SUSAN MEISELAS
256 Mott Street, New York, NY 10012
212.431.3780
studio@susanmeiselas.com
susanmeiselas.com
Born: June 21, 1948; Baltimore, Maryland
B.A. Sarah Lawrence College, 1970
Ed.M. Harvard University, School of Education, 1971
Honorary Doctor in Fine Arts, Parsons School of Art, 1986
Honorary Doctor in Fine Arts, The Art Institute of Boston, 1996
Freelance photographer, member of Magnum Photos since 1976
Author
Prince Street Girls; Yellow Magic Books, 2013
Encounters with the Dani; Steidl/ICP; 2003
Pandora's Box, Trebruk/Magnum Editions; 2001
Kurdistan: In the Shadow of History; Random House; 1997;
Reprint, Univ. of Chicago Press 2008
Nicaragua, June 1978-July 1979; Pantheon; 1981; Aperture; 2008
Carnival Strippers; Farrar, Straus & Giroux; 1976; revision Steidl/Whitney; 2003
Editor
Chile from Within ebook MAPP 2013
Chile from Within; W.W. Norton; 1990
El Salvador: Work of 30 Photographers; Writers & Readers; 1983
Learn to See; Polaroid Foundation; 1975
Awards
Alice Austen Award for the Advancement of Photography, 2014
Harvard Arts Medal, 2011
Luma Historical Book Award, In History, 2009
Krazna Kraus And/or Book Award, In History, 2009
Lucie Documentary Award, 2008
Centenary Award, Royal Photographic Society, 2006
Cornell Capa Infinity Award, ICP, 2005
Rockefeller Foundation, Multi-Media Fellowship, 1995
Hasselblad Foundation Prize, 1994
Maria Moors Cabot Prize, Columbia Journalism School, 1994
Missouri Honor Medal, Missouri School of Journalism, 1994
MacArthur Fellowship, 1992
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Lyndhurst Foundation, 1987
Engelhard Award, Institute of Contemporary Art, 1985
National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, 1984
Photojournalist of the Year, ASMP, 1982
Leica Award of Excellence, 1982
Robert Capa Gold Medal, Overseas Press Club, 1979
Exhibitions: One Woman
Pelayo 47, Madrid, 2014
Galerie Hug, Paris, 2013
Hood Museum, Dartmouth College, 2010
The Wapping Project, London, 2010
International Center for Photography, New York, 2008
Stephen Bulger Gallery, Toronto, Canada, 2008
Cohen Amador Gallery, New York, 2007
Fotografins Hus, Stockholm, 2006
Open Eye, Liverpool, 2006
Scout Gallery, London, 2004
Stephen Daiter Gallery, Chicago, 2004
Rose Gallery, Los Angeles, 2004
FOAM, Amsterdam, 2003
Canal de Isabel II, Madrid, 2002
Whitney Museum of American Art, 2000
Leica Gallery, New York, 1998
Hasselblad Center, Goteborg, Sweden, 1994
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, 1990
Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany, 1984
Camerawork, London, England, 1982
Side Gallery, Newcastle-on-Tyne, England, 1982
FNAC Gallery, Paris, France, 1981
AM Sachs Gallery, New York, 1977
Exhibitions: Group
“Forensic Aesthetics” Pauza Gallery, Krakow, 2014
“Re-Framing History” Galerie Lelong, New York, 2014
“160 Actions To Make A Jacket” Look 3 Festival of the Photograph, Charlottesville,
Virginia, 2013
“Revolution vs. Revolution”, Beirut Art Center, 2012
“Anti-Periodismo”, La Virreina, Barcelona, 2010
“Engaged Observors: Documentary Photography since the 1960s”,
J. Paul Getty Museum, 2010
“Exposed: Voyeurism, Surveillance & the Camera”, Tate Britain, 2010
