Andrew Califf is a photographer, writer, archaeologist, and anthropologist focused on exploring, learning, and documenting how people live and thrive in dynamic environments, specifically mountains and high-elevation plateaus. A freelance photojournalist covering topics such as environmental conservation, Indigenous rights, and archaeology, Andrew also conducts archaeological research himself, with his next project aiming to explore how hunter-gatherers first started using high-elevation areas of Inner Asia.

Trained in both archaeology and journalism, Andrew spent months surveying and mapping stone tool scatters in Mongolia’s northern taiga while also conducting ethnographic surveys and interviews within the Dukha communities that reside there.

Andrew has bylines from six countries and was awarded the Overseas Press Club Foundation Stan Swinton Scholarship to cover conservation and Indigenous’ rights in Cambodia. Over the summers, when he isn’t “shovel bumming” across Central Asia, Andrew aims to convey the significance of actions, a deeper world view rooted in the Indigenous knowledge of an environment. These are the ephemeral concepts Andrew hopes to share through both visual and written storytelling media as well as scientific research.