The World Photography Organisation announced that American photographer Susan Meiselas has been named the recipient of the Outstanding Contribution to Photography at the Sony World Photography Awards 2025. Meiselas is known for her highly committed approach and has built an impressive oeuvre. Her compelling portraits of people in their communities broaden the view of documentary photography.
Meiselas is known for portraying the stories of women: of girls growing up in Little Italy, New York; to strippers performing at state fairs; to women escaping domestic violence in the UK, and to documentation of human rights issues in Latin America, as well as compiling a photographic history of Kurdistan.
Her photographic essays share the lives and experiences of those in front of her lens. Created over extended periods of time - often accompanied by field notes and testimonials from participants - Meiselas' projects invite collaboration.
Excerpts from five of Meiselas' projects were on display at Somerset House in London (17 April - 5 May 2025), including projects never before exhibited in the UK.
Drawing from her earliest works, 44 Irving Street, Prince Street Girls and Carnival Strippers, to her later projects Pandora's Box and A Room of their Own, the exhibition follows recurring thematic elements that Meiselas has developed in her practice, focusing on what is often hidden from the public.
Susan Meiselas was born in Baltimore, USA, in 1948 and completed her MA in visual education at Harvard University before working as a teacher.
She started taking photographs during the summer holidays and created her first project Carnival Strippers in the summers of 1972-75. She joined Magnum Photos in 1976 and has since produced several important works. Her photos of the revolution in Nicaragua in the late ’70s are still iconic years later.
The Outstanding Contribution to Photography honors an individual or group of people who have had a significant impact on the photographic medium.
As the 18th recipient, Meiselas joins a distinguished list of names including William Eggleston (2013), Mary Ellen Mark, William Klein, Eve Arnold, Bruce Davidson, Elliott Erwitt and most recently Martin Parr, Candida Hofer, Nadav Kander, Gerhard Steidl, Graciela Iturbide, Edward Burtynsky (2022) and Sebastiao Salgado (2024).
More info: www.worldphoto.org.
