Photographic Portfolio

Jeffrey Barbee has been a professional photographer for more than thirty years. From frontline photojournalism, science reporting, cutting edge technologies, the environment and more, Barbee’s photographic work stretches across the last three decades of technological and societal change. Here are two of his most recent commissions, as well as some of his past published work.

The Gathering of The Elders

The World Tribal Alliance is on a mission to gather representatives of the most ancient wisdom lineages on the Earth, human beings that have maintained their deep connection and communion with mother nature. In November 2025 they gathered in Cape Town, South Africa – bringing together these indigenous leaders from Norway, Peru, North America, Oceania, New Zealand and many other cultures in order to help focus their energy to help heal our planet, and ourselves.

Jeffrey Barbee, through his non-profit foundation Alliance Earth, was asked to join this gathering and take pictures to immortalize this historic event.

For the World Tribal Alliance CAPE TOWN
For the World Tribal Alliance CAPE TOWN
For the World Tribal Alliance CAPE TOWN
For the World Tribal Alliance CAPE TOWN
For the World Tribal Alliance CAPE TOWN
For the World Tribal Alliance CAPE TOWN
For the World Tribal Alliance CAPE TOWN
For the World Tribal Alliance CAPE TOWN
For the World Tribal Alliance CAPE TOWN
For the World Tribal Alliance CAPE TOWN

The Okavango Delta

The Okavango Delta, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is home to the largest group of endangered African savanna elephants on the continent, as well as endangered African wild dogs, cheetah, and threatened birds such as the slaty egret. The ecosystem is part of the broader Okavango watershed that supports hundreds of thousands of people across Angola, Namibia, and Botswana. Canadian company Reconnaissance Energy Africa (ReconAfrica)’s exploration for oil and gas in the region “may pose significant risks to the interconnected water system and the ecosystem,” the committee said. The company currently has rights to prospect for oil across 13,200 square miles of the watershed and has so far drilled three wells in Namibia.

While writing 11 stories about this threat for National Geogrpahic over the course of five years, Barbee took these images, many of which have been published across the world.

Joseph or "Jay" Haikera is a freelance Makoro poler who works for Nguma Island Lodge. He is from Etsa 13 in Botswana and has been working alongside the Jokotsha Community Trust to help it re-establish strong community conservation projects in the watern part of the Okavango Delta. From Tsodilo Hills to the western edge of the Okavango Delta, across to the Kwai River in the Mababe area and down to the Boteti River, these images are a record of the people and places in this vast wilderness under threat.
At one of the last pools left from the last flood of the Okavango Delta in 2022 into the Boteti River hippos and crocodiles rest in the evening as a herd of migrating zebra arrive. The migration of zebra and wildebeast and the predators that follow them is possibly the largest in the world, rivalling the Serengeti. From Tsodilo Hills to the western edge of the Okavango Delta, across to the Kwai River in the Mababe area and down to the Boteti River, these images are a record of the people and places in this vast wilderness under threat.
The Kavango Regions of Namibia All images originally shot as DNG (Digital Negative Files) No reproduction without written permission. All images embargoed for NG Story
The Kavango Regions of Namibia All images originally shot as DNG (Digital Negative Files) No reproduction without written permission. All images embargoed for NG Story
Bull elephants join the Zebra and Wildebeest migration from the main part of the Okavango Delta down to the Boteti River which happens during the height of Botswana's dry season between June and September. From Tsodilo Hills to the western edge of the Okavango Delta, across to the Kwai River in the Mababe area and down to the Boteti River, these images are a record of the people and places in this vast wilderness under threat.
The Kavango Regions of Namibia All images originally shot as DNG (Digital Negative Files) No reproduction without written permission. All images embargoed for NG Story
Joseph or "Jay" Haikera is a freelance Makoro poler who works for Nguma Island Lodge. He is from Etsa 13 in Botswana and has been working alongside the Jokotsha Community Trust to help it re-establish strong community conservation projects in the watern part of the Okavango Delta. From Tsodilo Hills to the western edge of the Okavango Delta, across to the Kwai River in the Mababe area and down to the Boteti River, these images are a record of the people and places in this vast wilderness under threat.
The western side of the Okavango Delta is a menagerie of islands, channels and lagoons, many of them kept open by the movement of elephants and hippos. From Tsodilo Hills to the western edge of the Okavango Delta, across to the Kwai River in the Mababe area and down to the Boteti River, these images are a record of the people and places in this vast wilderness under threat.
Male elephants follow the zebra and wildebeat migration from the northern Okavango and Chobe areas down to the Boteti River in Magadigadi Pans National Park. From Tsodilo Hills to the western edge of the Okavango Delta, across to the Kwai River in the Mababe area and down to the Boteti River, these images are a record of the people and places in this vast wilderness under threat.

Published Work

Jeffrey Barbee’s work has been published by hundreds of news sites and publications over his three decade-long career.

Here are some examples of his commissioned photojournalism from Africa to the Arctic, from the New York Times to book covers to his long term work with newspapers like NRC Handelsblad and The Guardian.

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Guardian and Observer Editorial
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