Presenting Facing Life: Pendarvis Harshaw & Brandon Tauszik

Join grantees Pendarvis Harshaw and Brandon Tauszik in conversation with Nigel Poor and Earlonne Woods of the Ear Hustle podcast to discuss the Pulitzer Center-supported project, Facing Life. Lynn Acosta, one of the participants of Facing Life, will also join the discussion and share her story.

This is a hybrid event. Registration is required for Zoom attendance. In-person attendance does not require registration; seats available first come, first served.

Catch the conversation on YouTube here.

About the project and speakers:

Facing Life is a multimedia web-based project that chronicles the experiences of eight individuals living through re-entry after serving life prison sentences in California. 

Over the course of two years, Tauszik and Harshaw followed these individuals as they faced everyday challenges, entered the workforce, and tried to readjust to today's rapidly changing way of life. Facing Life is comprised of cinemagraphs, videos, 360VR clips, and text, giving an intimate and extensive look into the lives of eight individuals living through re-entry in California. This project was made possible with support from the Pulitzer Center.

Harshaw is a renowned journalist and educator based in Sacramento and Oakland, California. He has taught journalism to high school students as well as incarcerated men. He is a staff writer and podcast producer at KQED, as well as a graduate of UC Berkeley’s School of Journalism. His first book, OG Told Me, is a memoir-style collection of essays about Harshaw’s coming of age experience as a black man in America.

Tauszik is a documentary photographer and filmmaker based in Los Angeles and Oakland, California. His long-term projects examine elements of America’s social periphery. His most recent works have incorporated the largely unexplored medium of cinemagraphs, a delicate hybrid between the still image and film. This work has received reviews from TIME, Slate, VICE, Medium among others.

Following the event will be a reception and exhibition viewing at The Bridge, located on the 5th Floor of the Main Library. Light refreshments will be served.