In the first episode of PI Sources, we talk to photojournalist Justin Merriman, who has traveled throughout the world to document pivotal events for the world’s leading publications. He is an independent photojournalist based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

After covering the Sept. 11, 2001 crash of United Flight 93 in Shanksville, Merriman committed to chronicling the U.S. military’s War on Terror. He followed this story across the United States and into the conflict zones of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iraq.

He also has covered life in Fidel Castro’s Cuba in 2002, India’s efforts to eradicate polio from its population, the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Cuba in 2012, the 2013 conclave and election of Pope Francis in Rome, the second anniversary of Egypt’s revolution and subsequent unrest, Russia’s invasion of Crimea and the international political crisis that unfolded in Ukraine.  Most recently, he traveled the entire U.S. border with Mexico documenting issues on immigration. 

Merriman’s work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, Time, USA Today, Sports Illustrated and publications across the globe. 

After years of overseas work, Merriman has turned his camera towards the places he calls home. Working extensively in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, he is working on telling the stories of the communities throughout the region and the issues that they are facing.