Stacy L. Pearsall
Pearsall in 2004 photo by Bethann Caporaletti
Born1980 (age 42–43)
Corpus Christi, Texas
Service/branchUnited States Air Force
Years of service1997–2008
RankStaff Sergeant
Unit1st Combat Camera Squadron
Battle for BaqubahOperation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom
AwardsBronze Star Medal, Air Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal with Valor, Air Force Combat Action Medal, Joint Service Achievement Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Joint Meritorious Unit Award, Meritorious Unit Award, Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Valor Device, Combat Readiness Medal, Air Force Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Iraqi Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Air Force Overseas Ribbon Short, Air Force Expeditionary Service Medal with Gold Border, Air Force Longevity Service Medal, NCO PME Graduate Ribbon, Small Arms Marksmanship Ribbon Pistol, John Levitow Award, Joint Service Junior Member of the Year
Other workFounder of the Veterans Portrait Project, Owner/Director of the Charleston Center for Photography, Speaker for Bravo748, Producer and Host of Action Action television series, Owner of LowCountry Acres

Stacy L. Pearsall is an American photographer.[1] Pearsall served as a military photographer in the United States Air Force until her wounds lead to her medical retirement. Since leaving the Air Force, Pearsall has worked as a professional photographer.

Biography

U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Stacy Pearsall, from the 1st Combat Camera Squadron, shows American children how to capture an image inside the terminal on Ramstein Air Base, Germany, July 22, 2006. The Air Force is flying American citizens who departed Lebanon to the United States. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Russell E. Cooley IV) (Released)

Pearsall enlisted in the U.S. Air Force at age 17 as a Basic Still Photographer.[2] Upon graduating from the Defense Information School in 1998,[3] she was assign to U.S. Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base, NE, followed by the European Command, Joint Analysis Center at RAF Molesworth in the United Kingdom,[4] where she served as a U-2 High Altitude Reconnaissance Aircraft long-roll processor. In 2001, she applied and was accepted to the 1st Combat Camera Squadron (COMCAM) in Charleston, SC. During her two consecutive tours, she certified as aircrew and traveled to more than 41 countries and completed the Military Photojournalism program at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University but never earned a degree there while still in the U.S. Air Force.

Pearsall first entered combat as an aerial combat photographer in Iraq in 2003. On average, Pearsall spent 280 days a year covering humanitarian relief missions, as well as aerial and ground combat operations with the Air Force, Army, Marine Corps and Navy. Her images were used by the President, Secretary of Defense, and Joint Chiefs of Staff to make informed decisions in the battle space.[5][6][7][8][9][10] She went on to earn the Bronze Star Medal, two Air Force Commendation Medals (one with Valor) and two Air Medals for her actions in Iraq during three combat tours. Pearsall is a two-time National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) at Military Photographer of the Year winner;[11] becoming one of only two women to do so.

While Pearsall was under roughly 18 months of rehabilitation for the combat injuries that she sustained in Iraq, she spent a long time in waiting rooms surrounded by veterans whom she wished to honor and thank through photography. She founded the Veterans Portrait Project in 2008 and has since photographed and documented about 8,500 veterans in all 50 states[12] and held many exhibitions showing the work of veterans in their hometowns. Her work has been exhibited at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery,[13] National Veterans Memorial and Museum,[14] Women in Military Service for American Memorial,[15] and the Woodruff Arts Center[16] among many others.

Upon her medical retirement from active duty service in 2008, Pearsall began working for the Charleston Center for Photography and assumed ownership and direction in 2009.[17] She has also served as a nomination juror for the Pulitzer Prize and held a position in the advisory board of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at The Citadel since 2009. Pearsall has also been awarded the Carolinas Freedom Foundation Freedom Award, lauded by the White House as a Champion Change, given the Daughters of the American Revolution Margaret Cochran Corbin Award, and holds an honorary doctoral degree from the Citadel. Pearsall has completed two books of photography Shooter: Combat from Behind the Camera and A Photojournalist's Field Guide She is the founder or the Veterans Portrait Project.[18][2][19][20][21]

In 2017, Pearsall was awarded a service dog from America's VetDogs on the TODAY Show.[22] Her service animal, Charlie, was raised and trained on-set to highlight the benefits of service dogs for disabled veterans. Together, Pearsall and Charlie have traveled to over 19 states, including Hawaii and Alaska, to engage in public speaking events and the Veterans Portrait Project.

In 2022, Pearsall became the Producer and Host of the national PBS television series, After Action,[23] which is available on local PBS stations, PBS Plus and PBS Passport. After Action is a show that reveals the experiences of 21 diverse veterans from across the U.S. through candid conversations about what life is like before, during and after action. Pearsall’s own struggles to reconnect with society challenges her fellow veterans to probe deeper into their stories, helping to provide a better appreciation for those who’ve served.

