Born and raised on the Riviera, in the South of France, Valérie studied English in Paris and photojournalism at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
For years they worked as a photojournalist, traveling worldwide on assignments for numerous media outlets including the Agence France-Presse in Paris and Hong Kong. In 2000, she met their husband, an acrobat from Peru, and joined him on the road with the circus, where they raised their two boys. During those years, Valerie started a personal documentary project titled, The Mudshow Diaries, about their life and family in the circus, and the extraordinary life of circus families.
Now based in Columbia, Missouri, Valérie works on social documentary photography and social justice activism. Her/their editorial work is represented by The Story Institute (New York, London.)
Photo Copyrights Monique C. Woo (2017.)
CV
Owner, Valérie Berta Photography
Photographer
Member, The Story Institute (New York, London)
Photographer and writer, Kelly Miller Circus 2008 to 2012
Photographer, Circus Chimera 2006 to 2008
Visiting lecturer in photojournalism, Institut Universitaire de Technologie (Sophia Antipolis, France) 2006
The Press-Enterprise (Riverside, CA) 2002/2004
Jacksonville Journal-Courier (Jacksonville, IL) 2000/2002
The Herald-Journal (Logan, UT) 1994
The News-Journal (Wilmington, DE) 1993
Columbia Missourian (Columbia, MO) 1992
Freelancer
Agence France-Presse (AFP) wire 1999/2000
The Washington Post, The Houston Chronicle various local organizations and publications 1995
Photo editing and other
AFP: web sites (Paris, France) 1996/1997
AFP: international picture desk (Paris, France; Hong Kong, China) 1997/1999
Assistant coordinator for Pictures of the Year
University of Missouri-Columbia (Columbia, MO) 1994
Founder and director of the Voices Photography Workshop
for minority children 1992/94
Education
Master's degree
Photojournalism, University of MissouriColumbia (Columbia, MO) 1991 to 1994
English, Charles V Institute at the Université Paris VII (Paris, France) 1984
Languages
French, Spanish, English
References
Joel Beeson Professor of Visual Communications,
Reed College of Media, West Virginia University (Morgantown, WV) (304) 2933505
Steve Warmowski Warmowski Photography and Photo Editor (retired) at
The Jacksonville JournalCourier (Jacksonville, IL) (217) 4735517
Nikki Smith Smith/Skolnik Literary Agency (Plainfield, NJ) (908) 8221870