Bio
Nina Berman is a documentary photographer, filmmaker, author and educator. Her wide-ranging work looks at American politics, militarism, post violence trauma and resistance. Her photographs and videos have been exhibited at more than 100 venues from the security walls of the Za'atari refugee camp to the Whitney Museum of American Art. She is the author of Purple Hearts – Back from Iraq, (2004) portraits and interviews with wounded American veterans, Homeland, (2008) an examination of the militarization of American life post September 11, and most recently, An autobiography of Miss Wish (2017) a story told with a survivor of sexual violence which was shortlisted for both the Aperture and Arles book prizes. Additional fellowships, awards and grants include: the New York Foundation for the Arts, the World Press Photo Foundation, Pictures of the Year International, the Open Society Foundation, the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University and the Aftermath Project. She is a member of the photography and film collective NOOR images and a Professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism where she directs the photography program. She lives in her hometown of New York City.
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Education
University of Chicago, B.A. English 1982
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, M.S. 1985
Grants, fellowships, awards
2020 Humanities War and Peace Initiative, Columbia University
2020 Data, Media and Society/Columbia University
2019 Data, Media and Society/Columbia University
2019 Trans National Institute (TNI) /NOOR images
2019 Deutsche Börse Foundation Photography Prize (longlist)
2018 Aperture/Paris Photo Book/Text Award, shortlist
2018 Recontres d'Arles Book Award shortlist
2018 Prix Pictet nomination
2018 PDN Annual Book Award
2017 Susan E. Tifft fellow in Documentary and Journalism
2016 Lange Taylor Prize Finalist
2016 Aftermath Project Grant recipient
2015 American Photography Annual
2015 Prix Pictet nomination
2014 Blue Mountain Center focused residency
2014 Society of Professional Journalists/ Northern California
2014 The Josephine Herrick Project Annual Photographer Award
2013 Prix Pictet nomination
2012 Prix Pictet nomination
2012 Puffin Foundation Grant
2010 Whitney Museum of American Art Residency
2009 Hasselblad Masters Award
2009 PDN Annual Book Award
2007 World Press Photo Foundation Award
2007 Pictures of the Year Award
2006 New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) Fellowship
2005 World Press Photo Foundation
2005 Open Society Institute Documentary Grant
2005 American Photo, 100 most important people in photography issue
2005 Days Japan International Photo Award
2003 American Photography Annual
2002 American Photography Annual
2000 Communication Arts
1999 Pictures of the Year
1999 Communication Arts
1998 Emma Award
1998 Pictures of the Year
1998 Communication Arts
1997 Pictures of the Year Award
1993 Pictures of the Year Award
1987 Livingston Award, finalist
Monographs
An autobiography of Miss Wish, Kehrer Verlag, 2017
Homeland, Trolley, 2008
Purple Hearts - Back from Iraq, Trolley,2004
Solo Exhibitions
2019: Image Singulières, An autobiography of Miss Wish," Sete, France
2018: Gallery Nova, "An autobiography of Miss Wish, " Zagreb, Croatia
2017: Mirbach Palace, "American Power and Myth 2002-2017, Bratislava, Slovakia
2013: Photoville, "Fractured: the Shale Play", Brooklyn, NY, USA
2012: Bronx Documentary Center, "Gardens", The Bronx, USA,
2011: Dublin Contemporary, "Homeland/Marine Wedding", Dublin, Ireland,
2011: Royal Society of Medicine, "Purple Hearts" London, UK,
2010: Melkweg Gallery, "Purple Hearts," Amsterdam, The Netherlands,
2010: Bernstein Gallery, "Purple Hearts," Princeton University, USA,
2009: Side Gallery, "Homeland/Marine Wedding", New Castle, England,
2009: War Ltd, "Purple Hearts", Dubrovnik, Croatia,
2009: Gage Gallery, Roosevelt University, "Homeland", Chicago Illinois
2009: Media Alliance, "Homeland, Purple Hearts," Troy, NY,
