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Simon Townsley

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Simon Townsley
Born (1963-07-31) 31 July 1963 (age 61)
New Zealand
NationalityBritish
Occupations
  • Photojournalist
  • entrepreneur
Years active1985–present
Websitesimontownsley.com

Simon Daniel Clifford Townsley (born 31 July 1963) is a British photojournalist based in London.[1] He has documented international news, particularly, conflicts, and humanitarian crises.

Early life and career

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Townsley was raised in Wellington, New Zealand.[1] He began his photography career in 1985 at The Dominion newspaper in Wellington and covered the first Fiji coup in 1986.[2][3]

In 1987, Townsley moved to London and joined The Sunday Times as a senior photographer.[4][5] During his time, he covered international events, including the Tiananmen Square protests (1989), the fall of the Berlin Wall (1989), the Gulf War (1990–1991), the Siege of Sarajevo (1992–1996), the election of Nelson Mandela (1994), the Dunblane school shooting (1996), and the funeral of Princess Diana (1997).[6][4][1][7]

Since 2018, Townsley has worked for the Telegraph Media Group,[8] as a chief photographer on the Global Health Security project, which is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.[9][5][3] His recent assignments include coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine,[10][11] floods in South Sudan,[12][13] displacement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,[14][15][16] and the 2023 earthquake in Turkey.[17] He has also documented scientific and healthcare projects in Ghana.[18][19][20]

In 1995, Townsley co-founded image.net,[21] an image distribution platform later acquired by Getty Images in 2004.[7]

From 2002 to 2005, Townsley worked on OILMAN, a photography series of industrial landscapes from over 20 countries exploring humanity’s relationship with the natural world in the pursuit of oil and gas across the planet.[5][22]

In 2006, Townsley co-founded Ready to Air, a secure video preview platform for television journalists.[23]

Awards

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  • 1990 – British Press Awards, Photographer of the Year
  • 1994 – British Press Awards, Photographer of the Year
  • 2006 – Association of Photographers Awards, Silver Medal
  • 2022 – Society of Editors Media Freedom Awards, Photojournalist of the Year[24]
  • 2022 – British Press Photographers’ Association (BPPA), Photo Essay of the Year[25][26]
  • 2023 – British Press Awards, Photographer of the Year[27]
  • 2024 – British Press Awards, Photographer of the Year[28][29]
  • 2024 – Society of Editors Media Freedom Awards (MFA), Photojournalist of the Year[9][30]

Exhibitions (solo)

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  • OILMAN, Houston Heritage Hall (2005)
  • OILMAN, Burlington Gallery, Royal Academy of Arts, London (2005)
  • OILMAN, Calgary (2005)
  • HUMANITY, Geneva (2022)
  • HUMANITY, Zurich (2022)

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Award winning Kiwi photojournalist Simon Townsley". RNZ. 11 November 2024. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  2. ^ "Scoop Review of Books » A Century Tailor-Made for Remembrance". Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  3. ^ a b "Connecting the world, one image at a time | Kea NZ". Kea New Zealand. 5 May 2022. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  4. ^ a b "The Kiwi photographer who's captured 30 years of world history". RNZ. 12 August 2022. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  5. ^ a b c "Simon Townsley". Panos Pictures. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  6. ^ Neary, Martin (24 August 2022). "How Elton John's Candle in the Wind became the soundtrack of a nation's grief". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  7. ^ a b "Witness to history: The Kiwi photographer capturing the defining moments of our time". NZ Herald. 22 June 2024. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  8. ^ "Simon Townsley". The Telegraph. 29 April 2025. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  9. ^ a b Team, Global Health Security; Townsley, Simon (7 May 2024). "Telegraph's Townsley named Photographer of the Year". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  10. ^ Freeman, Colin; Townsley, Simon (13 May 2024). "Russian snipers halt evacuation of civilians in Ukraine's border towns". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  11. ^ Farmer, Ben; Kozyreva, Tanya; Townsley, Simon (18 March 2022). "Masha is 15, her body is broken and Russians say she's a fake". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  12. ^ Farmer, Ben; Townsley, Simon (29 April 2025). "'No one can do what America does': Sudanese refugees bear the brunt as US aid dries up". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  13. ^ "My Land Is A River Now". library.panos.co.uk. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  14. ^ Farmer, Ben; Townsley, Simon (17 June 2023). "Inside the besieged city of Goma, where food is fast running out – and sexual violence is rife". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  15. ^ Farmer, Ben; Tchandrou, Nitanga; Townsley, Simon (12 March 2025). "Thousands risk crocodile-infested river to escape Rwanda's savage M23 militia". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  16. ^ Blomfield, Adrian; Townsley, Simon (20 July 2019). "Inside the Ebola treatment centres of Congo, where survivors bring hope to those on the edge of death". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  17. ^ "Remaking Turkey: Inside the biggest rebuilding project on earth". The Telegraph. 13 April 2023. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  18. ^ "Population Connection Magazine". Population Connection. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  19. ^ "Population Connection magazine, June 2022". www.issuu.com. 15 June 2022. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  20. ^ "Scientists Have Discovered a Potential Universal Antivenom". SciTechDaily. 3 March 2024. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  21. ^ Gazette, Press (2 April 2003). "Image.net expands". Press Gazette. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  22. ^ Shearman, David; Hegedus, Jacob; Pulver, Lisa Jackson; Haswell, Melissa (4 September 2023). "Health evidence against gas and oil is piling up, as governments turn a blind eye". The Conversation. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  23. ^ "READY TO AIR LIMITED people - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  24. ^ "Media Freedom Awards Winners – Society of Editors". Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  25. ^ "The BPPA's Press Photographer of the Year 2022 Results – The BPPA". 3 February 2023. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  26. ^ "BPPA announces Press Photographer of the Year". www.inpublishing.co.uk. 9 February 2023. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  27. ^ "Press Photographer of the Year". 8 February 2023. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  28. ^ michael (19 April 2024). "Simon Townsley named Photographer of the Year at British Press Awards". Panos Pictures. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  29. ^ "Photographer of the Year: Awards Night". www.nzgeo.com. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  30. ^ "Telegraph photographer named Photo Journalist of the Year". Yahoo Life. 17 November 2023. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
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