Nina Berman

Photographer Nina Berman was the inaugural Susan Tifft Fellow in 2017. Berman’s talk, “Counternarrative and Collaboration in Documentary and Journalism,” presented an overview of her photographic work, with an emphasis on the role of the photographer as a politicized investigator working across documentary and journalistic platforms. She also addressed collaboration in the making and dissemination of socially engaged work. See a selection of Nina Berman’s photographs. 

Berman, who teaches at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, said: "We’re living in a moment when journalism is under attack. The terms “fake news” and “real facts” are shouted from the left and the right. It’s a critical time to consider how the primary mission of journalism—to hold power accountable—and the creative, collaborative practices of documentary can infuse and elevate both fields in the pursuit of a more caring and just world.” 

Nina Berman's work has been exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, among many national and international venues. She is the author of two acclaimed monographs—Purple Hearts and Homeland—and her photo series Marine Wedding is considered an iconic work on the Iraq war. Berman teaches at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and is a member of the Amsterdam-based NOOR photo collective.

Listen to an interview with Nina Berman on WUNC radio’s The State of Things.