“Elles”, Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2009
“Kreyol Factory”, Parc de la Villette, Paris, 2009
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“Darkside”, Fotomuseum Winterthur, Zurich, 2008
“The War of Images and the Images of War”, Brighton Photo Festival, UK, 2008
“Disposable People”, The Hayward, London, 2008
“Immigrante Madrid”, Canal de Isabel II, Spain, 2007
“Big Picture: Provisions for the Arts of Social Change”, New York, 2007
“Gwangju Biennial”, South Korea, 2006
“Les Rencontres d’Arles”, Arles, France, 2006
“Post.doc?”, Thessaloniki Museum of Photography, Greece, 2006
“Beautiful Suffering”, Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, Ma. 2006
“New York, New York”, Grimaldi Forum, Monaco, 2006
“After the Fact”, First Festival of Photography, Berlin, 2005
“Mirror, Mirror”, Centre Cultural de Belem, Lisbon, 2005
"Strangers: The First ICP Triennial of Photography and Video", New York, 2003
"Open City: Street Photographs since 1950", Museum of Modern Art Oxford, 2002
“Photoworks in Progress”, Nederlands Foto Instituut, Rotterdam, 2001
“Picturing the Modern Amazon”, New Museum, New York, 2000
“Magnum Degrees”, Biblioteque Nacional, Paris, 2000
“Art in Freedom”, Museum Boijmans, Rotterdam, 1998;
“Facing History”, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 1996;
“Kurdistan: In the Shadow of History”, Menil Collection, Houston, 1996
“In Our Time”, International Center of Photography, NYC, 1989;
“Los Vecinos”, Museum for Photographic Arts, San Diego, Ca. 1989;
“The Art of Photography”, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, 1989;
“On the Line”, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1986
“El Salvador”, Museum for Photographic Arts, San Diego, Ca. 1984
“New Color Work”, Fogg Museum, Harvard Univ, Cambridge, Ma. 1982
Films
A Family in History, co-directed & co-produced with Alfred Guzzetti, 2011
The Windmill Movie, Executive Producer, 2009
Reframing History, co-directed & co-produced with A. Guzzetti & Pedro Linger
Gasiglia, 2004;
Pictures from a Revolution, co-directed & co-produced with A.Guzzetti &
R.P. Rogers, 1991; distributed by Kino International
Living at Risk, co-directed & co-produced with A.Guzzetti & R. P. Rogers,
1985, distributed by New Yorker Films
Voyages, directed by M. Karlin, writing & photography by Meiselas, 1985,
produced for Channel 4, England
Selected Collections
Museum of Modern Art, New York
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
Library of Congress, Washington DC
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Hasselblad Center, Sweden
Centre Pompidou, Paris
Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany
Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco
The Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois
St. Louis Museum of Art, Missouri
Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, Ca.
George Eastman House, Rochester, New York
Fogg Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Ma.
University of California, Riverside, Ca.
Baltimore Museum of Art, Maryland
Haverford College, Pennsylvania
International Center of Photography, New York
Hood Museum, Dartmouth, New Hampshire
Corcoran Museum, Washington D.C.
