Harika Maddala is a photojournalist based in Stockton, California, covering the news around San Joaquin County for the Bay City News Foundation and its nonprofit news site Local News Matters. Maddala previously documented the homelessness crisis as a research fellow at the Starling Lab for Data Integrity, which was co-founded by Stanford University and the University of Southern California. Born and raised in India, Maddala is fluent in Telugu, Hindi and Kannada, and moved to the U.S. at age 19. As a staff photographer and photo editor for San Francisco State’s newspaper, the Golden Gate Xpress, Maddala covered police violence, prison transfers and environmental racism, and placed in the top 10 in the Hearst Journalism Awards 2021. Maddala’s work has been displayed at galleries.
Beat: Photojournalism that captures the city of Stockton (Catchlight partnership)
In Stockton, there is a wealth of untold stories on the issues that matter most to residents, including education, housing, homelessness and the changing economy. This photojournalist, ideally bilingual, brings these stories to readers, and also captures the important work of community nonprofits and everyday heroes.