2008: Cicero Gallery, "Purple Hearts/Marine Wedding," Berlin, Germany,
2008: Photokina, "Purple Hearts/Marine Wedding," Cologne, Germany,
2008: Jen Bekman Gallery, " Homeland", New York City,
2008: Elon University, "Purple Hearts," Elon, North Carolina,
2007:Jen Bekman Gallery, "Purple Hearts," New York City,
2007: Alice Austen House Museum, "Purple Hearts," Staten Island, NY,
2006: University of Maryland, "Purple Hearts," Baltimore, Maryland
2006: Trolley Gallery, "Purple Hearts," London, England
2005: Galerie Cerami, "Purple Hearts," Charleroi, Belgium,
2005: National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum, "Purple Hearts," Chicago, Illinois, USA
2005: Deutsche American Institute, "Purple Hearts," Heidelberg, Germany,
Group Exhibitions
2020
RIT City Arts Space, "Beyond Addiction/Reframing Recovery," Rochester, NY
Melkweg Gallery, "J'existe," Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Monroe Gallery of Photography, "Life on Earth," Santa Fe, NM
2019
New York University Gallatin Gallery, "Conversations on Conflict Photography," New York, USA
University of Michigan,"Whose Streets, Our Streets," Ann Arbor, USA
Monroe Gallery of Photography, "Living in History," Santa Fe, USA
Parsons School of Design, "Beyond Addiction, Reframing Recovery," New York City, USA
UC Berkeley Art Museum, "The Goodman Photography Collection," Berkeley, USA
Military Museums: Founders Gallery, "Walled Off: The Politics of Containment," Calgary, Canada
Musee de la photographie, Charleroi, Belgium, Boite Noire, "Triumph of the Shill"
2018
Museum of Broken Windows, New York City, USA
Museum of Natural History, "Everyday Climate Change", Verona, Italy
Harris Gallery RIT, "Whose Streets? Our Streets!", Rochester, NY
Cinema Galeries, "Unframed," Brussels, Belgium
Athens Photo Festival, "Personal Notebooks" Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece
Trout Gallery, Dickinson College, "Unloaded," Carlisle, PA, USA
UGM/Maribor Art Gallery, "Vigilance, Struggle, Price: Through Her Eyes," Maribor, Slovenia
2017
Centro Internazionale di fotografia, "Women photograph Women, " Palermo, Sicily
Zimmerli Art Museum, "Partisan Views and Public Opinion, " New Brunswick, NJ, USA
Czech Photo Center, “NOOR by NOOR, “ Prague, Czech Republic
Prix Bayeux Calvados, "NOOR Forgotton Conflicts/Tomorrow's Conflicts, " Bayeux, France
F³ Freiraum für Fotografie, "NOOR by NOOR", Berlin, GermanyPhotoville: Charlottesville and Beyond, Brooklyn, NY, USA
NYU Tisch School of the Arts, “Reimagining A Safe Space, “NYC, USA
Nathan Cummings Foundation, “Reimagining A Safe Space, “NY, USA
Krakow Month of Photo: "The War From Here,", Krakow, Poland
Paraty em Foco, "Resist by NOOR", Paraty, Brazil
Minneapolis College of Art and Design, "Unloaded," Minneapolis, USA
Institute of Contemporary Art, "Unloaded", Portland, ME, USAMarcia Wood Gallery, "Unloaded", Atlanta, GA,
Eyes on Main Street, Wilson, North Carolina, USA
Museum of Yugoslav History, "Lessons of '91" Belgrade, Serbia
Brandts Musuem, "In War and Peace", Odense, Denmark
Bronx Documentary Center, "Whose Streets? Our Streets!" The Bronx, NY, USA
University of Kentucky, Bolivar Art Gallery, "Unloaded," Lexington, KY, US
2016
Chavonnes Battery Museum, "1% Privilege in a time of Global Inequality, " Capetown, South Africa
Indiana Museum of Contemporary Art, Unloaded, Indianapolis, IN, USA
Organ Vida, Lessons of 91, Zagreb, Croatia
Station Independent, "WE:AMEricans," New York City, USA
Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, "Marcellus Shale Documentary Project: An Expanded View," Pittsburgh, USA
Head On Photo Festival, "1% Privilege in a time of Global Inequality", Sydney, Australia
Eyes on Main Street, Wilson, NC, USA
Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, "Unloaded", Grand Rapids, MI, USA
Gage Gallery, Roosevelt University, "1% Privilege in a time of Global Inequality", Chicago, IL, USA
Handwerker Gallery, Ithaca College, "Unloaded," Ithaca, NY, USA
2015
Hamburg Triennal of Photography, "NOOR Za'atari project," Hamburg, Germany
