Dede Pickering Photography | Editorial Photographer
Cuba 2024 Antarctica 2023 Spain Aerials 2023 Greenland 2022 Iceland Aerials 2022 Iceland Ice and Aurora 2022
South Africa & Lesotho 2018 Namibia and the Himba 2014
Antarctica 2020 Antarctica Ice & Icebergs Antarctica Reflections
Sacred Japan 2017 Myanmar Mountains, Rivers & Ocean 2016 Myanmar Tattoos & Pagodas 2011 Bhutan Land of the Thunder Dragon 2010
Best of Cuba Havana & Vinales 2022 Cuba: Camagüey and the Countryside 2020 Cuba: Havana & Trinidad 2019 Camagüey 2019 Havana & Trinidad 2017 Eastern Cuba 2016 Eastern Cuba & Havana 2014 Havana & Trinidad 2010, 2012, 2013
Greenland Ice 2019 Greenland Icebergs 2019 Iceland Aerials 2019 Greenland 2018 East Greenland 2014 Iceland 2013,2014,2022
Bangladesh 2018 Tribes of NE India 2018 Sri Lanka & Kandy Perahera Festival 2017 Kashmir to Ladakh Overland 2015 Kashmir & Down the Ganges 2014 Rajasthan & Beyond 2012 NE India Nagaland & Tawang 2009
Colombia & Carnaval de Blancos & Negros Pasto 2023 Peru & Festivals of Virgin del Carmen 2015 Colombia & Carnival Barranquilla 2013

Artist Statement


My photographs are a bridge between cultures and express a universal human spirit while paralleling my own personal journey. A journey that opens the door to many diverse cultures. My camera has given me a way to relate to the world and new meaning to my travels.

I am motivated by my curiosity, sense of adventure and desire to explore the unknown. I was a traveler long before I was a photographer. Discovering the world has been a lifelong personal journey of soul-searching and self-discovery. Recording what I see has given me an increased empathy and connection to the world. I have found that I have so much in common with people of different cultures. The differences challenge me to see new possibilities within myself.

Camera in hand I've traveled to seven continents and more than one hundred countries, never hesitating to return to my favorite destinations. My passion remains The Far East and in particular the Buddhist areas that border the great Himalayan Mountain range. It is in the world’s ancient cultures that I continue to uncover a sacred way and spirit within.

My interest in photography grew out of a sense of curiosity, awe and wonder. I wanted to record what I witnessed during my journeys to different cultures and more importantly what I felt while travelling our complex planet.

I document people and their everyday life, especially in marginalized communities. Stepping into the shoes of others was something I could only imagine. My camera changed that and serves as a bridge to my subject allowing me to record both hope and despair.

When I photograph, I enter the family of man and discover things within myself. Photography helps me search deeply and intensely for expression and connection with my subject even in the darkest of circumstances. Looking into the eyes of others has served as my own reflection and helped me realize that we all share one world with similar dreams and aspirations.

Interacting with strangers is one of photography’s greatest gifts. Travelling and welcoming the unknown has changed my life for the better. Based on what I have witnessed during my travels I know that every person can make a difference for good in this world. Even the biggest dreams and most ambitious goals begin with the actions of individuals, often beyond our own borders.

For me, being involved in non-government charity work on behalf of women and children worldwide adds purpose and meaning to my life and photography. I am committed to the mission of CARE, an international humanitarian agency, delivering emergency relief and focusing on fighting global poverty. I am currently a founding member of The New York Committee for CARE. And the past co-founder and Chair of the New York Women’s Initiative. I have witnessed CARE’S work in India, Kosovo, Guatemala, Ghana, Togo and Benin and know the difference they make in communities.

When I combined my love of travel and photography to benefit humanity, everything changed, and my life came together in a meaningful way. My camera and my curiosity have led me off the beaten path. The journey is often more important than the image to me. My lens has allowed me to look inside the lives of others and blur the differences. 

The person I am today reflects the places I have traveled and the people I have met along the way. From the streets of Cuba to the Arctic and Antarctic to Africa, the Himalayas and beyond. Is it the stories within stories that keep me coming back for more? Or wondering where is the beginning or end? What do I find when I peal back the layers? Does one door lead to another? What lies within, beyond and ahead? 

I have a newfound fascination for photographing the colors, patterns and shapes of ice and icebergs. I find myself teetering between the tips of the world with a curiosity that was once reserved for people and streets. The realm of ice is a mysterious world and one I can’t get out of my head. What do these two worlds I’ve been photographing have in common. After all aren’t streets just spider webs of abstraction like patterns in the ice?

I continue to search the world for the questions I cannot answer and the connections I want to make. The passage of a lifetime.