Biography & Awards
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| Biography |
| Hazel Thompson (D.O.B 1978) is a British multi award winning photojournalist based in London. After beginning her photographic career in 1997 with a local newspaper in South London. Hazel now works freelance on assignments worldwide for leading international publications and media outlets including FIVE News, The Observer Magazine, Le Monde 2, Politiken, as well as regularly shooting assignments for The New York Times as a contract photographer. She is Director and Chief Photographer for True Image Media Ltd in London, and a founding member of Scarlet, a creative change media agency based in Los Angeles. Hazel is also a speaker and workshop facilitator for international conferences and festivals. Hazel’s passion is to photograph social and humanitarian subjects, injustice towards women and children, as well as identity within religion being amongst her central themes. Working closely with NGOs she often tackles sensitive and sometimes controversial subjects. In 2005 Hazel was a key part in the Global campaign & report on ‘Kids Behind Bars’ (as seen on ITN & CNN) where, posing undercover as an aid worker, she was able to capture exclusive images of children illegally imprisoned inside Filipino jails. Most recently her essay on the UK’s teenage runaways - ‘Home & Away’ evolved from a piece for the Observer Magazine into a three part news series for channel FIVE NEWS, where Hazel reported and presented the story on camera in addition to her still images being used to illustrate the issue. Hazel was also selected by The British Council to represent the best of British Photojournalism as an arts ambassador to Uzbekistan. This relationship evolved into a more recent commission for Hazel to document the role of women in Qatar and Bahrain as part of a international project called “My Father’s House”, an exhibition that has been currently touring the Gulf and UK for the last 3 years. Hazel is available for assignments worldwide. |
| Awards |
| 2011 NPPA – The Best of Photojournalism Awards- 2nd in non-traditional publishing for CAGE 2010 Asia Mass Media Awards – ‘Best Photojournalist of the Year’. 2009 International Photography Award – Honourable Mention – “Jihad Blogger”. 2009 International Photography Award – Honourable Mention – “Maryam”. 2009 PX3 International photography award - Political Photojournalism. 2009 PX3 International photography award - General Photojournalism. 2007 Named a Hero of photography by American Photo. 2007 3rd Days Japan International Photojournalism. Awards- Readers Prize- Kids Behind Bars. 2006 CARE International Award for Humanitarian Reportage-Visa pour l’image/Perpignan. 2006 Le Prix Special du 60th Anniversaire de CARE – ‘Kids Behind Bars’. 2006 Photo District News (PDN) Annual 2006- Winner- ‘Kids Behind Bars’. 2006 Picture Editors Award – Special Award. – ‘Kids Behind Bars’. 2005 The Observer Hodge Award Winner – 1st – ‘Kids Behind Bars’. 2004 The Observer Hodge Award Prize Winner – 3rd - For ‘Hidden Legacy’. 2003 The Sunday Times Ian Parry Award – Highly Commended- ‘Innocents Delivered . 2002 The Sunday Times Ian Parry Award – Highly Commended – ‘Modern Crusaders’. 2001 The Observer Hodge Award – Highly Commended – ‘Bikers for God’. Publications/Clients Include: Time, The New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Le Monde 2, HQ Australia, Jubilee Campaign, The Children’s Society, Stern Magazine, The Body Shop, Hard Rock Cafe, Vogue, Days Japan, The Sunday Times Magazine, FIVE News, The Observer Magazine,Elle, Global Angels, The Sunday Telegraph, SERVV, Fairtrade, Preda Foundation, Tesco, Cosmopolitan. |