Pingyao International Photo Festival, "1% Privilege in a time of Global Inequality, Pingyao, China
Institute Francais, "EveryDay Climate Change," Milan, Italy
Monroe Gallery of Photography, "The Long Road: From Selma To Ferguson," Santa fe, New Mexico, USA
Fotografia Europea 2015, "NOOR Diary of a Changing Planet,' Reggio Emilia, Italy
Philadelphia Photographic Arts Center, "Marcellus Shale Documentary Project," Philadelphia, PA, USA
Space, "Unloaded", Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Smackmellon, "Respond," Brooklyn, NY, USA
United Nations, "Za'atari", New York City, USA
2014
Musee de Beaux Arts, “Putain de Guerre”, Charleroi, Belgium
Manchester Art Gallery, The Sensory War, Manchester, UK
Portland Art Museum: Blue Sky at 40, Portland, Oregon, USA
Palmer Art Museum: Marcellus Shale Doc Project, State College, Pennsylvania, USA
Photoville 2014, Za'atari, Brooklyn, New York, USA
Art Works Projects: Slavery Uncovered, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Kunstmuseum Dieselkraftwerk, The Critical Camera, Cottbus, Germany
Francis Marion University, Purple Hearts,Florence, South Carolina, USA
Allegheny College, Marcellus Shale Doc Project, Meadville, PA, USA
Brooklyn Museum, "War/Photography, Brooklyn, NY, USA
Youngstown State University, "Marcellus Shale," Youngstown, USA
2013
Brooklyn Museum, "War/Photography, Brooklyn, NY, USA
Zacheta National Gallery of Art, "In God We Trust," Warsaw, Poland
Athens Photo Fesitval, "Purple Hearts video", Athens, Greece
Noorderlicht Photo Festival, "Hedge", Groningen, The Netherlands
Corcoran Gallery, "War/Photography", Washington D.C. USA
Handwerker Gallery, Ithaca College, "Marcellus Shale," Ithaca, NY, USA
La Maison de la Photographie Robert Doisneau+, "Solutions by NOOR," Gentilly, France
Center for Photography, "Marcellus Shale," Woodstock, USA
Weatherspoon Art Museum, "Kids are All Right," Greensboro, USA
Look 3 Photo Festival, "Fracking" Charlottesville, USA
Annenberg Space for Photography, "War/Photography," Los Angeles, USA
Red Line Gallery, "The Reality of Fiction," Denver, USA
Galerie Cerami, "Under the Bridge," Charleroi, Belgium
Sylvia Wald + Po Kim Gallery, "War is for the Living," New York, USA
Sol Mednick Gallery, "Marcellus Shale," Philadelphia, USA
2012
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) "War/Photography", Houston, USA
John Michael Kohler Arts Center "The Kids are All Right," Sheboygan, USA
Kunstverein-Tiergarten "The Critical Camera", Berlin, Germany
Honolulu Museum of Art, "Courage and Strength," Honolulu, USA
Pittsburgh Filmmakers, "Marcellus Shale, " PIttsuburgh, USA
Portland Art Museum, "Flesh and Bones," Portland, USA
Howard Greenberg Gallery, "New York in Color," NYC, USA
Ray 2012, "Obama Train," Frankfurt, Germany
Weatherspoon Art Museum, "Photography as Art and Document," Greensboro, USA
South Street Seaport Museum, "Occupy Wall Street," NYC, USA
Fovea Gallery, "Occupy," Beacon, USA
Getty Gallery, "Solutions", London, UK
Helsinki Biennial, "Urban and City:" Helsinki, Finland,
2011
Halle 14, “Changes”, Leipzig, Nuremberg, Weimar, Germany
GEMAK, "Generation 9-11", The Hague, The Netherlands
Monroe Gallery of Photography, "Big Picture," Santa Fe, USA
Montserrat College of Art, "For the Record", Beverly, USA
Silver Eye Center for Photography, "HomeFrontLine, Pittsburgh, USA
Noorderlicht " Metropolis", Groningen, The Netherlands
German American Center, Stuttgart, Germany
Canadian War Museum, "War and Medicine," Ottawa, Canada
Ikono, "Noor" Brussels, Belgium
10b, "Consequences by NOOR," Rome, Italy
10b, "Solutions by NOOR," Rome, Italy
Galerie Cerami, "Under the Bridge," Charlero, Belgium
2010
Whitney Museum of American Art, "Biennial 2010," New York, NY
Biennale d'Art contemporain, d'Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Milano Triennale, "Disquieting Images," Milan, Italy,
IUFM Confluences, "US Today After," Lyon, France
Gallery ID, "Hedge" Miami, Florida
Bieler Fototage, "Homeland", Bienne, Switzerland
