Staff

Susan Ciccotti is copy chief. Over the past fifteen-plus years, she has copyedited or proofread the text for more than two hundred Aperture titles. Among her other duties, she serves as part of the team that reprints the backlist, and as a project editor on select essay books. Prior to her work at Aperture, she wrote for The Photo Review; and was associate editor at Museums magazine, senior editor at the American Association of Museums (now American Alliance of Museums), and office manager for the historic Octagon Museum in Washington, DC. She holds an MA in arts criticism from City, University of London, and a BA in art history from George Washington University, Washington, DC.

Iesha E. Coppin-Forde is editorial assistant. Iesha joined Aperture in 2023 as an editorial work scholar. She assists in managing, researching, and developing select book projects. Iesha holds an MA in fashion studies from Parsons School of Design at the New School, and a BBA in fashion merchandising with a concentration in publishing from LIM College, New York.

Brendan Embser is senior editor at Aperture. He is editor of Aperture books by Louis Carlos Bernal, Arielle Bobb-Willis, Chloe Dewe Mathews, Ethan James Green, Deana Lawson, Philip Montgomery, Ming Smith, and Wendy Red Star, and managing editor of Aperture Conversations: 1985 to the Present (2018) and To Make Their Own Way in the World: The Enduring Legacy of the Zealy Daguerreotypes (copublished with Peabody Museum Press, 2020). He was the cocurator of the Aperture Summer Open exhibitions from 2018 through 2020. Brendan has served on the jury for the Addis Foto Fest, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Changjiang International Photography and Video Art Biennale, Chongqing, China; Foto Tallinn, Tallinn, Estonia; Sony World Photography Awards; and WMA Masters, Hong Kong. He is also the cocurator, with Sophia Greiff, of the traveling exhibition Tyler Mitchell: Wish This Was Real. Formerly director of exhibitions at the Walther Collection, New York, he has contributed essays and interviews to Apartamento, Contemporary And, n+1, Objektiv, and the New York Times. He holds an MA in Africana studies from New York University, and a BA in English from Haverford College, Pennsylvania.

Michael Famighetti is editor in chief of Aperture magazine and the editorial program. In 2013, he organized a relaunch and reconceptualization of the magazine, which won a 2018 National Magazine Award for General Excellence. Together with guest editor Sarah Lewis, Michael is recipient of an ICP Infinity Award for Critical Writing and Research for “Vision & Justice,” the Summer 2016 issue of Aperture. In addition to editing the magazine, Michael works with the digital team to shape online content, and commissions and edits books. He is currently also a visiting critic at the University of Hartford’s MFA program, and a participant in the School of Visual Arts’s Mentors program. His writing has appeared in Frieze, Bookforum, and Aperture, among other publications. He is a member of the American Society of Magazine Editors, and has been a guest reviewer and speaker at many international festivals and institutions.

Caroline Foulke is editorial assistant. She works closely to support the organizational and administrative needs of the books program. Before joining Aperture in 2023, she worked for the Book Reporter and Persea Books. Caroline holds an MA in publishing and a BA in English, with a concentration in creative writing, from Pace University, New York.

Zack Hatfield is associate managing editor of Aperture magazine, where he supports the editors in researching and commissioning stories, coordinates with contributors, and assists with books that originate from the magazine department. Before joining the organization in 2024, he was a senior editor of Artforum.com. His writing has appeared in Artforum, Bookforum, 4Columns, and the New York Review of Books. Zack holds an MA in journalism, with a concentration in cultural reporting and criticism, from New York University, and a BA in English from the University of Cincinnati.

Jane’a Johnson is editor in the book publishing program and a contributor to the magazine and online platforms. Prior to joining Aperture in 2024, her roles included artistic director of Foam Fotografiemuseum Amsterdam and director of the Photographic Archives Research Group at Brown University. Jane’a has served on juries for the Louis Roederer Foundation Prize for Sustainability, Reims, France; PhotoVogue Festival, Milan; and C/O Berlin Talent Award. She holds a PhD in modern culture and media from Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, an MA in cinema and media studies from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a BA in philosophy from Spelman College, Atlanta.

Noa Lin is assistant editor of the book program. He works closely with the editors to help coordinate the editorial process on books. Before joining Aperture in 2022, he was an editorial assistant at Melcher Media. Noa holds a BA in studio art and English from Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut.

Freddy Martinez is copy editor and proofreader. He provides editorial support for all print and digital material produced by Aperture. He is also responsible for copyediting and proofreading books and implementing house style across the organization. Freddy started at Aperture as a digital media work scholar in 2015, before returning in 2024. Since 2016, he has been a freelance arts journalist, having his work shared by the Los Angeles Times, Hyperallergic, VICE, and Remezcla. In July 2019, he was selected as a fellow for the Los Angeles Review of Books Publishing Workshop. He holds a BS in film from the University of Texas at Austin and is a founding member of the arts collective GAUCHE.

Sang Patten is managing editor of the book program. Sang joined Aperture in 2019 as an editorial and publishing work scholar, followed by positions as publishing assistant and publishing associate. Sang is responsible for managing the book program as it intersects with other departments and ensuring that editorial schedules, distribution deadlines, department goals, and procedures are met as books move from inception to publication. She has also assisted in the development of select book projects, including Revolution Is Love: A Year of Black Trans Liberation (2022). Sang holds a BFA in photography from Rochester Institute of Technology, New York.

Cassidy Paul is the managing editor, digital. She is responsible for managing and producing editorial content for Aperture’s website. She is also managing editor of Aperture’s Introducing series. Joining Aperture in 2015 as a production work scholar, she would later hold positions as publicity and events associate and as digital editor overseeing social media for Aperture. She has also worked as photo editor at TIME magazine. Her writing has appeared in Aperture and TIME. She holds a BFA in photography from Parsons School of Design at the New School, New York.