HARIKA MADDALA
About
Harika Maddala (pronouns: they/she) is a San Francisco State University graduate with a bachelor’s in Photojournalism and a minor in International Relations. Born and raised in India, Harika earned their BA in journalism from the country and transferred to SF State in 2019 to earn a four-year bachelor’s degree.
Maddala wears multiple hats, and their primary roles are as a Catchlight Local Fellow and a Report for America Corps Member, while working as a Bay City News Staff Photojournalist covering Stockton news. Maddala started off at Bay City News as a Photo Intern through the Emma Bowen Foundation Fellowship. In 2022, Maddala documented the homelessness crisis in Stockton as a research fellow at the Starling Lab for Data Integrity, which was co-founded by Stanford University and the University of Southern California.
They have also worked as the Online Manager of The Happy Hour Podcast and as an Organizer/ Intern with Foothill-De Anza District's California Campus Camp, helping to organize the annual seminar, managing logistics, outreach, and social media for the event.
Maddala has been clicking photos since age 14. They have had their photos displayed at various galleries, including at a TedX exhibition in India in 2016, at Yerba Buena Arts Gallery in June 2019, and Samy’s Camera in the Spring of 2019.
As a staff photographer and photo editor for San Francisco State’s newspaper, the Golden Gate Xpress, they covered police violence, prison transfers and environmental racism.
Maddala placed first in the Feature Photo category and third in the Spot News Photo category for Report for America's Annual Local News Awards 2023.
They received a $3000 Fran Ortiz Grant to document the aftermath of police violence and their abuse of power affects the families of victims in the Bay Area. They aim to work on more projects related to queer identities, race and immigration issues, body image, and mental health.
Their story on the destruction of key evidence in Sean Monterrosa's killing placed her eighth in the country for Hearst Journalism Awards in the multimedia category.
In the General News Photography category, they were a Finalist and Region 11 winner in the 2020 National Mark of Excellence Awards.
More of their published work can be found on Local News Matters, SF Chronicle, CalMatters, KQED and Golden Gate Xpress.
You may reach out to Maddala at hmaddala19@gmail.com, and they will get back to you soon.