Martha Rial, age 36, has been a staff photographer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette since 1994. Before joining the Post-Gazette, Rial was a staff photographer at the Ft. Pierce Tribune in Ft. Pierce, FL and the Journal Newspapers in Alexandria, VA.

Rial is a graduate of the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and later attended Ohio University's School of Visual Communication. Her work has been recognized by the Pittsburgh Chapter of Women in Communication, the Press club of Western Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh's Slack Media Federation.