Photo essayist Brendan Bannon will visit Stetson University on Monday, Feb. 6, to give a presentation about his photographs documenting the plight of people living in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Bannon’s presentation will be at 7 p.m. in the duPont-Ball Library, lower level, Room 25, accessed from the Nemec Courtyard on the north side of the library, 134 E. Minnesota Ave., DeLand. It is free and open to the public.

Bannon is a photojournalist based in Nairobi, Kenya. His interest in photography was sparked by his mother, an amateur photographer with a darkroom in the bathroom, and his father, who placed him at age 10 in front of drawers of antique photographs and asked him to select the interesting ones for an exhibition on the history of photography.

His interest in the medium was constant but his professional career began in 2000. During his 20s, Bannon took care of his mother who had multiple sclerosis, an experience he credits with influencing his approach to photography.

“I don’t shy away from difficult stories,” he said. “The experience of taking care of my mother showed me clearly that behind every moment of perceived suffering there is a profound victory over circumstances. I look at people’s lives as being full of meaningful relationships, striving against the odds and achieving small victories.”

Bannon previously worked on long-term projects in both Romania and Russia. He has been living in Africa since 2005. He has photographed in Kenya, South Sudan, Somalia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Tanzania, Congo and India.

His clients include Medecins Sans Frontieres, UNHCR, UNICEF and CARE International. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, The Daily Telegraph, the Independent, the Guardian, Monocle Magazine, the KWANI? journal, Maclean’s and others.

His visit to Stetson coincides with his participation Feb. 3 to 5 in the Gladdening Light Symposium 2012 in Winter Park. For more information about Bannon’s upcoming talk at Stetson, contact the Office of the Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at (386) 822-7515.