ARos Aarhus Kunstmuseum, "I Love You," Aarhus, Denmark
Alternatilla, "Consequences by NOOR," Majorca, Spain
IPPNW World Congress, "Purple Hearts," Basel, Switzerland
Rembrandt Square, "Consequences by NOOR," Amsterdam
2009
New Orleans Museum of Art, "The Art of Caring," New Orleans, LA
Houston Center for Photography, "Unite and Untie," Houston, Texas
Dask Gallery, "Consequences by NOOR," Copenhagen, Denmark
Powerhouse Arena, "Its Darkest Places: War Illuminated", Brooklyn, NY
Galerie Cerami, “No Comment”, Charleroi, Beligum
Noorderlicht, "Human Conditions," Groningen, The Netherlands
FotoPub, "Homeland," Novo Mesto, Slovenia
Kunstraum Potsdam, "Purple Hearts/Marine Wedding", Potsdam, Germany
ArteFoto 2009, "Homeland," Ancona, Italy
Deutsches Hygiene Museum, ”War and Medicine", Dresden, Germany
2008
Wellcome Collection, "War and Medicine," London, England
Stephen Cohen Gallery, "Images of War," Los Angeles, California
Pingyao International Photo Festival, Pingyao, China
Bumbershoot, "Power of One," Seattle, Washington
Benham Art Gallery, Seattle, Washington
Fovea Editions, "Frontlines", Beacon, New York
Portland Art Museum, "New on the Wall," Portland, Oregon
Massachusetts College of Art, "War Stories," Boston, USA
Jen Bekman, "Ne Plus Ultra", New York City
2007
Musee de l'Art Wallon "Icare", Liege, Belgium
Mark Di Suvero Peace Tower, Chicago, Illinois
World Press Photo Foundation, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Visa Pour L'Image, Perpignan, France
Boca Raton Museum of Art, "Thy Brother's Keeper" Boca Raton, USA
Nathan Cummings Foundation, "The Big Picture," New York City
Green Door Studio, "Purple Hearts," Burlington, Vermont
Columbia School of Social Work, "Purple Hearts," New York City
Suny Potsdam, Crumb Library, Potsdam, New York
Galerie Cerami, "Purple Hearts," Charleroi, Belgium
2006
Chicago Cultural Center, "Humans Being: Disability in Contemporary Art, " Chicago, Il
Spool Mfg - "Overload:" Johnson City, New York
Flint Institute of Arts, "The Human Condition", Flint, Michigan
Open Society Institute, "Moving Walls," Washington D.C.
University of Hawaii, "Purple Hearts," Hilo, Hawaii
2005
World Press Photo Foundation, Amsterdam, 2005
Smack Mellon Gallery, "War," Brooklyn, New York
Provisions Library, "War", Washington D.C,
Open Society Institute, "Moving Walls," New York City
Foto&Photo, "Purple Hearts" Cesano Maderno, Italy
Blue Sky Gallery, "Purple Hearts," Portland, Oregon
2004 - 1991
Gladstone Building, "Purple Hearts," Oakland, California
Redux Gallery, "Purple Hearts," New York City
Visa Pour L'Image, Perpignan, France
Musee de L'Elysee "New York after New York", Lausanne, Switzerland
Palazzo Isimbardi, "9-11", Milan, Italy
Museum of the City of New York, "New York Now 2000"
Visa Pour L'Image, Perpignan, France, 1997
United Nations, "Faces of Sorrow", New York CityHenry Street Settlement, "On the Edge." New York City
Catalogues/Book Contributions
La Région Humanine, ed Gilles Verneret and Michel Poivert, Éditions Loco, 2021
Picturing Resistance, Melanie Light and Ken Light, Ten Speed Press, 2020
Extraction:Art on the Edge of the Abyss, ed: Samuel Pelts, The Codex Foundation, 2020
A World History of Photography, Naomi Rosenblaum, 5th edition, 2019
Everyday Climate Change, (Silvana Editoriale, 2018) edited Dario Cimorelli
War Is Only Half The Story, ed Sara Terry, Dewi Lewis, 2018
Subjective/Objective: A Century of Social Photography, Ed Donna Gustafson and Andres Mario Zervigon, University of Chicago Press, 2017
In/Visible War: The Culture of War in Twenty-First Century America, Rutgers University Press, 2017
Re-imagining A Safe Space, Deborah Willis and Melissa Harris, Nathan Cummings Foundation/NYU Tisch, 2017
Whose Streets? Our Streets!, Meg Handler, Tamar Carroll, Mike Kamber, Bronx Documentary Center, 2017
Unloaded,Susanne Slavick, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, 2015
1% Privilege in a Time of Global Inequality, Myles Little, Hatje Cantz, 2015
Blue Sky, The Oregon Center for Photographic Arts at 40, Julia Dolan, Portland Art Museum, 2014
