Yoshi James
Yalonda “Yoshi” M. James is an award-winning staff photojournalist and video producer at The San Francisco Chronicle in San Francisco, CA. Her passion is documenting stories focusing on social justice issues. Yoshi is formerly a staff photojournalist and video producer for The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, TN.
Before joining the Commercial Appeal, Yoshi worked for The Charlotte Observer, covering stories ranging from presidential campaign trails to homelessness in the Charlotte region. During her tenure at the Charlotte Observer, James was a 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalist with her Observer team for a project called, ‘Sold a Nightmare,’ which earned them a second place Gold Medal for Public Service.
Yoshi is a 2001 Mass Communications graduate from the University of South Carolina (Upstate), where she won Gold and Bronze medals from College Photographer of the Year, 1998. She is also a 2008 Interactive Media Design graduate from The Art Institute of Charlotte, being selected into the Alpha Beta Kappa National Honor Society during the ’08 election. Yoshi is formerly a 2019-2020 Community Listening Fellow with the
American Press Institute.
Yoshi’s photography and videos have been published in The San Francisco Chronicle, The Commercial Appeal, The Charlotte Observer, The New York Times, USA Today, Newsweek, MSNBC, Fusion, Education Week, St. Petersburg Times, The State (Columbia, SC), The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The Post & Courier, South Carolina: 24/7, and The Bridge Builder’s and Charleston’s Grand New Span.
Yoshi is the director of the 2017 short documentary film, “The BLM (Black Lives Matter) Bridge Protest: One Year Later,” as well as the 2018 short documentary film, “Singing for KING.”