NPPA’s Humanitarian Award in 2012 and is a 2013 recipient of the Carnegie Hero Award.