Renée C. Byer is an award-winning American documentary photojournalist best known for her in-depth work focusing on the disadvantaged and those who otherwise would not be heard. Her ability to produce photographs with profound emotional resonance and sensitivity earned her the Pulitzer Prize for feature photography in 2007 and dozens of other national and international honors, including that of Pulitzer finalist in 2013.

Byer’s photography is featured in several books. The Quantuck Lane Press published her most recent project, Living on a Dollar a Day: The Lives and Faces of the World’s Poor, with a foreword by the 14th Dalai Lama, in 2014. Byer traveled to four continents for the San Francisco-based nonprofit, The Forgotten International, to bring awareness to the plight of the poor in an effort to eradicate extreme poverty.

Most recently Byer was awarded Scripps Howard Finalist in Photojournalism for her portfolio of work that included photo essays that documented extreme poverty on four continents and that sensitized local residents to inequities close to home. The awards honor the nation’s best 2014 journalism.

The book was awarded 1st Place Documentary book by the IPA 2014 (International Photography Awards,) and Finalist for The World Understanding award, Pictures of the Year International. In addition, Byer’s work from Living on a Dollar a Day was featured at the premier photojournalism festival, Visa Pour l’image, held in Perpignan, France, and received Honorable Mention from the Moscow International Foto Awards. Byer’s book has received extensive press coverage. Ann Curry interviewed her for NBC Depth of Field, and Bob Woodruff and Rebecca Jarvis for ABC Real Biz, and the book was featured in Time, Newsweek, Yahoo news, Slate.com, Flipboard, Lenscratch, Truth Dig, Mother Jones, and National Geographic PROOF, and among other publications. Throughout her career, Byer’s photojournalism has received accolades from press outlets worldwide.