At the United States International University-Africa in Nairobi, Kenya, with students from the Kibera School for Girls, July 2022.
David Blumenkrantz is an artist and educator. In 2004, after eight years teaching with the Los Angeles Unified School District, he joined the journalism department at California State University, and is a tenured professor. David holds a BA in Journalism, an MA in Art Education, and an MFA in Visual Communication. His professional experience includes NGO, documentary and photojournalism work in East and Central Africa, covering social, relief and development, and political issues. From 1992-1994, he was the Information Department Coordinator for the Undugu Society of Kenya, working on advocacy projects related to street children and urban poverty.
In 2019, David self-published Edges of Africa, a 190-page anthology of his photographs and writings.
He has documented development projects for UNICEF and UNESCO in Angola. His work has been exhibited and published in several countries outside the United States, including Kenya, Zimbabwe, China, Germany and France. David has also freelanced for the Los Angeles Times and various other publications as a writer and photographer.
A photography and visual communication educator for more than 20 years, David has lectured at Wuhan, Yangtze, Yunnan Normal and other universities in China. In 2015 and 2017 he was a presenter at the Intercultural Communication Conference at Wuhan University, while his field work (2015-2018) included documenting Intangible Cultural Heritage programs in Hubei and Yunnan Provinces. He has designed and taught workshops for a wide variety of clients, most recently in Kenya for SHOFCO’S Kibera School for Girls (2022), and Mukuru Youth Initiative (2024) Previous projects in Africa include Kodak East Africa, The All Africa Conference of Churches, the French Cultural Centre in Nairobi, and former freedom fighters working as photographers for the fledgling government of a new Eritrea. In the United States, David has worked with people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles, the Art Institute of Pittsburgh's Online Division, the New York Film Academy, at-risk youth at the Watts Towers Art Center (Cultural Affairs Department of the City of Los Angeles), and at-risk youth at the North Valley Caring Services. For the past several years he has worked on advocacy media projects related to urban poverty and homelessness in Los Angeles, including 2023’s Enough is (Never) Enough project.
Making Portraits in Africa, Respectfully. Interview with Pixel Magazine
Interview, Inspired Eye Magazine
RECENT AWARDS AND GRANTS
Wuhan, China, 2017
CSUN Office of Community Engagement Pedagogical Grant, to conduct participatory photography workshop at the Los Angeles Mission, Skid Row, Summer 2024
Presenter: “Community Engagement Through Participatory Photography Projects,” 2024 Engagement Scholarship Consortium International Conference, Portland, Oregon.
CSUN Office of Community Engagement Pedagogical Grant, to conduct Service Learning Course with Investigative Reporting students and mount a photography exhibition on homelessness at the Skid Row History Museum & Archive in Los Angeles, September 2023
CSUN Faculty Summer Pay Grant, for work on a collaborative curriculum development project with Nairobi University’s Dept of Journalism and Mass Communication, June 2023
CSUN Office of Community Engagement Pedagogical Grant, to conduct Service Learning Course in support of the Fernandeno Tataviam Band of Mission Indians, January 2023
MCCAMC RSCA Travel Grant, May 2022, for trip to Kenya to conduct a participatory photography project at the Kibera School for Girls, in collaboration with the NGO SHOFCO, Nikon Kenya, the United States International University-Africa, and other partners.
CSUN Exceptional Service to Students Award, 2020, 2019, 2016
Awesome Foundation, Homelessness Chapter, $1000 grant for How We See It participatory photography project, January 2020
Community Engagement Disciplinary Grants, for student community service projects at the North Valley Caring Services, North Hills, Spring 2019, and at the St. Charles Borromeo Church, North Hollywood, Fall 2019.
CSUN Faculty Exceptional Creative Accomplishment Award, 2018, for One of Us homeless documentary project.
Social Justice Hero, awarded by the Museum of Social Justice for the One of Us exhibition, Los Angeles, 2018
MCCAMC RSCA Travel Grant, May 2018, for trip to China to conduct documentary work and lecture on cultural heritage and folklore at Yuxi Normal University, Kunming and Yangtze University, Jingzhou.
MCCAMC RSCA Travel Grant, May 2017, for trip to China to conduct documentary work on cultural heritage and folklore at Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, Yangtze University, Jingzhou, and Wuhan University.
Outstanding Faculty Contribution Award, CSUN China Institute, 2017.
CSUN RSCA grant, 2016, to begin One of Us documentary project on homelessness in Los Angeles.
CSUN China Institute Faculty Travel Grant, 2016, for visit to Wuhan University and Yangtze Universities in China, to conduct research, attend symposium, and guest lecture.
Mike Curb College of Arts, Media and Communication Senior Faculty Fund Grant, for work on Africa photography anthology, 2014.
National Press Photographers Association College Photographer of the Year, 1985.
