Vanessa Winship HonFRPS (born 1960) is a British photographer who works on long term projects of

portrait A portrait is a portrait painting, painting, portrait photography, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, Personality type ...

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...

reportage Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

and documentary photography. These personal projects have predominantly been in Eastern Europe but also the USA. Winship's books include ''Schwarzes Meer'' (2007), ''Sweet Nothings'' (2008) and ''She Dances on Jackson'' (2013). Her first retrospective exhibition was at

Fundación Mapfre Fundación is a town and municipality of the Colombian Department of Magdalena. Its people are known as Fundanenses. The primary economic activity is livestock-raising, for production of both meat and milk. Other crops are: corn, yuca, o ...

gallery in Madrid in 2014. Her first major UK solo exhibition is at

Barbican Art Gallery The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhibi ...

, London, in 2018. Her work has also been exhibited twice in the National Portrait Gallery in London and prominently at

Rencontres d'Arles The Rencontres d’Arles (formerly called ''Rencontres internationales de la photographie d’Arles'') is an annual summer photography festival founded in 1970 by the Arles photographer Lucien Clergue, the writer Michel Tournier and the historia ...

in France. Winship has won two

World Press Photo World Press Photo Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Founded in 1955, the organization is known for holding an annual press photography contest. Since 2011, World Press Photo has organized a ...

Awards, 'Photographer of the Year' at the Sony World Photography Awards, the HCB Award (the first woman to do so) and in 2018 an Honorary Fellowship of the

Royal Photographic Society The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), is one of the world's oldest photographic societies. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as the Photographic Society of London with ...

. She is a member of

Agence Vu Agence Vu, (stylised as Agence VU and Agence VU') is a photography agency established in 1986 that has headquarters on Rue Saint-Lazare in Paris. It works with both photojournalists Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news ...

photography agency.

Biography

Winship grew up in

Barton-upon-Humber Barton-upon-Humber () or Barton is a town and civil parish in North Lincolnshire, England. The population at the 2011 census was 11,066. It is situated on the south bank of the Humber Estuary at the southern end of the Humber Bridge. It is s ...

, rural Lincolnshire. She studied at

Baysgarth School __NOTOC__ Baysgarth School is a Mixed-sex education, coeducational secondary school located in Barton-upon-Humber, North Lincolnshire, England. The school was formed in 1975 from the merger of Barton Grammar School and Beretun Secondary Modern S ...

; Hull Art College (which included a photography module); photography at Filton Technical College, Bristol; and photography, film, and video at the

Polytechnic of Central London , mottoeng = The Lord is our Strength , type = Public , established = 1838: Royal Polytechnic Institution 1891: Polytechnic-Regent Street 1970: Polytechnic of Central London 1992: University of Westminster , endowment = £5.1 million ...

from 1984 to 1987, graduating with a BA (Hons). She met her husband, the photographer

George Georgiou George Georgiou (born 1961) is a freelance British photographer and photojournalist best known for his work in eastern Europe, particularly Turkey. Career in photography Born in London to Greek Cypriot parents, Georgiou graduated in photograph ...

, on the degree course. From 1999 she spent a decade living and working in the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

and surrounding territories of

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

and the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

. First she lived in Belgrade, for a short while in Athens, and five years in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

. Her work is about the concepts of borders, land, desire, identity, belonging, memory and history, how those histories are told and how identities are expressed. Her books have been widely acclaimed.

Sean O'Hagan Sean O'Hagan (born 1959) is an Irish singer, songwriter, and arranger who leads the avant-pop band the High Llamas, which he founded in 1992. He is also known for being one half of the songwriting duo (with Cathal Coughlan) in Microdisney and f ...

, writing in ''The Guardian'', said "She is perhaps best known for Sweet Nothings, one of my favourite photography books of recent years". ''She Dances on Jackson'' was considered by Simon Bainbridge (editor of the

BJP The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

), Sean O'Hagan,

Rob Hornstra Rob Hornstra (born 1975) is a Dutch photographer and self-publisher of documentary work, particularly of areas of the former Soviet Union. Early life Hornstra was born in Borne, Overijssel, Netherlands. Career Hornstra studied Social and L ...

and other reviewers to be shortlisted amongst the best photography books released in 2013. Phil Coomes, Picture editor at BBC News said "This is pure photography, and in my view, when viewed as a whole, is about as good as it gets." Winship is a member of

photography agency and the World Photographic Academy. As of 2012 and 2013 she was based in London and

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...

, England.

