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From 1972 to 1975 she spent her summers photographing and interviewing women who performed striptease for small town carnivals in New England, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina. As she followed the shows from town to town, she portrayed the dancers on stage and off, photographing their public performances as well as their private lives. She taped interviews with the dancers, their boyfriends, the show managers, and paying customers. Meiselas’ frank reveal of the lives of these women brought a hidden world to public attention. Produced at the height of the women’s movement in the ‘70s, the series Carnival Strippers reflects the struggle for identity and self-esteem that characterises a complex era of change.
Meiselas has been the President of the Magnum Foundation since 2007, with a mission to expand diversity and creativity in documentary photography.
Her works have been presented in exhibitions at the Jeu de Paume in Paris, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Kunsthaus Wien in Vienna. Meiselas was awarded the Hasselblad Award, a MacArthur Genius Grant, the Royal Photographic Society’s Centenary Medal, the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize and the first Women in Motion Award for her work.
Mediations, a survey exhibition of her work from the 1970s to the present was recently exhibited at the Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Jeu de Paume, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Instituto Moreira Salles in São Paulo, Kunst Haus Wien, C/O Berlin, Kunstmuseum Magdeburg, and FOMU in Antwerp.
Born 1948 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Lives and works in New York, USA.
B.A. Sarah Lawrence College
M.A. Visual Education, Harvard University, School of Education
Member of Magnum Photos
Honorary Doctor in Fine Arts, Parsons School of Art, New York
Gahan Fellow, Harvard University, Carpenter Center
Graduate Seminar Instructor, Cal Arts, Los Angeles
Honorary Doctor in Fine Arts, The Art Institute of Boston
Visiting Lecturer, Harvard University, Carpenter Center
Globalization Fellow in Human Rights, University of Chicago
Fellow, Graduate School of Journalism, Berkley
Professor, Masters of Photographic Studies, Leiden, Netherlands
Adjunct Professor, New York University, Tisch School of the Arts
Honorary Doctor in Humane Letters, Columbia University
Belknap Visiting Fellow, Princeton University
Dr. Erich Salomon-Preis, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Photographie
Rencontres d’Arles First Prize Women in Motion Award
Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize
Kraszna-Krausz Fellowship Award
Alice Austen Award for the Advancement of Photography
Harvard Arts Medal, Arts First, Harvard University
Luma Historical Book Award, In History
Kraszna Krausz And/or Book Award, In History
Lucie Documentary Award
Centenary Award, Royal Photographic Society
Cornell Cappa Infinity Award, International Center of Photography
Nederlands Foto Instituut Grant, Photoworks-in-Progress: Constructing Identity
Hasselblad Foundation Award
Maria Moors Cabot Prize, Columbia Journalism School
Lyndhurst Foundation
Engelhard Award, Institute of Contemporary Art
Leica Award for Excellence
American Society of Media Photographers Photojournalist of the Year
Robert Capa Gold Medal, Overseas Press Club
Fellow, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University, Boston
Artist-in-Residence, American Academy, Rome, Italy
Presidential Fellow, Department of Art and History, University of Miami
SIR (Something In Residence), Interactive Telecommunications Program, New York University, Tisch School of the Arts
Guggenheim Fellowship, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Rockefeller Foundation, Multi-Media Fellowship
MacArthur Fellowship, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship
Artist-in-Residence, South Carolina Arts Commission and Mississippi Arts Commission; teaching photography and animation film in rural communities
Susan Meiselas. Mediations, Fotomuseum Antwerpen, Belgium
Susan Meiselas. Intimate Strangers, Galerie Thomas Zander, Cologne, Germany
Susan Meiselas. Mediations, Kunstmuseum Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany
Susan Meiselas. Mediations, C/O Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Susan Meiselas. Mediations, Kunsthaus Wien, Vienna, Austria
Susan Meiselas. Mediations, Instituto Moreira Salles, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Susan Meiselas. Behind Closed Doors, Barbara Walters Gallery, Sarah Lawrence College, New York, USA
Susan Meiselas. Nicaragua 1978 – 2018, Amelie A. Wallace Gallery, SUNY College at Old Westbury, New York, USA
Susan Meiselas. Mediations, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, California, USA
Susan Meiselas. Mediations, Jeu de Paume, Paris, France
Susan Meiselas. Carnival Strippers, Danziger Gallery, New York, USA
Susan Meiselas. Mediations, Fundació Antoni Tàpies, Barcelona, Spain
Susan Meiselas. Nicaragua, Stephen Daiter Gallery, Chicago, USA
Susan Meiselas. Prince Street Girls, Higher Pictures, New York, USA
Susan Meiselas. Carrying the Past, Forward, Fotografie Forum Frankfurt, Frankfurt a.M., Germany
Susan Meiselas. Crossings over the U.S./Mexico Border, Galerie Hug, Paris, France
