JAMES NACHTWEY
ABOUT
Born in 1948, Syracuse, USA.
Since 1981, James Nachtwey has dedicated his career to documenting wars, conflicts and critical social issues, worldwide. To cite a few examples of his ongoing work, Nachtwey documented the violent breakup of the former Yugoslavia, the wars in Chechnya, civil strife in Northern Ireland and most recently, the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In Africa, he photographed the genocide in Rwanda, famines in Somalia and Sudan and the liberation struggle in South Africa. He documented the civil wars that engulfed Central America during the 1980s and the American invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, where he was wounded in a grenade attack. In Asia, he documented the overthrow of dictatorships in the Philippines, South Korea and Indonesia, as well as natural disasters in Japan and Nepal, and the extrajudicial ‘war on drugs’ in the Philippines. He has pursued social issues throughout the world with equal dedication. State-sanctioned, institutional abuse of orphans in Romania, homelessness, drug addiction, poverty, crime, global health issues and industrial pollution are a few of the subjects he has photographed extensively.
He has received numerous awards from the journalism profession, as well as for contributions to art and humanitarian causes. In 2003 he received the Dan David Prize. In 2007 he was a recipient of both the TED Prize and the Heinz Family Foundation Award for the arts. In 2012 he was awarded the Dresden Prize, for promoting world peace. In 2016, Nachtwey was a recipient of the Princess of Asturias Award. Five times Nachtwey has been awarded the Robert Capa Gold Medal, for exceptional courage and enterprise, and the World Press Photo Award twice. He received the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Grant in Humanistic Photography and has been named Magazine Photographer of the Year eight times.
He has received numerous awards from the journalism profession, as well as for contributions to art and humanitarian causes. In 2003 he received the Dan David Prize. In 2007 he was a recipient of both the TED Prize and the Heinz Family Foundation Award for the arts. In 2012 he was awarded the Dresden Prize, for promoting world peace. In 2016, Nachtwey was a recipient of the Princess of Asturias Award. Five times Nachtwey has been awarded the Robert Capa Gold Medal, for exceptional courage and enterprise, and the World Press Photo Award twice. He received the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Grant in Humanistic Photography and has been named Magazine Photographer of the Year eight times.
Nachtwey’s photographs are included in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Bibliotheque nationale de France, the Pompidou Center and the Getty Museum among other venues.
He has had numerous solo exhibitions worldwide, including the International Center of Photography in New York, Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris, Palazzo Reale in Milan, El Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid, Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris, Foam Fotografiemuseum in Amsterdam, Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego, Fotografiska in Stockholm, New York and Tallinn, Palazzo delle Esposizione in Rome, Karolinum in Prague, the Hasselblad Center in Göteborg, Sweden, Fondazione Palazzo Magnani in Reggio Emilia, Italy and C/O Berlin, among others.
In 2001, War Photographer, a feature length documentary film about the life and work of James Nachtwey, directed by Christian Frei, was nominated for an Academy Award. His books include Deeds of War and Inferno.
Nachtwey has been awarded four honorary doctorate degrees from American universities, including Dartmouth College, which recently acquired the entire archive of his life’s work.
