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Zed Nelson

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Zed Nelson
Nelson in 2015
Born
Zik Nelson

c. 1967
Uganda
Alma materPolytechnic of Central London
Known forPhotography, filmmaking
StyleDocumentary
Awards
Websitewww.zednelson.com

Zik Nelson (born 1965,[1][2] 1967[3] or 1968[4]), known professionally as Zed Nelson, is a British documentary photographer and filmmaker who works on long-term projects about contemporary social issues. He lives in London.

In 1998, his Gun Nation photography series, about guns in America, won the Visa d'or Feature Award at Visa pour l'Image and a First prize World Press Photo award. Prints from Gun Nation are held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. In 2010, his Love Me photography series, about Western beauty ideals, won a First prize award from Pictures of the Year International. The Anthropocene Illusion is about the fractured relationship between humans and the natural world, for which he was awarded Photographer of the Year at the 2025 Sony World Photography Awards.

Nelson's films include Gun Nation (2016), a follow-up to his book; and The Street (2019), about gentrification in London.

Early life and education

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Nelson was born in Uganda and raised in Hackney, East London from the age of three. He left school at 16 without formal qualifications.[3][5][6] He later studied fine art photography at the Polytechnic of Central London.[2]

Life and work

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Photography

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He began his career in 1990, working as a freelance photojournalist for The Independent, The Observer, Arena and The Face, and later for The Telegraph Magazine. He undertook assignments in flash-points and war zones including El Salvador, Angola, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and South Africa. In 1994 in Kabul, a vehicle he was travelling in was ambushed and shot up by Afghan mujahideen, after which he moved away from photojournalism.[3][7]

Gun Nation, made in the late 1990s, explored "America's deadly love affair with guns in the wake of the increasing prevalence of mass shootings." The "photo essay, book and touring exhibition marked a step away from strictly documentary work towards a more analytical approach."[8]

For "The Family" project, Nelson has photographed the same family, in the same way and at the same time every year, from 1991 to the present (2025).[7][9] The book Love Me (2009) is about the reach of the global beauty industry, cataloguing "operations and other bodily transformations — some of them practically medieval — in 17 countries on five continents."[1][3] In the early 2010s, Nelson made portraits of people from a "disappearing Britain": war veterans, miners, boxers and fishermen;[10] and photographed people helping to create the then newly emerging country of South Sudan.[11] "Hackney: A Tale of Two Cities" (2014), is about "hyper-gentrification" and the "bizarre juxtapositions of wealth and poverty, aspiration and hopelessness".[8][12][13] Some of the work from "Hackney: A Tale of Two Cities" appeared in his book A Portrait of Hackney (2014).[14] In 2015 he photographed the homes of Britain's billionaires.[15]

The Anthropocene Illusion "explores the fractured relationship between humans and the natural world."[16] "It is less concerned with evidencing environmental catastrophe than exploring how and why we let it happen."[8] The project was made over six years and four continents.[17]

Filmmaking

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Shelter in Place (2009) "exposes malpractices in the petrochemical industry in Texas".[18] Europe's Immigration Disaster (2014), filmed over a five-month period, tells the story of the 2013 Lampedusa migrant shipwreck.[19] Following his 2000 book of the same name, the film Gun Nation (2016) is about guns in America, for which Nelson "captured unguarded interviews with the Americans who use guns every day, as well as one affected by disaster".[20] His first feature-length film The Street (2019), made over 4 years, examined similar issues to his "Hackney: A Tale of Two Cities" photography project.[17] The film "captures the rapid gentrification of Hoxton Street — a historically working-class neighbourhood in Hackney, one of London's poorest boroughs."[3][5][21]

Personal life

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Nelson lives in London.[22]

Publications

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Books by Nelson

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  • Gun Nation. Westzone, 2000. ISBN 978-0953743834.
  • In This Land. 2013. Published to coincide with an exhibition at Noorderlicht, the Netherlands. Edition of 200 copies.
  • Love Me. Rome: Contrasto, 2009. ISBN 978-8869651656. With an introduction by Tim Adams and a foreword by Susan Bright.
  • A Portrait of Hackney. Book 3: East London Photo Stories. London: Hoxton Mini Press, 2014. ISBN 978-0-9576998-3-0.

