Stacy Pearsall

Stacy L. Pearsall is the Producer and Host of the nationally acclaimed PBS series "After Action." When not busy with her duties as a Nikon Ambassador, co-hosting the "Tango Alpha Lima" Podcast for the American Legion’s National Headquarters, or mentoring photography students at The Citadel, she focuses her energies on the preservation of her beloved draft horses, co-founding the European Brabant Registry of America and establishing a small breeding program on her LowCountry Acres farm in South Carolina, with her husband, Andy Dunaway.

Pearsall got her start as an Air Force photographer at the age of 17. During her time in service, she traveled to over 41 countries and attended the Military Photojournalism Program at S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, from which she is a 50 Forward distinguished graduate. In addition to numerous medals and awards, she earned the Bronze Star Medal, two Air Medals, and two Air Force Commendation Medals with Valor device for combat actions in Iraq. She is one of only three women to win the Military Photographer of the Year competition and the first woman to earn it twice (2003 and 2007). She’s authored two books – "Shooter: Combat from Behind the Camera" and "A Photojournalist’s Field Guide: In the Trenches with Stacy Pearsall," both of which have earned international praise.

Though combat disabled and retired from military service, Pearsall has not let her disabilities hold her back. She competed in the 2010, 2011, and 2012 U.S. Paralympic-sponsored Warrior Games, medaling in several events, including Gold. With her service animal, America’s VetDogs Charlie, by her side, she continues to beat the odds, working worldwide as an independent photographer, educator, DoD and State Department consultant, and founder of the Veterans Portrait Project.

Pearsall began the Emmy award-winning series "Veterans Portrait Project" (VPP) in 2008 while rehabilitating from the combat injuries sustained in Iraq. After spending hours in VA waiting rooms surrounded by veterans from every generation and branch of service, she was compelled to honor and thank them in the only way she knew how: photography. From 2008 to 2019, she traveled coast to coast, covering 82 cities in all 50 states, and documented over 8,500 veterans in over 189+ engagements. Her photographic work has been exhibited at The Woodruff Arts Center, The Pentagon, the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, the Women in Military Service for America Memorial, and the National Veterans Memorial and Museum, among numerous other galleries and venues.

Pearsall is currently a ​Nikon, ​Manfrotto, Spider Holster Ambassador, and an ​Ilford Master. She has been presented with the Jefferson Award and Hill Vets 100 Artist of the Year, honored with the Daughters of the American Revolution Margaret Cochran Corbin Award, and the Girl Scout’s Woman of Distinction Award, lauded by President Barack Obama as a White House as a Champion of Change, and she holds an honorary doctoral degree in journalism from The Citadel. Pearsall has served as a nominating juror for the Pulitzer Prize and held a presidential-appointed board member position for the NPPA. Recently, she was inducted into the Army Women’s Foundation and Defense Information School’s Hall of Fame.