Joshua A. Berman (b. 1977) is a US-based visual storyteller, interdisciplinary artist, outdoor educator, and ski instructor. His main focuses as a documentarian are oriented around nature, conservation, community, place, and outdoor adventure. Born and raised in western Pennsylvania, he splits his time between O’ahu, Taos, and Pittsburgh.

Berman’s early explorations in photography were shaped from an upbringing rooted in the outdoor folk culture of the Pennsylvania Laurel Highlands, high school years spent in the subtropics of South Florida, several visits to Argentina and Chile as a youth between the late 80’s and mid 90’s, and a life-shaping pilgrimage through Thailand in 1999. Those early experiences inspired a curiosity in personal travel narrative and documentation of place and community that’s taken him across the US and to six continents around the world. During early college years in the mid-90’s, he began his first foray into dedicated photography studies in central Florida. At that time, he also launched into a professional career in the ski industry.

A teacher at heart, Berman has served as a lead outdoor education guide for the Field Institute of Taos (FIT), and over the past thirty years, he has served as a ski instructor, trainer, and manager at several resorts throughout the US, most notably as part of the renowned ski and ride school at Taos Ski Valley (TSV) in northern New Mexico. Following a four-year period sitting contemplatively in a solo wilderness hermitage in his twenties, he returned to university studies as an adult, receiving a BA in the humanities in 2009 and an MFA in interdisciplinary arts in 2019, both from Goddard College in Vermont. In the fall of 2013, Berman’s documentary work from Sierra Leone, Dreaming in the Land of the Mango Sun, was presented at the Taos Center for the Arts (TCA). And an image from this series was included in the Wild & Scenic Film Festival in Nevada City, CA. Upon completion of his master studies, Berman developed a written and visual thesis entitled The Trail, weaving together a series of independent travel projects, conservation photography, reflections on pilgrimage and hermitage, and explorations of outdoor adventure. In 2020, he completed a certification in ethical photography through Photographer’s Without Borders (PWB).

In 2022, Berman completed a certificate in the Documentary Practice and Visual Journalism program at the International Center of Photography (ICP) in New York City. His final project, Querencia, was presented in a collaborative show at the ICP Museum in Manhattan, published through the Social Documentary Network (SDN), as well as through PWB, and a new iteration of the project will be exhibited in the gallery at the TCA in October 2025. And most recently in late fall 2024 and early summer 2025, Berman was an artist-in-residence at Sitka Center for Arts and Ecology on the central coast of Oregon, developing a project series on habitat restoration with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and serving as a photography workshop instructor. His local landscape photography work is currently published on the cover of the organization’s annual brochure.

Through the years, Berman has documented the work of NGO’s and non-profit organizations, including Shine on Sierra Leone, an LA-based non-profit focused on education development in West Africa; conservation organizations Surfrider Foundation, TNC, and the Sierra Club; and regional conservation and education programs Amigos Bravos, River Source, FIT, and the Taos Land Trust in New Mexico, and Opal Creek Ancient Forest Center in Oregon. His images have been utilized by organizations for fund raising and to highlight their narratives.

He currently sits on the board of directors for the Australia-based charitable organization, Make Ways Foundation (MWF), whose work focuses on wellness and empowerment of sporting, education, and mental health communities in developing countries. As a joint venture with MWF, he recently completed primary filming production in Sierra Leone as lead producer, director, and director of photography on a documentary focused on the organization’s story centered on the annual Street Child Marathon.

In addition, he works with clients on private commissions, has displayed fine art work around the US, and has been an independent contributor to local news publications, as well as TSV’s social media feed. Berman is a member of various photography focused organizations, including Professional Photographers of America (PPA), Santa Fe-based organization CENTER, and the International Documentary Association (IDA).

He is available for assignment or commission.

“It is through living that we discover ourselves, at the same time as we discover the world around us.”
― Henri Cartier-Bresson