Anna Boyiazis is a documentary photographer working between Southern California and East Africa. Committed to healing and liberation, her areas of focus include conservation, human rights, public health, and women and girls’ issues. Through her work, she aims to elicit compassion and bring our shared humanity to the fore.
Her ongoing project, Finding Freedom in the Water — first published by National Geographic — documents women and girls in Zanzibar learning to swim, an act of survivance and self-determination. The project has received a World Press Photo Award, was nominated for the Prix Pictet, and has been supported by Getty Images, among other honors. It has been exhibited internationally, including at the National Portrait Gallery, London; De Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam; and the Palais des Nations at the United Nations in Geneva.
Anna is a contributing photographer for The New York Times Magazine, National Geographic, and GEO. She has completed first aid training for combat and wilderness wounds through Reporters Instructed in Saving Colleagues (RISC) and VICE Hostile Environment and Emergency First Aid Training (HEFAT). She has been invited to speak at institutions including the Austrian Parliament (Vienna), Festival für zeitgenössische Kunst (Basel), the Fowler Museum at UCLA (Los Angeles), United Nations of Photography (Oxford), and World Press Photo events in Amsterdam, Montréal, and Vienna.
Her engagement with photography deepened in 2006, inspiring a mid-career transition from design to photography. She spent the early years of her career designing publications — primarily books — in close collaboration with international art and architecture institutions. This foundation continues to inform the formal expression and narrative structure of her documentary practice. Projects include Morphosis, an architecture monograph by Pritzker Prize laureate Thom Mayne (Phaidon Press), and Paradise Cage: Kiki Smith and Coop Himmelb(l)au (The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles).
Anna has taught at ArtCenter College of Design and the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture, and held a teaching fellowship at the Yale School of Art. She has also served as Head Designer at MOCA, Senior Thesis Critic at Otis College of Art and Design, and Visiting Artist at the American Academy in Rome. Her design work has been recognized by the American Center for Design, the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), and Communication Arts, among others. Her work is held in numerous private and institutional collections, including the AIGA Archives at the Denver Art Museum; the Art Collection of the Austrian Parliament; the Tina Freeman Collection at the New Orleans Museum of Art; the UCLA Arts Library Artists’ Book Collection; and the Yale University Art + Architecture Library and Sterling Memorial Library Arts of the Book Collection.
Anna earned an MFA from the Yale School of Art and a BA from the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture. She is represented by Monroe Gallery of Photography.
EDUCATION
MFA, Yale School of Art, New Haven
BA, UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture, Los Angeles
NCAA Division I Athlete, UCLA Women’s Gymnastics Team
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
World Press Photo Exhibition
World Press Photo — De Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam (2018, 2024)
International Tour (2018)
Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition
Natural History Museum, London + International Tour (2025)
Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize Exhibition
National Portrait Gallery, London (2017)
Global Peace Photo Award Exhibition
Willy-Brandt-Haus, Berlin (2021)
Havana Biennial
Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Wifredo Lam, Havana (2009)
Resilience: Stories of Women Inspiring Change
Palais des Nations, United Nations, Geneva + International Tour (2023)
Dysturb #WomenMatter Campaign Against Violence Toward Women
Horton Museum, Norway + International Tour (2017–2023)
The Photography Show (AIPAD)
Park Avenue Armory, New York (2022–2026)
Monroe Gallery of Photography
Santa Fe (2020, 2022)
Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery — C.O.L.A. Fellowship Exhibition
Los Angeles (2011)
Additional exhibitions available upon request.
SELECTED AWARDS & HONORS
World Press Photo — Second Prize (2018)
Wildlife Photographer of the Year — Highly Commended (2025)
National Geographic COVID-19 Emergency Fund (2021)
CatchLight Global Fellowship — Finalist (2026)
Getty Images Reportage Grant (2019)
Leica Women Foto Project Award (2021)
Michel du Cille Fellowship, National Press Photographers Foundation (2022)
Aaron Siskind Individual Photographer’s Fellowship (2018)
Contemporary African Photography (CAP) Prize (2018)
Pictures of the Year International (2018, 2020)
Peace Image of the Year (2018)
Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize — Shortlist (2017)
Prix Pictet — Nominee (2019)
City of Los Angeles — C.O.L.A. Individual Artist Fellowship (2011)
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS + COMMISSIONS
National Geographic
The New York Times Magazine
The Washington Post
The Guardian
GEO Magazine
Der Spiegel
Stern
ESPN The Magazine
UNICEF
Médecins Sans Frontières
NPR
British Journal of Photography
SELECTED INVITED TALKS
Austrian Parliament — Vienna (2018)
World Press Photo Festival — Amsterdam (2018)
World Press Photo International Programs — Montreál, Vienna (2018)
Fowler Museum at UCLA: Artist Talk — Los Angeles (2019)
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Tina Freeman Collection, New Orleans Museum of Art
Austrian Parliament Art Collection
Yale University Art & Architecture Library
AIGA Archives at the Denver Art Museum
UCLA Arts Library Artists’ Book Collection
Yale University Sterling Memorial Library Arts of the Book Collection
TEACHING
UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture, Visiting Lecturer (2001)
Art Center College of Design, Faculty (1998–2000)
Otis College of Art and Design, Visiting Critic (2000)
Yale School of Art, Teaching Fellowship (1991)
SELECTED DESIGN LEADERSHIP (1991–2007)
Head Designer, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Designed major exhibition catalogues for artists including Kiki Smith, Thom Mayne (Morphosis), and Amy Adler. Publications with Phaidon Press, MOCA, Hammer Museum, and J. Paul Getty Museum.