Susan Meiselas. Determined Lives: Carnival Strippers & Nicaragua, Magnum Print Room, London, UK
Susan Meiselas. Prince Street Girls, Pelayo 47, Madrid, Spain
Susan Meiselas. Prince Street Girls, Galerie Hug, Paris, France
Susan Meiselas. In History: Carnival Strippers, Nicaragua & Kurdistan, Hood Museum, Dartmouth, USA
Susan Meiselas. Pandora’s Box, The Wapping Project, London, UK
Susan Meiselas. In History: Carnival Strippers, Nicaragua & Kurdistan, International Center for Photography, New York, USA
Susan Meiselas. Intimate Strangers: Carnival Strippers & Pandora’s Box, Stephen Bulger Gallery, Toronto, Canada
Susan Meiselas. Intimate Strangers: Carnival Strippers & Pandora’s Box, Cohen Amador Gallery, New York, USA
Susan Meiselas. Reframing History, Fotografins Hus, Stockholm, Sweden
Susan Meiselas. Intimate Strangers: Carnival Strippers & Pandora’s Box Open Eye, Liverpool, UK
Susan Meiselas. Intimate Strangers: Carnival Strippers & Pandora’s Box, Stephen Daiter Gallery, Chicago, USA
Susan Meiselas. Intimate Strangers: Carnival Strippers & Pandora’s Box, Rose Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
Susan Meiselas. Intimate Strangers: Carnival Strippers & Pandora’s Box Open Eye, Scout Gallery, London, UK
Susan Meiselas. Intimate Strangers: Carnival Strippers & Pandora’s Box FOAM, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Susan Meiselas. Intimate Strangers: Carnival Strippers & Pandora’s Box Canal de Isabel II, Madrid, Spain
Susan Meiselas. Carnival Strippers, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, USA
Susan Meiselas. Intimate Strangers: Carnival Strippers & Pandora’s Box, Leica Gallery, New York, USA
Susan Meiselas, Hasselblad Center, Gothenburg, Sweden
Susan Meiselas. Crossings: Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Borders, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, USA
Susan Meiselas. Mediations: Nicaragua, Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany
Susan Meiselas. Mediations: Nicaragua, Camerawork, London, UK
Susan Meiselas. Mediations: Nicaragua, Side Gallery, Newcastle-on-Tyne, UK
Susan Meiselas. Nicaragua, FNAC Gallery, Paris, France
Susan Meiselas. Carnival Strippers, AM Sachs Gallery, New York, USA
New Works. Art Collection Deutsche Börse, Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation, Eschborn, Germany
Women on the Front Line: Photography from Lee Miller to Anja Niedringhaus, Hague Museum of Photography, The Hague, Neaderland
Close Enough: New Perspectives from 12 Women Photographers of Magnum, International Center of Photography, New York, USA
Female Photographers at the Front, Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland
Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2019, The Photographers’ Gallery, London, UK
MSDEMEANORS, Denise Bibro Fine Art, New York, USA
Female Photographers at the Front, Kunstpalast, Dusseldorf, Germany
Camera Austria International. Laboratory for Photography and Theory, Museum of Modern Art Salzburg Mönchsberg, Austria
Dream of Solentiname 80WSE, New York, USA
Magna Brava Ongoing, Magnum Gallery, Paris, France
Thessaloniki Photo Biennale 2018, Thessaoloniki Museum of Photography, Greece
Dream of Solentiname Museuo Jumex, Mexico City, Mexico
Framing Community: Magnum Photos, 1947-Present, Hunter College Art Galleries, New York, USA
Bending the Frame, Preus Museum, Horten, Norway
Conflict and Consequence, Sheldon Museum of Art, Nebraska, USA
Magnum Analog Recovery, Le Bal, Paris, France
History Unfolds The Swedish History Museum, Stockholm, Sweden
Human Interest: Portraits from the Whitney’s Collection Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, USA
Collaborative Archives: Connective Histories LeRoy Neiman Gallery, Columbia University, New York, USA
Being Kurdish, Hinterland Gallery, Vienna, Austria
Conflict, Time, Photography, Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany
Images of Conviction: The Construction of Visual Evidence, Le Bal, Paris, France
The Memory of Time: Contemporary Photographs at the National Gallery of Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., USA
Mobilizing Memory – Vienna, Kunsthalle Exnergasse, Vienna, Austria
Sideshow, Yale School of Art, New Haven, USA
Not Yet. On the Reinvention of Documentary and Criticism of Modernism 1968- 1989, Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain
Conflict, Time, Photography, Tate Modern, London, UK
American Photography: Recent Acquisitions from The Museum of Modern Art, Paris Photo, Paris, France
Eyes Wide Open! 100 Years of Leica Photography, Deichtorhallen, Hamburg, Germany
Mobilizing Memory: Women Witnessing, DEPO, Istanbul, Turkey
Women in War, Daegu International Photography Biennale, South Korea
Postcards from America, Milwaukee Museum of Art, Wisconsin, USA
Backstage, Magnum Gallery, Paris, France
Envisioning Human, Rights Berkeley Art Museum, California, USA
Forensic Aesthetics, Pauza Gallery, Krakow, Poland
Re-Framing History, Galerie Lelong, New York, USA
160 Actions To Make A Jacket, Look 3 Festival of the Photograph, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
Revolution vs. Revolution, Beirut Art Center, Lebanon
Anti-Periodismo, La Virreina, Barcelona, Spain
Engaged Observors: Documentary Photography since the 1960s, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, USA
Exposed: Voyeurism, Surveillance & the Camera, Tate Britain, London, UK