BIOGRAPHY
JAMES NACHTWEY I BRIOGRAPHY
Born in 1948, Syracuse, USA
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022 James Nachtwey. The unvanquished, Award Estação Imagem 2022, Coimbra, PT
2022 James Nachtwey, Gowen, Geneva, CH
2022 Memoria, Fotografiska Museum, New York, USA
2019 Memoria, Fotografiska Museum, SE
2018 Memoria, Maison Européenne de la photographie, FR
2018 Memoria, Palazzo Reale, IT
2017 Pietas, Palazzo della Ragione, IT
2012 War, Militärhistorisches Museum, Dresden, DE
2012 Eastern Art Gallery, Jinan International Biennale, CN
2010 Inferno - l’occhio testimone, Palazzo Mediceo di Stranezza, IT
2010 Struggle to Live - The Fight Against TB, 401 Project, New York, USA
2010 James Nachtwey Anti War Photographer, Örebro Konsthall, Örebro, SE
2010 James Nachtwey, Bibliothèque municipale, Lyon, FR
2009 Struggle for life, Max-Planck-Institut, DE
2008 Anti-war photographer, Galerie Clairefontaine, LU
2008 Bill and Melinda Gates Grand Challenge Conference, Bangkok, TH
2008 Look3 Photography Festival, Charlottesville, USA
2007 Testimony, Foam Fotografiemuseum, NL
2007 The Sacrifice, 401 Project, New York, USA
2007 Headquarters of the United Nations, New York, USA
2007 L’oeil Témoin, Collégiale Saint-Martin, Anger, FR
2007 Eyewitness, Seedam Kulturcentrum, Zurich, CH
2006 War Photographer, Kunstsammlung Jena, DE
2006 War Photographer, Zurab Tsereteli Art Gallery, RU
2006 War Photographer, Moscow House of Photography, Moscow, RU
2005 New Work, Fahey/Klein Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
2005 War, Palazzo Arese Borromeo, IT
2005 War Photographer, Galerie Clairefontaine, LU
2005 War Photographer, Palazzo Magnani, IT
2005 Images de guerre et guerre des images, Abbaye de Neumünster, LU
2005 Städtische Museen, Jena, DE
2004 War Photographer, Galerie ℅, Berlin, DE
2004 Museum der bildenden Künste, Leipzig, DE
2004 Kunsthalle der Sparkasse, DE
2004 War photographer, C/O Berlin, DE
2003 Testimony, Southeast Museum, Florida, USA
2003 War Photographer, Museum of Photography, JP
2003 Kriegsfotograf, Literaturhaus München, DE
2003 L’œil témoin, Bibliothèque Nationale, FR
2002 Testimony, Museum of Photographic Arts, California, USA
2002 Photographs, Fahey/Klein Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
2002 Witness, Hood Museum of Art, Darmouth College, USA2001 James Nachtwey. The eye as a witness, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Roma,IT
2001 Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, USA
2000 Testimony, International Center of Photography, New York, USA
2000 El Circulo de Bellas Artes, Madrid, ES
2000 Galerie Le Manège, Berlin, DE
1997 International Forum, Tokyo, JP
1997 Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, USA
1995 Hood Museum of Art, Darmouth College, USA
1994 Carolinum, Prague, CZ
1993 Photo Massan, Göteborg, SE
1992 James Nachtwey, Hasselblad Center, Göteborg, SE
1989 Deeds of War, International Center of Photography, New York, USA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023 artgenève, Geneva, CH
2022 Waiting for Jim, Gowen, Geneva, CH
2022 artgenève art fair, with Gowen, Geneva, CH
2021 The Human Cost: America’s drug plague, Bronx Documentary center, USA
2020 ZEIT-ZEUG*INNEN – ICONS OF PHOTOJOURNALISM 1932 – 1986, Photography in Berlin, DE
2019 Striking Moments in Photojournalism, Photobastei, Zurich, CH
2018 Beyond the Air We Breathe, Bangkok Art and Culture Center, TH
2017 The Photograph as Witness: Documents of Conflict, Museum of Photographic Art, San Diego, USA
2013 Minne mich gewaltig/Ah, Lord love me passionately, Teutloff Museum, Bielefeld, DE
2013 Newton Foundation, Berlin, DE
2011 L’ombre de la guerre, HOST Gallery, Centre national des arts plastiques, Paris, FR
2010 Engaged Observers : Documentary Photography since the Sixties, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, USA
2009 Taboo, Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow, RU
2009 Taboo, Art Tower, Mito, JP
2008 Photographic Figures, Cohen Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
2008 Combat pour la vie, Le Laboratoire, Paris, FR
2008 Humankind, Hasted Kraeutler, New York, USA
2006 Men, War & Peace, ICP Center of Photography, New York, USA
2007 Newton, Nachtwey, La Chapelle: Men, War Peace, Newton Foundation, Berlin, DE
2007 Pioneers in Photography, Lianzhou Photo Festival, Lianzhou, CN
2007 Blue Stag Hype, Città di Cesano Maderno, IT