Trolleyology, Gigi Giannuzzi/Hannah Watson, Trolley, London, 2013
Photojournalists on War: The Untold Stories from Iraq, Mike Kamber, University of Texas, 2013
War/Photography:Images of Armed Conflict and its Aftermath, Anne Wilkes Tucker, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 2012
Marcellus Shale Documentary Project, Laura Domencic, Pittsburgh, 2012
Bosnia 1992 – 1995, Jon Jones, Gary Knight, Sarajevo, 2012
Making History, RAY Fotografieprojekte, Frankfurt, 2012
Photographs Not Taken, Will Steacy, Daylight Books, 2012
Disquieting Images, Germano Celant /Melissa Harris, Skira, Milan, 2011
Whitney Biennial 2010 Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 2010
US Today After, Gilles Verneret, Silvana Editoriale, Milan, 2010
A History of Women Photographers, Naomi Rosenblum, Abbeville Press Publishers, New York, 2010
The Pursuit of Happiness,Stitching Fotografie, Noorderlicht, 2009
War Stories, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, 2008
Humans Being: Disability in Contemporary Art, Chicago Cultural Center, and Chicago, 2006
Crimes of War, Roy Gutman, David Rieff, Norton, USA, 1999
Selected Public and Private Collections
Musee de Charleroi, Belgium
Centre national de l'audiovisuel (CNA), Luxembourg
Incite Project, UK
Library of Congress, USA
Liege-Musée des Beaux-Arts, Belgium
Museum of Fine Arts Houston, USA
Museum of the City of New York, USA
Open Society Foundation, USA
Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, USA
Portland Art Museum, USA
Weatherspoon Art Museum, USA
Zimmerli Art Museum, USA
Visiting Artists Lecture Venues
Annenberg Space for Photography
Baruch College
Bronx Documentary Center
Carter Center
Center for Documentary Studies, Duke University
Colby College
Colgate University
Columbia University
Dart Center
DOK Festival, Norway
Drexel University
Empire State College
Francis Marion University
George Washington University
International Center of Photography
Indiana University
Institute for Public Knowledge, NYU
Humanity House, The Hague
John Jay College
Kutztown University
Lisbon Consortium, Portugal
Massachusetts College of Art
Montserrat College of Art
New York Academy of Medicine
New York Film Academy
New School
New York University
Northern Virginia Community College
Palmer Art Museum - Penn State
Pratt Institute
Princeton University
Rochester Institute of Technology
Roosevelt University
Rutgers University
School of Visual Arts
Scottish Parliament
Susquehanna University
University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Santa Barbara
University of Michigan
University of North Carolina, Greensboro
University of Southern California, Annenberg
University of South Wales, Cardiff
Weatherspoon Art Museum
Whitney Museum of American Art
Yale University
Zimmerli Art Museum
Teaching
2019 – Present -Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, NYC, Professor
2012- 2019 Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, NYC, Associate Professor
2019 - Women Photograph Mentor
2019 - NOOR Master Class- Sofia, Bulgaria
2018 -NOOR Master Class - Warsaw, Poland
2011 -Al-Liquindoi and Contemporary Image Collection - Visual storytelling workshop - Cairo, Egypt
Framing the Future/NOOR - Cairo, Egypt
2010 -Whitney Museum of American Art: Veterans Eye: Collaborative Program Brooklyn VA hospital PTSD clinic
2010 -Whitney Museum of American Art: Artist in Residence Youth Insights
2010- NOOR Master Class - St. Petersburg, Russia
1999, 2004 - 2009
International Center of Photography (ICP) Documentary/Photojournalism Seminar
Juries
2021 Women Photograph 2019 W. Eugene Smith, Student Award
2019 United Photo Industries, The Fence
2018 Catchlight Award
2017 Slovak Press Photo Jury Chair
2017 FotoEvidence Book Award
2017 Documenting Detroit Fellows
2014 Terry O'Neil Photography Award
2013 Terry O'Neill Photography Award
2012 Aftermath Project Grant
2011 World Press Photo Foundation
2011 Hasselblad Masters
2006 Pictures of the Year International
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