Selected Articles about/by Meiselas
APERTURE 214: DOCUMENTARY, EXPANDED; Guest Editor, p. 27 – 31
“Photography Expanded”, a conversation with Chris Boot, 2014;
BENDING THE FRAME: PHOTOJOURNALISM, DOCUMENTARY, AND THE
CITIZEN, Aperture, 2013, F. Ritchin, p. 38, 42, 88, 127, 128; PICTURING
ATROCITY: PHOTOGRAPHY IN CRISIS, Reaktion Books, 2012, “Body on a
Hillside” p. 117-122; THE GENERATION OF POSTMEMORY: WRITING AND
VISUAL CULTURE AFTER THE HOLOCAUST, Columbia University Press, 2012,
RITES OF RETURN: DIASPORA POETICS AND THE POLITICS OF MEMORY,
Columbia University Press, 2011, p. 15 “Mediations”, p. 166-170 “Nicaragua: June
1978-July 1979”, “Pictures From a Revolution”;“A Lens on History” J. Harrison
HARVARD MAGAZINE Nov-Dec 2010; “Susan Meiselas in Conversation with
David Campany” AMERICAN SUBURB X October 2010; “Susan Meiselas,
Nicaragua”, John Berger, APERTURE, Winter 2008, p. 24-31;
“In Conversation”, Phong Bui, THE BROOKLYN RAIL, November 2008; “Susan
Meiselas, Pandora’s Box”, Heather Snider, EYEMAZING, Fall Issue, 2008, p.4559; “A New York Photo Exhibit Revisits Vermont’s Girlie Shows”, Kevin J. Kelley,
SEVEN DAYS, November 19, 2008; “NYC spotlight on photographer known for
Nicaragua”, The Associated Press, THE NEW YORK TIMES, October 2, 2008;
‘Comfort Women,’ Exploited Maids Show Slavery’s Face in Photos”, Farah Nayeri,
BLOOMBERG.COM, October 8, 2008; “Lives in a Danger Zone, Captured and
Revisited”, Ken Johnson, THE NEW YORK TIMES, September 26, 2008, p. E34;
“Everyday life in history”, Nawzad Jamal, SOMA: AN IRAQI-KURDISH DIGEST,
Issue no. 38, April 11-24, 2008, p. 17; “On the Rights of Molotov Man”, J. Garnet
and S. Meiselas, February 2007, p. 53-58; HARPERS MAGAZINE; WORLD
PRESS PHOTO Review, June 2007; NEW YORK TIMES, August 11, 2007; “For
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the Record”, DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHER, Issue 43, Spring 2006. EI8HT
PHOTOJOURNALISM, Vol. 5, No.1, June 2006, p. 66-68; “Extending the Frame”,
Joanna Heatwole and Mariola Mourelo, AFTERIMAGE, March/April 2006, pg.1720; “For the Record”, DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHER, Issue 43, Spring 2006, p. 5255. “Found Film, and a Peek Through a Mentor’s Eyes”, L. Koppel, THE NEW
YORK TIMES, April 8, 2006, p. B3; “Behind the Ballyhoo”, S. Wolf, May 30, 2003;
EI8HT PHOTOJOURNALISM, Vol. 5, No.1, June 2006, p. 66-68; “A Portable
National Archive for a Stateless People: Susan Meiselas and the Kurds”, A.
Sekula, CAMERA AUSTRIA 95/2006; “Susan Meiselas”, D. Leith, BEARING
WITNESS, Random House, 2004, p. 234-254; “Lost People, Found Images”, R.
Hackett, LIFESTYLE, May 4, 2004, p. E1, E3; “Susan Meiselas: Master”, S.
Meiselas, AMERICAN PHOTO ON CAMPUS, March 2003, p. 10-16; "Another way
of telling the story", J. Fletcher, BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY, October
1, 2003, p. 16-18; “The Great Terror”, J. Goldberg, THE NEW YORKER, March,
25, 2002, p. 52-75; “Prince Street Girls”, GRANTA 80, Winter 2002, p. 65-95;
"Suzan Meiselas: Portrait", M. Jauffret, PARIS PHOTO, September/October 2002,
p. 82-89; “Roll Over: The Snapshot’s Museum Afterlife”, J. Smith, AFTERIMAGE,
Issue 29, September/October 2001; R. Jette, THE ARTFUL MIND, DecemberJanuary 2000, p. 14-15; "She Works Hard for the Money", C. Carr, VILLAGE
VOICE, p. 46-51, July 4, 2000; “Kurdistan: In the Shadow of History”, Á. Östör,
AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, December 2000, Volume 102 #4, p. 883-886;
“Magna Brava: Magnum’s Women Photographers”, I. Morath, PRESTEL, 1999;
Review of “Kurdistan: In the Shadow of History”, F. Halliday, RETHINKING
HISTORY, vol. 3, no. 3, 1999, p. 363-365; “Woman’s Work”, G. Lau, BRITISH
JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY, December 1999, p. 17; “Show and Tell”, S. Bliss,
PHOTO INSIDER, July-September 1999, p. 14-15; “In the Shadow of History:
Kurdistan”, M. Howard, KATHIMERINI, June 28, 1999, p. 3; Review of “Kurdistan:
In the Shadow of History”, M. A. Pelizzari, AFTERIMAGE, Issue 26, March/April
1999; “Interview with Susan Meiselas”, S. Coleman, PHOTO METRO, vol. 17, no.
