Julia was born in South Africa and moved to the United States as a 15-year-old. She first fell in love with photography as a teenager in South Africa when she began shooting black and white film and printing her own work. Since then she has completed a B.A. at Brandeis University, an M.F.A. in writing at Cornell University, and a Masters in Photojournalism at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School. Her work has appeared in publications such as the New York Times, Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, USA Today, National Geographic, the London Times and Washington Post.