What makes a picture desk? Join us for an essential dialogue with leading photo editors across Southeast Asia and beyond, as they discuss the realities of running a picture desk in today’s media landscape.
Inside the Picture Desk: A photo editor’s perspective
📅 23 March 2025, Sunday
⏰ 3 – 4:30pm Singapore
💻 Live on Zoom
Join
✅ Wong Maye-E (Senior Editor, Wider Image and Special Projects, Reuters)
✅ Vivek Prakash (Managing Editor APAC, Getty)
✅ Luke Duggleby (Founder, HaRD Stories)
✅ LeAnne Jazul (Photo Editor, Rappler)
✅ Wang Hui Fen (Photo Editor, The Straits Times)
✅ Sanjit Das (Photo Editor, Bloomberg)
as they give you a window into the decision-making process that shapes visual journalism today.
We discuss now newsrooms evaluate and select visual stories, how and why you should pitch your project, and the challenges of running a photo desk, and how editors work with photographers to overcome them. Whether you’re an established photographer, building your portfolio, or just curious about how the media works, understanding the editorial perspective is crucial to advancing your work and improving your visual literacy.
The In Conversation series is a POY Asia and Parallax collaboration.
Our Panelists
Wong Maye-E
Senior Editor, Wider Image and Special Projects, Reuters
Wong Maye-E is an internationally acclaimed, multi-award-winning photojournalist with over two decades of experience working internationally in breaking news, special reports, and major sporting events. Currently the Senior Editor of Reuters’ Wider Image and Special Projects, she mentors photographers all over the world in long form storytelling, and collaborates daily with journalists and editors across the newsroom to produce deep and impactful multimedia stories. Maye-E has been on World Press Photo, Pictures of the Year (POYi), and Pictures of the Year Asia (POY Asia) juries. She is a founding advisor of POY Asia, and a director on the Eddie Adams Workshop board. Maye-E is based in New York.
🔗 @w0ngmayee
Vivek Prakash
Managing Editor, APAC, Getty Images
Vivek Prakash is Getty’s Managing Editor for news production in APAC. With over two decades of experience in journalism, he has worked as a desk editor, staff and chief photographer for Reuters, covering high-profile stories across Asia from bases in Singapore and India. He reported on Hong Kong’s political unrest at AFP from 2017-2020.
As a photo editor at The New York times, he crafted visual storytelling for the International Edition, publishing the international edition and editing the day-to-day news file. Since 2020, he has led Getty Images’ news operations in Asia, focusing on nurturing emerging talent and elevating visual storytelling standards. His mission is to enhance craftsmanship while maintaining high ethical standards.
🔗 @vivpix
Luke Duggleby
Founder and Photo Editor, HaRD Stories
Luke Duggleby is a freelance photographer who has been based in Bangkok, Thailand, for over two decades. He is also the co-founder and photo-editor of the non-profit independent media website HaRD Stories which focuses on producing feature stories related to human rights and the environment in Thailand and beyond.
Throughout his career, he has worked on assignments for clients such as The New York Times, Bloomberg and Der Spiegel in addition to being a roster photographer for Redux Pictures in the US. His work has been placed in several major awards including Pictures of the Year International and International Photo Awards. He is a recipient of multiple support grants from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting and International Center for Journalists (ICFJ). With a focus on documenting human rights and environmental justice topics, particularly of rural communities in Thailand, in 2018 he was awarded by the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand for his contribution in covering human rights issues in Thailand and spoken about the work at Tedx Khon Kaen.
🔗 lukeduggleby.com | @lukedugglebyphoto
LeAnne Jazul
Photo Editor, Rappler
Leanne Jazul has been working in the Philippines news and media industry for close to 30 years. He started as Art Director in the Sunday Times Magazine of the Manila Times, and has been a visual and design consultant for various start-ups, publishers, NGOs and government agencies. In 2013, Leanne joined Rappler, the Philippines’ first social media news site, and currently serves as its photo editor.
Sanjit Das
Photo Editor, Bloomberg
Sanjit Das is a photo editor and photographer with over 25 years in visual storytelling. As a photo editor with Bloomberg’s Asia Pacific visual media team, he collaborates with multi-disciplinary photographers to create impactful narratives. While working as a documentary photographer, he covered social issues, producing work that influenced public discourse. His project on India’s Dongria Kondh community led to a Bloomberg Businessweek cover and corporate repercussions. Passionate about diversity, he mentors emerging talent, particularly in developing countries. A member of Panos Pictures, Sanjit continues to shape the industry with his editorial expertise.
🔗 sanjitdas.com | @sanjitdasphoto
Wang Hui Fen
Picture Editor, The Straits Times
Wang Hui Fen is the picture editor at The Straits Times. She graduated with honours in graphic and media design from the London College of Printing (now known as London College of Communication), and has received multiple awards for her work in photojournalism. She is passionate about the impact of visuals, and sees photojournalists as key storytellers who capture and preserve moments that shape our understanding of the world.