Her ongoing project, Finding Freedom in the Water — first published by National Geographic — documents women and girls in Zanzibar learning to swim, an act of survivance and self-determination. The project has received a World Press Photo Award, was nominated for the Prix Pictet, and has been supported by Getty Images, among other honors. It has been exhibited internationally, including at the National Portrait Gallery, London; De Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam; and the Palais des Nations at the United Nations in Geneva.
Anna is a contributing photographer for The New York Times Magazine, National Geographic, and GEO. She has completed first aid training for combat and wilderness wounds through Reporters Instructed in Saving Colleagues (RISC) and VICE Hostile Environment and Emergency First Aid Training (HEFAT). She has been invited to speak at institutions including the Austrian Parliament (Vienna), Festival für zeitgenössische Kunst (Basel), the Fowler Museum at UCLA (Los Angeles), United Nations of Photography (Oxford), and World Press Photo events in Amsterdam, Montréal, and Vienna.
Her engagement with photography deepened in 2006, inspiring a mid-career transition from design to photography. She spent the early years of her career designing publications — primarily books — in close collaboration with international art and architecture institutions. This foundation continues to inform the formal expression and narrative structure of her documentary practice. Projects include Morphosis, an architecture monograph by Pritzker Prize laureate Thom Mayne (Phaidon Press), and Paradise Cage: Kiki Smith and Coop Himmelb(l)au (The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles).
Anna has taught at ArtCenter College of Design and the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture, and held a teaching fellowship at the Yale School of Art. She has also served as Head Designer at MOCA, Senior Thesis Critic at Otis College of Art and Design, and Visiting Artist at the American Academy in Rome. Her design work has been recognized by the American Center for Design, the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), and Communication Arts, among others. Her work is held in numerous private and institutional collections, including the AIGA Archives at the Denver Art Museum; the Art Collection of the Austrian Parliament; the Tina Freeman Collection at the New Orleans Museum of Art; the UCLA Arts Library Artists’ Book Collection; and the Yale University Art + Architecture Library and Sterling Memorial Library Arts of the Book Collection.
Anna earned an MFA from the Yale School of Art and a BA from the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture. She is represented by Monroe Gallery of Photography.
EDUCATION
MFA, Yale School of Art, New Haven
BA, UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture, Los Angeles
NCAA Division I Athlete, UCLA Women’s Gymnastics Team
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
World Press Photo Exhibition
World Press Photo — De Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam (2018, 2024)
International Tour (2018)
Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition
Natural History Museum, London + International Tour (2025)
Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize Exhibition
National Portrait Gallery, London (2017)
Global Peace Photo Award Exhibition
Willy-Brandt-Haus, Berlin (2021)
Havana Biennial
Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Wifredo Lam, Havana (2009)
Resilience: Stories of Women Inspiring Change
Palais des Nations, United Nations, Geneva + International Tour (2023)
Dysturb #WomenMatter Campaign Against Violence Toward Women
Horton Museum, Norway + International Tour (2017–2023)
The Photography Show (AIPAD)
Park Avenue Armory, New York (2022–2026)
Monroe Gallery of Photography
Santa Fe (2020, 2022)
Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery — C.O.L.A. Fellowship Exhibition
Los Angeles (2011)
Additional exhibitions available upon request.
SELECTED AWARDS & HONORS
World Press Photo — Second Prize (2018)
Wildlife Photographer of the Year — Highly Commended (2025)
National Geographic COVID-19 Emergency Fund (2021)
CatchLight Global Fellowship — Finalist (2026)
Getty Images Reportage Grant (2019)
Leica Women Foto Project Award (2021)
Michel du Cille Fellowship, National Press Photographers Foundation (2022)
Aaron Siskind Individual Photographer’s Fellowship (2018)
Contemporary African Photography (CAP) Prize (2018)
Pictures of the Year International (2018, 2020)
Peace Image of the Year (2018)
Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize — Shortlist (2017)
Prix Pictet — Nominee (2019)
City of Los Angeles — C.O.L.A. Individual Artist Fellowship (2011)
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS + COMMISSIONS
National Geographic
The New York Times Magazine
The Washington Post
The Guardian
GEO Magazine
Der Spiegel
Stern
ESPN The Magazine
UNICEF
Médecins Sans Frontières
NPR
British Journal of Photography
SELECTED INVITED TALKS
Austrian Parliament — Vienna (2018)
World Press Photo Festival — Amsterdam (2018)
World Press Photo International Programs — Montreál, Vienna (2018)
Fowler Museum at UCLA: Artist Talk — Los Angeles (2019)
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Tina Freeman Collection, New Orleans Museum of Art
Austrian Parliament Art Collection
Yale University Art & Architecture Library
AIGA Archives at the Denver Art Museum
UCLA Arts Library Artists’ Book Collection
Yale University Sterling Memorial Library Arts of the Book Collection
TEACHING
UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture, Visiting Lecturer (2001)
Art Center College of Design, Faculty (1998–2000)
Otis College of Art and Design, Visiting Critic (2000)
Yale School of Art, Teaching Fellowship (1991)
SELECTED DESIGN LEADERSHIP (1991–2007)
Head Designer, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Designed major exhibition catalogues for artists including Kiki Smith, Thom Mayne (Morphosis), and Amy Adler. Publications with Phaidon Press, MOCA, Hammer Museum, and J. Paul Getty Museum.