nina berman

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, 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, the MIT Knight Science Journalism Fellowship and the Aftermath Project.  She is a Professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism where she directs the photography program. She lives in her hometown of New York City. 

CV

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

Grants, fellowships, awards

 2021 MIT-Knight Foundation Fellowship in Science Journalism   
 2021 New York City Artist Corps 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

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, 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  

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

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 

20 09

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

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

Henry Street Settlement, "On the Edge." New York City 1991
 

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                   

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

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