After 16 years of providing grants to photojournalists, The Alexia Foundation will exhibit a selection of photographers' work at the United Nations. Some of the pictures that will be shown are on topics such as the civil war in Sierra Leone; the controversy over the Confederate flag in South Carolina; the war in Chechnya; and prison life in the U.S. The show will open at the United Nations Building in New York on Wednesday, March 22. Tickets are required for the opening. (Details below). Admission is free from March 23 to mid-April.

Also at the opening, Robert E. Gilka will be honored with a lifetime achievement award. Gilka was National Geographic Magazine director of photography for 25 years, Syracuse University Picture Editing Professor for 10 years, and Alexia Foundation Board member and permanent judge of the Alexia Competitions.

Vin Alabiso, Alexia Foundation Board President and president of the Visual Journalism Alliance, is working with the UN to organize the show. He said, "The exhibition committee at the UN is enthusiastic about this event and was impressed with the diversity and compelling nature of the photographs. We view this as a very important opportunity to raise awareness in the important work of the foundation."

Over the last 15 years, the Alexia Foundation has given scholarships and picture story grants to over 75 photojournalism students from around the world. Five scholarships and grants are given annually to photojournalism students. For the last 10 years, a $15,000 grant has been awarded annually to a professional photographer.

The Foundation was created by Aphrodite Tsairis and Dr. Peter Tsairis, parents of Alexia Tsairis, a Syracuse University photojournalism student who died in the bombing of Pan Am 103. Explaining the major goal of the Alexia Foundation Mrs. Tsairis said, "Yes, a picture is worth a thousand words, and it can change a thousand lives. Today, photojournalists continue to risk almost everything -- sometimes even their lives -- to take pictures that matter. We at the Alexia Foundation strive to make it possible for photographers to make the images that will have a profound, socially significant impact -- ones that will reinforce the power of photography to bring about change."

To Attend the Opening

Admission tickets to the opening reception from 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday, March 22, can be obtained for $200 each from Lorelei Enterprises, 136 E. 57th Street, Suite 1505, NY, NY 10022, Ph: 212 838-2660 Fax: 212 826-8825. All tickets must be acquired before the opening. UN security prohibits offering tickets at the door.