Books with contributions by Nelson

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Films

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  • Shelter in Place (2009) – director, cinematographer; 48 mins
  • Europe's Immigration Disaster (Channel 4, 2014) – director, cinematographer; 30 mins
  • Gun Nation (2016) – director, producer, cinematographer; 30 mins
  • The Street (2019) – director, producer, cinematographer; 94 mins[23][24]

Awards

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Solo exhibitions

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Collections

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Nelson's work is held in the following permanent collection:

References

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  1. ^ a b c Sussman, Nadia (31 March 2010). "Bodies Altered in Pursuit of Beauty". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 April 2025.
  2. ^ a b Pulver, Andrew; Pulver, Interview by Andrew (1 September 2010). "Photographer Zed Nelson's best shot". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 26 April 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d e Harvey, Chris (19 April 2025). "The British photographer who exposed America's gun problem: 'I'd get death threats in the night'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 26 April 2025.
  4. ^ "Zed Nelson: Love Me". Impressions Gallery. Retrieved 26 April 2025.
  5. ^ a b Warner, Marigold. "Zed Nelson captures the debilitating effects of gentrification in Hackney". British Journal of Photography. Retrieved 26 April 2025.
  6. ^ "Zed Nelson: Photographer and filmmaker on growing up in Hackney". Hackney Gazette. 13 February 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2025.
  7. ^ a b Lamont, Tom (3 July 2021). "'I see people ageing - I don't always see us': one family, 30 years, 30 photographs". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 27 April 2025.
  8. ^ a b c Bainbridge, Simon. "National Parks in Glass Cases: Zed Nelson photographs the illusions at the heart of the Anthropocene". British Journal of Photography. Retrieved 27 April 2025.
  9. ^ "Once there was a boy..." The Guardian. 22 October 2010. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 27 April 2025.
  10. ^ Morrison, Blake (12 March 2011). "Goodbye to all that | Zed Nelson". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 27 April 2025.
  11. ^ "South Sudan: first things first – in pictures". The Guardian. 4 November 2011. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 27 April 2025.
  12. ^ Estrin, James (6 August 2012). "In the Olympics' Shadow, a Tale of Two Cities". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 April 2025.
  13. ^ "Hackney – A Tale Of Two Cities". Hackney Citizen. 14 September 2012. Retrieved 27 April 2025.
  14. ^ Padley, Gemma. "Young imprint publishes Zed Nelson book". British Journal of Photography. Retrieved 27 April 2025.
  15. ^ Sritharan, Brennavan; Smyth, Diane. "BJP #7844: Shooting the Rich". British Journal of Photography. Retrieved 27 April 2025.
  16. ^ Stone, Mee-Lai (17 April 2025). "Apes, toilets, conflicts and cowboys: Sony World Photography awards – in pictures". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 26 April 2025.
  17. ^ a b Williams, Megan (17 April 2025). "Zed Nelson earns top prize at Sony World Photo Awards 2025". Creative Review. Retrieved 26 April 2025.
  18. ^ "Zed Nelson turns the heat on Big Oil". The Guardian. 14 January 2011. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 26 April 2025.
  19. ^ Padley, Gemma. "Channel 4 airs Zed Nelson immigration film". British Journal of Photography. Retrieved 26 April 2025.
  20. ^ Phillips, Charlie (16 September 2016). "Gun Nation: inside the US's deadly obsession". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 26 April 2025.
  21. ^ "The Street". Empire. 29 November 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2025.
  22. ^ "Zed Nelson - photographer". www.zednelson.com. Retrieved 27 April 2025.
  23. ^ Clarke, Cath (27 November 2019). "The Street review – quietly enraging portrait of Hoxton lives on the brink". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 26 April 2025.
  24. ^ "The Street review – Captivating view of the consequences of gentrification". Little White Lies. Retrieved 26 April 2025.
  25. ^ "Visa d'or Feature Award". Visa pour l'image. Retrieved 26 April 2025.
  26. ^ "1998 Zed Nelson DL1". World Press Photo. Retrieved 26 April 2025.
  27. ^ "2010 Zed Nelson CI3". World Press Photo. Retrieved 26 April 2025.
  28. ^ "2025 Sony World Photography Awards: Winners revealed". BBC News. 20 April 2025. Retrieved 26 April 2025.
  29. ^ Carter, Kalum (16 April 2025). "Zed Nelson beats record-breaking 419,820 photo entries from 206 countries to win Sony World Photographer of the Year 2025!". Digital Camera World. Retrieved 26 April 2025.
  30. ^ "Zed Nelson: Love Me". Impressions Gallery. Retrieved 26 April 2025.
  31. ^ "Search Results | V&A Explore the Collections". Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 26 April 2025.
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