Elles, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Kreyol Factory, Parc de la Villette, Paris, France
Darkside, Fotomuseum Winterthur, Zurich, Switzerland
The War of Images and the Images of War, Brighton Photo Festival, UK
Disposable People, The Hayward, London, UK
Immigrante Madrid, Canal de Isabel II, Madrid, Spain
Big Picture: Provisions for the Arts of Social Change, New York, USA
Kurdistan: In the Shadow of History, Gwangju Biennial, South Korea
Carnival Strippers and Reframing History Les Rencontres d’Arles, Arles, France
Post.doc?, Thessaloniki Museum of Photography, Greece
Beautiful Suffering, Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, USA
New York, New York, Grimaldi Forum, Monaco
After the Fact, First Festival of Photography, Berlin Mirror, Mirror, Centre Cultural de Belem, Lisbon, Portugal
Strangers: The First ICP Triennial of Photography and Video, New York, USA
Open City: Street Photographs since 1950, Museum of Modern Art Oxford, UK
Photoworks in Progress, Nederlands Foto Instituut, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Picturing the Modern Amazon, New Museum, New York, USA
Magnum Degrees, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, France
Art in Freedom, Museum Boijmans, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Facing History, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
Kurdistan: In the Shadow of History, Menil Collection, Houston, USA
In Our Time, International Center of Photography, New York, USA
Los Vecinos, Museum for Photographic Arts, San Diego, USA
The Art of Photography, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA
On the Line, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, USA
The Nicaragua Media Project New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, USA
El Salvador: Work of 30 Photographers, Museum for Photographic Arts, San Diego, USA
New Color Work, Fogg Museum, Cambridge, USA
Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany
Hasselblad Center, Gothenburg, Sweden
Tate Modern, London, UK
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, USA
Princeton University Art Museum, New Jersey, USA
The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, USA
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, USA
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., USA
Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, USA
Fogg Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, USA
George Eastman House, Rochester, USA
The Jewish Museum, New York, USA
Library of Congress, Washington D.C., USA
Magnum Photos Collection at the Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas, Austin, USA
Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, USA
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA
Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, USA
Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, USA
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, USA
Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, USA
University of California, Riverside, USA
Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, USA
International Center of Photography, New York, USA
Haverford College, Haverford, USA
Hood Museum, Dartmouth, USA
Corcoran Museum, Washington D.C., USA
The Morgan Library and Museum, New York, USA
Creative Consultant during two workshops at Zayed University, Abu Dhabi to the book Lest We Forget Emirati Family Photography 1958– 1999
Co-Curator of Coal & Ice, traveling exhibition and catalog for Asia Society, Center on US-China Relations
Consultant to Open Society Foundations Documentary Photography Project co-curator of Moving Walls exhibits focused on social justice and human rights
Center for Understanding Media; New School for Social Research, NY. Training public school teachers in visual literacy approach for the classroom
Consultant, teaching photography in New York City public schools for Community Resource Institute
A Family in History, co-directed and co-produced with Alfred Guzzetti
The Windmill Movie, Executive Producer
Reframing History, co-directed and co-produced with A. Guzzetti and Pedro Linger Gasiglia
Pictures from a Revolution, co-directed and co-produced with A.Guzzetti and R.P. Rogers
Living at Risk, co-directed and co-produced with A.Guzzetti and R. P. Rogers
Voyages, writing and photography
Porch Portraits, Photopaper 33|34, Kassel, Germany
View of A Room, Here Press, London, UK
A Room of Their Own, Multistory, West Bromwich, UK
Prince Street Girls TBW Subscription Series, TBW Books, Oakland, USA
My Life for Love / Nicaraguita, Steidl/ifa, Göttingen, Germany
Prince Street Girls, Yellow Magic Books, Paris, France
Encounters with the Dani, Steidl/ICP, Göttingen, Germany
Pandora’s Box, Trebruk/Magnum Editions, New York, USA
Kurdistan: In the Shadow of History, Random House, New York, USA
Nicaragua, June 1978-July 1979, Pantheon, Munich, Germany
Carnival Strippers, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, New York, USA
Carnival Strippers, Revision, Steidl, Göttingen, Germany / Whitney, New York, USA
Nicaragua, June 1978-July 1979, Aperture, New York, Germany
Kurdistan: In the Shadow of History, Reprint, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, USA
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Zander Galerie
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