2006 In Our Time: The World as Seen by Magnum Photographers, Museum of Art, Portland, USA
2006 MARTa Herford, DE
2006 To the Human Future - Flight from the Dark Side, Contemporary Art Gallery, Art Tower Mito, JP
2005 Tsunami, Fondazione Sozzani, Milano, IT
2005 The Pain of War, Mead Art Museum, USA
2005 El Salvador : Work of Thirty Photographers, International Center of Photography, New York, USA
2005 Double Vision - 1st Lianzhou International Photo Festival, Centre de Cultura Contemporània, Lianzhou Photo Festival, CN
2005 Foto & Photo 2005, Città di Cesano Maderno, IT
2005 Fotofo, Bratislava, SK
2005 Welt-Bilder, Helmhaus, ZuricH, CH
2005 Heroes, MARTa Herford, DE
2005 World Press Photo, Fondazione Sozzani, IT2004 2004 2004 2004 2004 2004 2004 2003 2003 The Pain of War, Mead Art Museum, USA
Photography for Amnesty, Netherlands Photo Museum, NL
War - New York, Kabul; Baghdad, Visual Gallery Photokina, DE
En Guerra, Centre de Cultura Contemporània, ES
WAR by VII | USA - AFGHANISTAN - IRAQ, War Photo Limited, Dubrovnik, HR
Intercontinental, OMC Galerie für Gegenwartskunst, Düsseldorf, DE
Inviati di guerra - otto reportages fotografici 1991-2003, Scavi Scaligeri, Verona, IT
60 Exhibitions : Breda Photo 2003, Breda Photo, Breda, NL
Unveiled / Enthüllt, OMC Galerie für Gegenwartskunst, Düsseldorf, DE
SELECTED AWARDS AND HONORS
2019 Golden Plate Award, American Academy of Achievement, Washington, USA
2016 Princess of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities, ES
2015 American Society of Magazine Editors Award, USA
2012 Dresden Peace Prize, Dresden, DE
2012 Jinan Biennal, CN
2010 Henry Luce Award, USA
2008 President’s Award, Overseas Press Club of America
2007 TED Prize
2007 12th Annual Heinz Award in Arts and Humanities, Heinz Family Foundation, USA
2004 National Magazine Award, USA
2004 Leipzig Foundation Award, Germany
2004 Lucie Award, USA
2003 Dan David Prize, Israel
2003 Magazine Photographer of the year, USA
2003 Dr. Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award, USA
2002 Henry Luce Award for Corporate Leadership, USA
2002 Magazine Photographer of the year, USA
2002 Martin Luther King Award, USA
2002 Alicia Patterson Foundation Fellowship, USA
2002 Special September 11 Award, Overseas Press Club, USA
2002 Olivier Rebbot Award, Overseas Press Club, USA
2001 Common Wealth Award for the arts, USA
2001 Academy Award (War Photographer, nominated for best documentary), USA
2001 Lou Stoumen Prize, USA
2000 Infinity Award, International Center of Photography, USA
1999 Alfred Eisenstadt Award, USA
1999 Bayeaux Award for War Correspondents, FR
1999 Honorary Fellowship of The Royal Photographic Society, Bristol, UK
1998 Robert Capa Gold Medal, Overseas Press Club, USA
1996 Bayeaux Award for War Correspondents,FR
1995 World Press Photo of the Year, Amsterdam, NL
1994 Robert Capa Gold Medal, Overseas Press Club
1994 Magazine Photographer of the year, USA
1994 W. Eugene Smith Memorial Grant, USA
1993 World Press Photo of the Year, Amsterdam, NL
1993 Olivier Rebbot Award, Overseas Press Club, USA1993 Infinity Award, International Center of Photography, USA
1992 Magazine Photographer of the year, USA
1992 Olivier Rebbot Award, Overseas Press Club, USA
1992 Canon Photo Essayist Award, USA
1991 Infinity Award, International Center of Photography, USA
1991 Nikon World Image Award, New School for Social Research, USA
1990 Magazine Photographer of the year, USA
1990 Leica Award, New School for Social Research, USA
1989 Leica Award, New School for Social Research, USA
1988 Magazine Photographer of the year, USA
1986 Robert Capa Gold Medal, Overseas Press Club, USA
1986 Magazine Photographer of the year, USA
1985 Budapest Photographic Festival Award, Hungary
1985 Nikon Award, USA
1984 Robert Capa Gold Medal, Overseas Press Club, USA
1983 Magazine Photographer of the year, USA
1983 Robert Capa Gold Medal, Overseas Press Club, USA
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Museum of Modern Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Boston Museum of Fine Arts
Corcoran Gallery of Art
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Minneapolis Museum of Art
Minneapolis Institue of Arts
Centre Pompidou
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Bibliothèque nationale de France
Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College
George Eastman House
Harry Ransom Center
Shandong University of Arts and Design
