Vanessa Winship (born 1960) is a British photographer who works on long term projects of portrait, landscape, reportage and documentary photography. She has worked on numerous personal projects, predominantly in Eastern Europe, photographs from which have been exhibited twice in the National Portrait Gallery in London and prominently at Les Rencontres d’Arles; included in three highly regarded books; and have won her two World Press Photo Awards, ‘Photographer of the Year’ at the Sony World Photography Awards, and the HCB Award (the first woman to do so). She is a member of Agence Vu photography agency.

BIOGRAPHY

Winship grew up in Barton-upon-Humber, rural Lincolnshire. She studied at Baysgarth School; 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 from 1984 to ’87, graduating with a BA (Hons). She met her husband, the photographer George Georgiou, on the degree course.

From 1999 she spent a decade living and working in the Balkans and surrounding territories of Turkey and the Black Sea. First she lived in Belgrade, for a short while in Athens, and five years in Istanbul.

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, 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), Sean O’Hagan, Rob Hornstra 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 the World Photographic Academy. In 2012 and 2013 she has been based in London and Folkestone, England.

Her first retrospective exhibition was at Fundación MAPFRE gallery in Madrid in 2014

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

She usesblack-and-white photographic film  in natural light. For her work in a reportage – or street – style she has used a 35 mm hand-held camera, for her landscape work she has at times used a medium format camera and for her portraiture work she has at times used a 5×4 inch 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 [and] both 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 (2007)
Georgia, a Small Piece of Eden (2009)
Georgia, Schoolchildren (2011)

Publications
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.
Vanessa Winship. Madrid: Fundación Mapfre, 2014.
Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions
Black Sea – Vannes (2008), Paris (2008), Shenyang (2008), Newcastle, England (2009), Sète (2011), Rome (2011)
Sweet Nothings: The Schoolgirls from the Borderlands of Eastern Anatolia – Les Rencontres d’Arles, France (2008),[23] Athens (2008), Lillebonne (2009), London (2009), Rotterdam, Holland (2009), Newcastle, England (2009), Saint-Denis (2010), Foligno (2010), Milan (2010), Vichy (2013)
Georgia – Rencontres internationales de la photographie en Gaspésie, Canada (2012), Third Floor Gallery, Cardiff, Wales (2013)
She Dances on Jackson – Paris (2013)
Retrospective, Fundación MAPFRE gallery, during PHotoEspaña 2014, Madrid (2014).

Exhibitions with others
Voyage Mélancolique, 14 January – 8 March 2015, Le Chateau D’eau, Toulouse, France. Work from Black Sea, Georgia, She dances on Jackson and Sweet Nothings. Exhibited alongside Last Stop by George Georgiou.

Awards
1998 – First prize, Arts Stories category, World Press Photo Awards, for Junior Ballroom Dancers
2003 – Honorable mention, Leica Oskar Barnack Award, awarded by Leica Camera AG at Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie, Arles, France, for “Albanian Landscape”
2008
Godfrey Argent 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, National Portrait Gallery, London, for Girl in a Golden Dress from the series Georgia for a Song
2010
PHotoEspaña (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 2010 Photography Award, Bradford, England
2011 – Prize-winner, HCB Award 2011, Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson, for She Dances on Jackson (then known as Out there: An American Odyssey)

Here an interview on BJP

Vanessa Winship è una fotografa inglese che lavora su progetti a lungo termine di ritratto, paesaggio, reportage e fotografia documentaria. Ha lavorato a numerosi progetti personali, soprattutto in Europa orientale. Le sue fotografie sono stati esposte due volte nella National Portrait Gallery di Londra e  a Les Rencontres d’Arles.

Ha vinto numerosi premi, tra cui due World Press Photo Awards, “Photographer of the Year” ai Sony World Photography Awards, e l’ HCB Award (la prima donna a vincere questo contest).E’ membro dell’agenzia fotografica Agence Wu.

Biografia

Vanessa Winship è cresciuta a Barton upon Humber,nella campagna del Lincolnshire. Ha studiato alla Scuola Baysgarth; Hull Art College; fotografia a Filton Technical College, Bristol; e  fotografia, film, video e al Polytechnic of Central London dal 1984 al ’87. Ha incontrato il marito, il fotografo George Georgiou, durante il corso di laurea.

Dal 1999 ha trascorso un decennio vivendo e lavorando nei Balcani e nei territori della Turchia e il Mar Nero circostante. Prima ha vissuto a Belgrado, per un breve periodo ad Atene, e cinque anni a Istanbul.

Il suo lavoro riguarda i concetti di confine,  terra, desiderio, identità, appartenenza, memoria e  storia, come quelle storie sono raccontate e come quelle identità sono espresse.

I suoi libri sono stati ampiamente acclamati. Sean O’Hagan, scrivendo sul Guardian, ha detto “Lei è forse più nota per Sweet Nothings, uno dei miei  libri fotografici preferiti degli ultimi anni”. She dances on Jackson è stato considerato da Simon Bainbridge, Sean O’Hagan, Rob Hornstra e altri critici  tra i migliori libri fotografici pubblicati nel 2013. Phil Coomes, Editor immagini a BBC News ha dichiarato: “Questa è  fotografia pura, e a mio parere, se considerato nel suo insieme, è quanto di meglio si possa avere. ”

La Winship è membro della World Photographic Academy. Nel 2012 e nel 2013 ha vissuto a Londra e Folkestone, in Inghilterra.

Tecniche

Vanessa Winship e George Georgiou viaggiano insieme, alternando momenti di lavoro di ognuno e momenti di supporto all’altro, o sperimentando con la propria fotografia..

Lei usa pellicola fotografica in bianco e nero e luce naturale. Per i suoi lavori di reportage – o per strada – utilizza una 35mm portatile, per i sui lavori di paesaggio  ha  usato a volte una macchina fotografica di medio formato e per i suoi lavori di ritrattistica lei ha a volte usato una fotocamera di grande formato 5 × 4 pollici. In merito alla differenza tra 35mm e grande formato, dice: Lei dice della differenza tra l’utilizzo di 35 millimetri e di grande formato che “Ogni metodologia determina un diverso rapporto con il soggetto, ma entrambi hanno la loro bellezza per me”.

http://www.vanessawinship.com/projects.php