153, Spring 1999; “Stories of the Vanquished”, T. Sullivan, PDN’S PIX, vol. 5,
February/March 1999, p. 12; “Shooting the Revolution”, S. Whiting, SAN
FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, February 6, 1999, E1-E2, E4; Review of “Kurdistan—
In the Shadow of History”, A. Hopkinson, PORTFOLIO, Issue no. 27, 1998, p. 70;
“Kurdistan: In the Shadow of History: The Remaining Evidence”, C. Merewether,
NETHERLANDS FOTO INSTITUTE, 1998, p. 1-11; “Shadows and Light: Susan
Meiselas’ Revelation of Kurdistan”, R. Gragg, PLAZM, 1998; “Show World”, A.
Rowley, VILLAGE VOICE, October, 13, 1998, p. 137; “The Erotic as Another Sort
of War”, M. Loke, THE NEW YORK TIMES, October, 2, 1998, p. E40; “Photograph
Collector Puts Kurdistan on Map”, K. Roth, DAILY NEWS, September 16, 1998;
“Archives of Abuse”, S. Meiselas, GRAND STREET, vol. 17, no. 2, Fall 1998;
Review of “In the Shadow of History”, K. Makiya, DOUBLETAKE, Fall 1998, p.
131-133; “Susan Meiselas”, H. Metz, THE PROGRESSIVE, April 1998; “Kingdom
of Desire”, T. LeClair, THE NATION, March 23, 1998, p. 25-29; Review of
“Kurdistan: In the Shadow of History”, D. S. Singer, APERTURE, no. 151, Spring
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1998, p. 78-79; “Kurdish Palimpsest”, M. Haworth-Booth, CREATIVE CAMERA,
Issue 350, February/March 1998, p. 44; “Poets and Warriors: Review of Kurdistan:
In the Shadow of History”, K. E. Meyer, THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW,
February 22, 1998, p. 33; “A Trip into Kurdish History Takes Over a Life”, C.
Dreifus, THE NEW YORK TIMES, January, 10, 1998, p. B13; “En Route From
Kurdistan”, S. Meiselas, CAMERA AUSTRIA, 47/48, January 1994, p. 53-61;
“Some Thoughts on Appropriation and the Use of Documentary Photographs”, S.
Meiselas, EXPOSURE, vol. 27, no. 1, 1993, p. 10-15; “Susan Meiselas: Kurdish
Project”, M. Harris, APERTURE, no. 133, Fall 1993, p. 24-33; “Photography and
the Limits of National Identity”, A. Sekula, CULTUREREPORT, Fall 1993, p. 54-55;
“Culture Maker--Jay Kaplan Interviews Photographer Susan Meiselas”,
CULTUREFRONT, vol. 2, no. 3, Fall 1993, p. 48-56; “In Search of the Feature
Documentary”, A. Singer, BBC, 1992, p. 1-3, 26-31; “The Documentary Debate:
Aesthetic or Anesthetic?”, D. L. Strauss, CAMERAWORK, vol. 19, no. 1, Summer
1992, p. 4-13; “Special Effects: Carol Squires on Pictures from a Revolution”, C.
Squires, ARTFORUM, no. 30, December 1991, p. 13-14; "A Sense of Direction:
Ted Welch in Conversation with Susan Meiselas”, S. Meiselas and T. Welch, THE
BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY, July 11, 1991, p. 12-13; “The Border”,
S. Meiselas, WITNESS MAGAZINE, Premier Issue (1990), p. 30-35; “Appropriation
and Documentary Photographs”, S. Meiselas, EXPOSURE, 1989, vol. 27, no. 1,
p.10-15; “Susan Meiselas: The Frailty of the Frame, Work in Progress”, F. Ritchin,
APERTURE, no. 108, Fall 1987, p. 32-41; “Foreign Intrigue”, C. Squires,
AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHER, September 1987, p. 54-63; “Mixing Media”, D.
