About the Photographer
Trench is an award-winning cinematographer and photojournalist whose work lives at the intersection of documentary practice and visual storytelling. His images and films have appeared on PBS, Amazon Prime, and Apple TV, and in Gannett publications including USA Today.
Across more than three decades behind the camera — in film, television, and editorial photography — he has covered subjects ranging from presidential campaigns to the Rolling Stones, and has produced hundreds of interviews in the health care arena and for EarthSayers. Those conversations include Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and co-founder of Project Dandelion; environmental policy leader Judith Enck; and a series of interviews on witnessing with Paul Hawken.
Trench began photographing political protests in 2017. That long-running documentary practice — nearly a decade of work in the streets of the Twin Cities and beyond — is the foundation of Agency & Resilience, his first photojournalism book.
He is the co-director and director of photography of the feature documentary Dodging Bullets — Stories from Survivors of Historical Trauma, which earned Best of Fest at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival, the Samuel Sprynczynatyk Storyteller Award for Best Documentary Feature, Best Cinematography at the Covellite International Film Festival, the Audience Award at the Queen City Film Festival, and Best Documentary at the Bigfork Film Festival. The film reflects the through-line of his work: elevating urgent, often overlooked stories with technical rigor and ethical care.
His broader career spans film and still imagery, motion graphics, and editing, with projects including educational media, broadcast and digital advertising, media walls, NASDAQ street displays, and documentary work for corporate and public release. His images and productions have appeared through clients and outlets including Rolling Stone, PBS, Gannett, and Prince’s bands, alongside Fortune 500 companies, universities, nonprofits, and mission-driven organizations.
Whether photographing artists in Minneapolis or documenting historic events as they unfold, Trench approaches every frame with the same conviction: that bearing witness is active work, and that a photograph can hold a moment in front of us long enough that it can’t be looked away from.
Trench is a Producer / Director based in Minnesota.