Rick D’Elia has spent 36 years photographing people’s stories, witnessing their lives and helping viewers connect with the people in his photographs. Working as a professional photojournalist and commercial photographer, producing images for publications, businesses, PR and news agencies, portrait clients, and international relief and development organizations.

Based in Fountain Hills, Rick began his career covering assignments at a Connecticut newspaper chain in 1989 after earning a photojournalism degree at Northern Arizona University. He transitioned to independent work in 1992, regularly contributing to the Arizona Republic, East Valley Tribune, and Raising Arizona Kids Magazine, as well as Corbis Images, Zuma, and European Pressphoto. His work has been published in Time, Life, The Guardian, Le Monde, the LA Times, The Times of London, USA Today, and many other publications, news sites, and books.

     Rick began documenting the work of international relief organizations with Americares in Rwanda in 1994, witnessing the selfless work of medical staff as they provided relief to a devastated population. Profoundly inspired, he has since returned to Africa six times and traveled to three other continents, working with Save the Children, Catholic Relief Services, and USAID. In 2004, while living in Uganda, Rick teamed up with two other photojournalists to document the effects of the Northern Uganda Conflict on it’s people for exhibitions funded by the U.S. State Department to increase awareness of an underreported crisis. The exhibition later found venues in galleries and universities across the U.S., and remains among his most consequential work.