Pearsall, and her husband Andy Dunaway, also a retired combat photographer, now live on a farm, LowCountry Acres, in Harleyville, South Carolina,[18] where they breed, raise and train rare European Brabant draft horses.

References

  1. ↑ Tom Bearden (October 27, 2011). "Military Photographer: 'The Medic Could Not Get There Fast Enough'". PBS Newshour. Retrieved October 28, 2011. She is a decorated combat veteran who, as a woman, was never supposed to see combat. However, she experienced military life at its most difficult, living in the ruins of Iraqi towns, dodging sniper fire.
  2. 1 2 "Hello my name is Stacy L. Pearsall". Archived from the original on April 25, 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2011.
  3. ↑ Author, Guest (March 11, 2014). "How Combat Photographer Stacy Pearsall Got One of Military's Highest Honors". PetaPixel. Retrieved September 2, 2022. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  4. ↑ "A Conversation with Stacy Pearsall". Popular Photography. December 19, 2008. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
  5. ↑ Stacy Pearsall (December 19, 2013). "A Photojournalist's Field Guide" (PDF). Peachpit Press. p. XI. Retrieved February 24, 2015. mirror
  6. ↑ "Combat Veteran Captures Impact of War One Picture at a Time". PBS Newshour. October 27, 2011. Archived from the original on June 6, 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2011.
  7. ↑ "Military Photographer: 'The Medic Could Not Get There Fast Enough'". PBS Newshour. October 27, 2011. Archived from the original on June 16, 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2011.
  8. ↑ "A Life Under Fire: Combat Photographer Captures, Carries Wounds of War". PBS Newshour. October 27, 2011. Archived from the original on October 28, 2011. Retrieved October 28, 2011.
  9. ↑ "Combat photographers to talk about experiences on Monday". Maui News. August 22, 2010. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 28, 2011. Pearsall is one of only two women to win the NPPA Military Photographer of the Year competition, and the only woman to have won it twice. During her three tours in Iraq, she earned the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart and Commendation with Valor for heroic actions under fire, according to an article on the U.S. Air Force website.
  10. ↑ "סמינר אינטרנטי בתחום ניהול הצבע ללא תשלום". July 12, 2010. Archived from the original on June 13, 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2011.
  11. ↑ "Combat Camera Airman receives best in DOD honor". Joint Base Charleston. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
  12. ↑ "'In every uniform is a human being' — an Air Force vet is on a mission to take portraits of 7,500 veterans in all 50 states". Task & Purpose. July 28, 2019. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
  13. ↑ Magazine, Smithsonian; Catlin, Roger. "Six Artists Record the Vestiges of War in the Faces of Combatants". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
  14. ↑ "National Veterans Memorial and Museum gives voice to veterans' experiences". Veterans Memorial. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
  15. ↑ "Portrait exhibit casts light on women's underrecognized military service". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
  16. ↑ O'Neill, Gail (December 4, 2017). "Injured in Iraq, former combat photographer Stacy Pearsall photographs American veterans". ARTS ATL. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
  17. ↑ Molly Parker (September 25, 2009). "Owner says Charleston Center for Photography on the brink of closure". Charleston Post and Courier. Archived from the original on April 25, 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2011. "It's awful really seeing all the doors close on King Street, so I'm trying very hard to reach out to anybody who's ever been a patron of the center to get us through this rough part," said Pearsall, who spent 12 years as a combat photographer for the Air Force.
  18. 1 2 Prentiss Findlay (December 19, 2008). "Combat photographer attacked on jog". Charleston Post and Courier. p. 11. Retrieved October 28, 2011.
  19. ↑ "IDP Radio – Pro Profile: Stacy Pearsall Combat Photographer". Inside Digital Photography. Archived from the original on November 12, 2011. Retrieved October 28, 2011.
  20. ↑ "Combat Camera Photographer: U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant Stacy Pearsall, Military Photographer of the Year 2003". United States Department of Defense. 2003. Archived from the original on October 18, 2011. Retrieved October 28, 2011.
  21. ↑ Warren Wise (March 24, 2008). "Staff sgt. earns military photographer honor". Charleston Post and Courier. Archived from the original on October 9, 2015. Retrieved October 28, 2011. In 2003, she was named Military Photographer of the Year. She was just awarded the honor again for 2007.
  22. ↑ "Watch the sweet moment Charlie met the veteran he will serve, Stacy Pearsall". TODAY.com. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
  23. ↑ "After Action is in Production!". South Carolina ETV. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
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