Diana Markosian

Diana Markosian (born 1989) is an American and Russian artist of Armenian descent, working as a documentary photographer, writer, and filmmaker. She is known for her photo essays, including Inventing My Father, about her relationship with her father, and1915, about the Armenian genocide.

Personal life

Markosian was born in Moscow. In 1996, she moved to California with her mother and her brother, while her father remained in Russia. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Oregon with a bachelor of arts in history and international studies in 2008, and earned her master's degree in journalism from Columbia University in 2010.

2011 incident in Azerbaijan

In 2011, Markosian was sent to Azerbaijan as a photojournalist for Bloomberg News, but she was prevented entrance to the country, which was at war with Armenia at the time. Markosian is of Armenian descent but not a citizen of Armenia. The authorities said they couldn't provide her with the "security" she would need because of her Armenian last name.

Photojournalism

Her work has been published by World Policy Journal, The New York Times, Foreign Policy, The Times, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, National Geographic, and other sources.

Awards

She won the Columbia School of Journalism's annual photography prize, and was chosen as a duPont Fellow. She was selected for the Joop Swart Masterclass from World Press Photo and was the winner of the Magnum Emerging Photographer Fund in 2013. In 2015, she was selected as the first recipient of the Chris Hondros Emerging Photographer Award. The same year, the British Journal of Photography selected her in their global survey of ‘Ones to Watch’. In 2016, Markosian became a nominee member of Magnum Photos.