Techniques

Winship and George Georgiou travel together, alternating between one working and the other either supporting them or experimenting with their own photography. She uses

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

photographic film Photographic film is a strip or sheet of transparent film base coated on one side with a gelatin photographic emulsion, emulsion containing microscopically small light-sensitive silver halide crystals. The sizes and other characteristics of th ...

in natural light. For her work in a reportage—or

street A street is a public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of dirt, ...

—style she has used a 35 mm hand-held camera,''Schwarzes Meer'' was shot using 35 mm. for her landscape work she has at times used a

medium format Medium format has traditionally referred to a film format in photography and the related cameras and equipment that use film. Nowadays, the term applies to film and digital cameras that record images on media larger than the used in 35&nbs ...

camera and for her portraiture work she has at times used a 5×4-inch

large format Large format refers to any imaging format of or larger. Large format is larger than "medium format", the or size of Hasselblad, Mamiya, Rollei, Kowa, and Pentax cameras (using 120- and 220-roll film), and much larger than the frame o ...

camera.''Sweet Nothings'' was shot using a large format camera. She says of the difference between using 35 mm and large format that "Each methodology makes for a different relationship with my subjects ndboth have their own beauty for me".

Projects

* ''Georgia in Transition'' (2004) * ''Ukraine, Spring'' (2005) * ''Imagined States and Desires: A Balkan Journey 1'' (2006) * ''Ashura – Turkey, Istanbul'' (2006) * ''Black Sea: Between chronicle and fiction'' (2007) * ''Sweet Nothings: The Schoolgirls from the Borderlands of

Eastern Anatolia The Eastern Anatolia Region ('' tr, Doğu Anadolu Bölgesi'') is a geographical region of Turkey. The most populous province in the region is Van Province. Other populous provinces are Malatya, Erzurum and Elazığ. It is bordered by the Black Se ...

'' (2007) * ''Georgia, a Small Piece of Eden'' (2009) * ''Georgia, Schoolchildren'' (2011)

Publications

Publications by Winship

*''Schwarzes Meer'' (Black Sea). Hamburg: Mare, 2007. . *''Sweet Nothings''. **Marseille, France: Images en Manœuvres, 2008. . **London: Foto8, 2008. . *''She Dances on Jackson''. London: Mack, 2013. . Reprint edition. London: Mack, 2018. *''Vanessa Winship.'' Madrid:

, 2014. . A retrospective. *''And Time Folds.'' London: Mack, 2018. . A retrospective. Published to accompany an exhibition at Barbican Art Gallery, London. Photographs from seven series, made in the Balkans, Turkey, the Caucasus, Georgia, America and the UK, as well as Winship's personal archival material and an essay by David Chandler. *''Seeing The Light of Day.'' B-Sides Box Set, 2019. Set of 50 cards. Edition of 1000 copies. *''Sete 19.'' le bec en l'air, 2019. With a text by :fr:Christian Caujolle. *''Snow''. Los Angeles: Deadbeat Club, 2022. With a story by

Jem Poster Jem Poster (born 1949) is a British poet and novelist. His works include the collection of poetry ''Brought to Light'' (2001) and the novels ''Courting Shadows'' (2003) and ''Rifling Paradise'' (2006). Early life Poster was born in Cambridge, En ...

. . Soft cover.

Publications with contributions by Winship

*''The Grain of the Present.'' San Francisco:

Pier 24 Photography Pier 24 Photography is a non-profit art museum located on the Port of San Francisco directly under the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. The organization houses the permanent collection of the Pilara Foundation, which collects, preserves and exh ...

, 2017. . With a text by Kim Beil. Edition of 1000 copies. Exhibition catalogue.

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

* ''Black Sea,'' Vannes, 2008; Paris, 2008; Shenyang, 2008; Newcastle, UK, 2009; Sète, 2011; Rome, 2011. * ''Sweet Nothings: The Schoolgirls from the Borderlands of Eastern Anatolia,''

, France, 2008; Athens, 2008; Lillebonne, 2009; London, 2009; Rotterdam, Netherlands, 2009; Newcastle, UK, 2009; Saint-Denis, 2010; Foligno, 2010; Milan, 2010; Vichy, 2013. * ''Georgia,'' Rencontres internationales de la photographie en Gaspésie, Canada, 2012;

Third Floor Gallery Third Floor Gallery was an independent charitable photography gallery in Cardiff Bay, Wales. It opened in 2010 and predominantly featured documentary photography, often premiering new work with the direct involvement of the photographers. It clo ...

, Cardiff, Wales, 2013. * ''She Dances on Jackson,''

Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation The Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation (French: ''Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson''), also known as Fondation HCB, is an art gallery and non-profit organisation in Paris that was established to preserve and show the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson an ...

