Photojournalism gave Natalie Keyssar an outlet for her twin passions: art and social justice. While covering Occupy Wall Street protests in New York City early in her career, Keyssar heard about massive protests in Venezuela. Intrigued, she traveled there for a month of photography and fell in love with the experience, the people, and the situations she found herself in. After returning to New York, she found her pictures disappointing. Though editors praised her artful protest coverage, she saw that she hadn't gone beyond the tear gas and Molotov cocktails to explore the complicated dynamics driving the conflict in Venezuela that followed the death of its iconic leader, Hugo Chavez. So she went back, and four years later, continues to photograph the consequences of unrest and economic turbulence in the country.

Venezuela is not Keyssar’s only subject—her portfolio also includes depictions of the Black Lives Matter movement in multiple locations around the U.S., which is informed by her time covering protests internationally.