Quick Facts
Biography
Kristen Ashburn (born 1973) is an American photojournalist. In 2001, she began photographing the impact of AIDS in southern Africa, and since then has produced stories on the spread of tuberculosis (TB) in the Russian penal system, Jewish settlers and suicide bombers in Israel’s Occupied Territories, the aftermath of the tsunami in Sri Lanka and of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Her work has appeared in many publications, including The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, and Life. She lives in New York City.
In addition to her humanitarian photography, Ashburn is one of the directors of Through the Eyes of Children: The Rwanda Project, a charity that teaches photography to orphans of the 1994 Rwandan genocide and supports them through the sale of their images.
Awards
- Emmy Award nomination (2007) - Bloodline: AIDS and Family multimedia project, produced by Mediastorm.org
- The John Faber Award of the Overseas Press Club of America (2007) - "The African Scourge", first published in The Los Angeles Times
- National Press Photographers Association's (NNPA) Best of Photojournalism Award (2007, 2006, 2003)
- Pictures of the Year Award (2007)
- Getty Images Grant for Editorial Photography (2006)
- World Press Photo (2005, 2003)
- Canon Female Photojournalist Award/AFJ (2004)
- Marty Forscher Fellowship for Humanistic Photography (2003)
Recent work
In 2007, Ashburn worked as a consulting producer on the documentary film I Am Because We Are, which was produced and written by Madonna. A book of images bearing the same title is being published by powerHouse Books in December 2008.