nina berman

Bio

Nina Berman is a documentary photographer, filmmaker, journalist and educator. Her work focuses on war, militarization, trauma, environmental harm and political resistance. 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 An autobiography of Miss Wish (2017),  a story told with a survivor of sexual violence over 25 years and shortlisted for the Aperture and Arles book prizes. Fellowships, awards and grants include: the New York Foundation for the Arts, the World Press Photo Foundation, the Open Society Institute, the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, the MIT Knight Science Journalism Fellowship and the Aftermath Project.  Her work is represented in the permanent collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, the Museum of the City of New York, the Library of Congress, the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Musée de la Photographie in Belgium and the Harvard Art Museums among others. She has participated in workshops around the world for young photographers in conjunction with the NOOR photography collective, and writes frequently on photojournalism for the Columbia Journalism Review.  She is a Professor of Journalism at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism where she directs the photojournalism/documentary photography program.

CV

Education
 University of Chicago, B.A., 1982
 Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, M.S. 1985

Grants, fellowships, awards

 2022 Ploughshares with The Program on Science and Global Security at Princeton University   
 2021 MIT-Knight Foundation Fellowship in Science Journalism     
 2021 New York City Arts Grant
 2020 Humanities War and Peace Initiative, Columbia University
 2020/2019 Data, Media and Society/Columbia University
 2019 Deutsche Börse Foundation Photography Prize (long list)
 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 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 Days Japan International Photo Award
 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
 
Public and Private Collections
Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, USA
Bibliothèque Nationale de France
Centre national de l'audiovisuel (CNA), Luxembourg  
Harvard Art Museums, USA
Incite Project, UK
Library of Congress, USA
Liege-Musée des Beaux-Arts, Belgium
Musée de la Photographie, Belgium
Museum of Fine Arts Houston, USA
Museum of the City of New York, USA
Open Society Foundation, USA
Portland Art Museum, USA  
Side Gallery, UK
Smithsonian National Museum of American History, USA
Weatherspoon Art Museum, USA
Zimmerli Art Museum, USA

Exhibitions

 2022
 FotoMuseum den Haag, "Parents" The Hague, The Netherlands
 Monroe Gallery of Photography, "Imagine a World Without Photojournalism," Santa Fe, NM
 Bronx Documentary Center, "Storming of the Capitol," Bronx, NY, USA
 Bibliothèque nationale de France, "15 ans de l'agence NOOR," Paris, France
 
 2021
 Harvard Art Museums, "Devour the Land: War and American Landscape Photography Since 1970," Cambridge, USA
 Southeast Museum of Photography "Conversations in Conflict Photography," Daytona Beach, FL, USA
 Musée de la Photographie, "NOOR/Pulse," Charleroi, Belgium
 Monroe Gallery of Photography, "Present Tense," Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

 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
 Image Singulières,  An autobiography of Miss Wish,"  Sete, France (solo)
 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
 
2018
 Gallery Nova,  "An autobiography of Miss Wish, " Zagreb, Croatia (Solo)
 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
 Mirbach Palace, "American Power and Myth 2002-2017, Bratislava, Slovakia (Solo)
 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, Germany
 Photoville: 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, NM, 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
Photoville, "Fractured: the Shale Play", Brooklyn, NY, USA (Solo)
 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
 Bronx Documentary Center, "Gardens", The Bronx, USA (Solo)
 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
 Royal Society of Medicine, "Purple Hearts" London, UK (Solo)
 Dublin Contemporary, "Homeland/Marine Wedding", Dublin, Ireland (Solo)
 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
 Melkweg Gallery, "Purple Hearts," Amsterdam, The Netherlands (Solo)
 Bernstein Gallery, "Purple Hearts," Princeton University, USA (Solo)
 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
 Side Gallery, "Homeland/Marine Wedding", New Castle, England,
 War  Ltd, "Purple Hearts", Dubrovnik, Croatia,
 Gage Gallery, Roosevelt University, "Homeland", Chicago Illinois
 Media Alliance, "Homeland, Purple Hearts," Troy, NY,
 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
 Cicero Gallery, "Purple Hearts/Marine Wedding," Berlin, Germany (Solo)
  Photokina, "Purple Hearts/Marine Wedding," Cologne, Germany (Solo)
 Jen Bekman Gallery, " Homeland", New York City (Solo)
  Elon University, "Purple Hearts," Elon, North Carolina, USA (Solo)
  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
  Jen Bekman Gallery, "Purple Hearts," New York City, (Solo)
  Alice Austen House Museum, "Purple Hearts," Staten Island, NY (Solo)
  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
  University of Maryland, "Purple Hearts," Baltimore, Maryland (Solo)
  Trolley Gallery, "Purple Hearts," London, England (Solo)
  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 
  Galerie Cerami, "Purple Hearts," Charleroi, Belgium, (Solo)
  National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum, "Purple Hearts," Chicago, Illinois, USA (Solo)
  Deutsche American Institute, "Purple Hearts," Heidelberg, Germany, (Solo)
  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 (2004)
  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 City
  Henry Street Settlement, "On the Edge." New York City 1991

Catalogues/Book Contributions

 What We See, White Lion Publishing, 2023 

 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                   

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

 2022 Victor K. McElheny Award 
 2021 Women Photograph Grants
 2021 Lipman Center's Initiative on Reporting on Race and Criminal Justice Fellows
 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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