, Paris, 2013. * Retrospective,

gallery, Madrid, during

PHotoEspaña PHotoEspaña, the International Festival of Photography and Visual Arts of Madrid, is a photography forum that began in 1998. The Festival’s program presents work by Spanish and international image-makers. It runs an awards programme with sever ...

, 2014.Not being Spanish, her show is not officially included within PHotoEspaña 2014 as in that year it focused on Spanish photography. *''Vanessa Winship: And Time Folds,''

, London, 2018 Work from ''Imagined States and Desires: a Balkan Journey,'' ''Black Sea: Between Chronicle and Fiction,'' ''Sweet Nothings,'' ''Georgia: Seeds Carried by the wind,'' ''Humber,'' ''And Time Folds,'' ''She Dances on Jackson'' as well as ephemera.

Exhibitions with others

*''Voyage Mélancolique,'' Le château d’eau, pôle photographique de Toulouse, Toulouse, France, 2015. Work from ''Black Sea,'' ''Georgia,'' ''She dances on Jackson'' and ''Sweet Nothings.'' Exhibited alongside ''Last Stop'' by George Georgiou. * Ballarat International Foto Biennale, Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, 2019

Awards

* 1998 – First prize, Arts Stories category,

Awards, for Junior Ballroom Dancers * 2003 – Honorable mention, Leica Oskar Barnack Award, awarded by

Leica Camera Leica Camera AG () is a German company that manufactures cameras, optical lenses, photographic lenses, binoculars, Telescopic sight, rifle scopes and microscopes. The company was founded by Ernst Leitz in 1869 (Ernst Leitz Wetzlar), in Wetz ...

AG at Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie, Arles, France, for "Albanian Landscape" * 2008 **

Godfrey Argent Bernard Godfrey Argent (6 February 1937 – 1 June 2006) was an English photographer notable for his black and white portraits of royalty, politicians, aristocrats and celebrities. Early life Argent was born in Eastbourne, Sussex, the son of mot ...

Award for the best portrait in black and white (part of the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize), National Portrait Gallery, London, for the series ''Sweet Nothings'' ** Iris D'Or (overall winner), Photographer of the Year, Sony World Photography Awards, World Photography Organisation (WPO) ** Winner, Portraiture category, Professional Competition, Sony World Photography Awards, World Photography Organisation (WPO), for a photograph from ''Sweet Nothings'' ** First prize, Portraits Stories category, 2007 World Press Photo Awards, for ''Sweet Nothings'' ** FIOF (Fondo Internazionale Orvieto Fotografia) Book Prize 2008 (AKA the Orvieto Book Prize), Reportage section, awarded by Associazione Fotografi Italiana, Orvieto, Italy, for ''Schwarzes Meer'' ** Final selection, Leica Oskar Barnack Award, awarded by Leica Camera AG at Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie, Arles, France, for ''Schwarzes Meer'' * 2009 – Second Prize,

Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize The Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize is an annual photographic portrait prize awarded by the National Portrait Gallery in London. It was established in 2003 as the Schweppes Photographic Portrait Prize. In the years 2006 and 2007 it was ...

, National Portrait Gallery, London, for ''Girl in a Golden Dress'' from the series ''Georgia for a Song'' * 2010 **

(PHE) Discovery Award for best portfolio (Premio PHotoEspaña Descubrimientos al mejor portfolio), International Festival of Photography and Visual Arts, Madrid, Spain, for the series ''Sweet Nothings'' **

National Media Museum The National Science and Media Museum (formerly The National Museum of Photography, Film & Television, 1983–2006 and then the National Media Museum, 2006–2017), located in Bradford, West Yorkshire, is part of the national Science Museum G ...

2010 Photography Award, Bradford, England * 2011 – Prize-winner, 2011,

, a €30,000 grant for ''She Dances on Jackson'' (then known as ''Out there: An American Odyssey'') *2018: Honorary Fellowship of the

, Bath

Notes

References

External links

*
Agence Vu, who represent Winship
– includes a portfolio of photographs
"Planet of the dispossessed – in pictures"
– A gallery of photographs in ''The Guardian''
A Conversation with Vanessa Winship
– interview with Jörg Colberg, 2009
Interview with Winship by Zaman Daily Newspaper
(video) {{DEFAULTSORT:Winship, Vanessa Living people 1960 births Date of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century British photographers 21st-century women photographers British portrait photographers Documentary photographers English women photographers Landscape photographers People from Barton-upon-Humber Photographers from Lincolnshire 21st-century English women 21st-century English people Women photojournalists