People’s Choice Winner Celebrates USAID’s 50th Anniversary

Griff Davis had a 35-year career with USAID, which began in Liberia in 1951 as an information officer. Previously, he had been working in Africa as a freelance photojournalist. It was during this early time with the Agency that Davis took this picture, one of 7,000 images he would take during his service. The image contrasts the traditional world he encountered—as seen in the woman carrying her baby—with modernizing industry in the country—as seen in the iron-ore train moving along in the background. As an information officer, Davis helped to build Liberia’s Ministry of Information, which promoted the country abroad and informed the local population about health, education, and political news.

Photo credit: Griffith J. Davis