Snyder, PHOTO COMMUNIQUE, Spring 1987, p.28-36; “On the Line: The New
Color of Photojournalism”, A. Weinberg, WALKER ART CENTER, 1986; “The
Death System”, E. Desnoes, In Marshall Blonsky (ed) On Signs, Baltimore 1985, p.
39-42; “Susan Meiselas at War”, G. Emerson, ESQUIRE, December 1984, p. 165168; “Art is Politics: A Review of El Salvador and A Vanishing World”, D. Lyon,
APERTURE, no. 96, Fall 1984; “The Photography of Conflict”, F. Ritchin,
APERTURE, no. 97, Winter 1984, p. 22-27; “Guatemala: A Testimonial’ at
Cayman”, A. Soloman-Godeau, ART IN AMERICA, January 1984, p. 130-131;
“Susan Meiselas-Photographer”, L. Taylor, BRITISH JOURNAL OF
PHOTOGRAPHY, December 17, 1982, p. 1348-1350; “The Best and the
Brightest”, P. Bosworth, WORKING WOMAN, September 1982; Review of
“Nicaragua: June 1978-July 1979”, R. Urquhart, VIEWS, vol. 3, no. 4, Summer
1982; "Photography and Historical Consciousness: Nicaragua, 1978-79",
STUDIES IN VISUAL COMMUNICATION, vol. 8, no. 2, Summer 1982; “Colour of
War; Susan Meiselas in Nicaragua”, C. Polemis, CREATIVE CAMERA, no. 205,
January 1982; Review of “Nicaragua: June 1978-July 1979”, M. Kozloff,
ARTFORUM, vol. 20, no. 3, 1981, p. 76-79; Review of “Nicaragua: June 1978-July
1979”, V. Goldberg, ART IN AMERICA, vol. 69, no. 9, 1981, p. 29; ”Nicaragua:
June 1978-July 1979”, T. Imrie, BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY,
November 20, 1981, p. 1201-1203; “A Revolution in Living Color: The
Photojournalism of Susan Meiselas”, M. Rosler, IN THESE TIMES, June-17-30,
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1981; “Susan Meiselas”, L. Shames, AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHER, March 1981;
“Photographs by Susan Meiselas: Nicaragua: A People Aflame”, R. Elman, GEO,
Charter Issue (1979), p. 32-60; “New York Reviews-Susan Meiselas”, A. SargentWooster, p. 50-51; “Arts Review--Susan Meiselas”, A. Ellenzweig, ARTS, January
1977, p. 34-35;
Academic Positions
Adjunct Professor, New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, 2012Professor, Masters of Photographic Studies, Leiden, Holland, 2005-2012
Fellow, Graduate School of Journalism, Berkeley; Spring 2002-2007
Globalization Fellow in Human Rights, University of Chicago, Spring 1999
Visiting Lecturer, Harvard University, Carpenter Center; Fall, 1998
Graduate Seminar Instructor, Cal Arts, Los Angeles, Spring, 1992
Gahan Fellow, Harvard University, Carpenter Center; Spring 1991
Consultancy & Curatorial Projects
2012-13 Creative Consultant during two workshops at Zayed University, Abu Dhabi to
the book Lest We Forget Emirati Family Photography 1958– 1999
2010-
Co-Curator of Coal & Ice, traveling exhibition and catalog for Asia Society,
Center on US-China Relations.
1997-
Consultant to Open Society Foundations Documentary Photography Project
co-curator of Moving Walls exhibits focused on social justice and human rights.
1975
Center for Understanding Media; New School for Social Research, NY.
Training public school teachers in visual literacy approach for the classroom.
1974-75 Artist-in-Residence, South Carolina Arts Commission & Mississippi Arts
Commission; teaching photography and animation film in rural communities.
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