Anna Boyiazis is a documentary photographer working between East Africa and Southern California. Her long-form projects explore how the ocean — as resource, boundary, and risk — shapes the lives of women, coastal communities, and threatened species.
Her ongoing project Finding Freedom in the Water, first published by National Geographic, documents Islamic women and girls in Zanzibar learning to swim — an act that intersects public health, cultural tradition, and self-determination. The work has received a World Press Photo award and support from Getty Images, among other honors, and has been exhibited internationally, including at the National Portrait Gallery, London; De Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam; and the Palais des Nations, United Nations, Geneva.
Boyiazis is a contributing photographer to The New York Times Magazine, National Geographic, and GEO. Her work has also appeared in The Guardian and The Washington Post. She is represented by Monroe Gallery of Photography.
She earned an MFA from the Yale School of Art and a BA from the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture. Prior to focusing exclusively on photography, she served as Design Director at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, where she collaborated on major art and architecture publications — an experience that continues to inform the formal precision and narrative structure of her documentary practice.
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)
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)
Featured in collaboration with Dysturb (#WomenMatter campaign)
Additional exhibitions available upon request.
SELECTED AWARDS & HONORS
World Press Photo — Second Prize (2018)
Wildlife Photographer of the Year — Highly Commended (2025)
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
The New York Times Magazine
National Geographic
Der Spiegel
The Guardian
GEO
ESPN The Magazine
SELECTED INVITED TALKS
Austrian Parliament — Vienna (2018)
World Press Photo Festival — Amsterdam (2018)
World Press Photo International Programs (selected cities)
Fowler Museum at UCLA — Artist Talk (2019)
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
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 Islamic women and girls in Zanzibar learning to swim — an act that intersects public health, cultural tradition, and self-determination. The work has received a World Press Photo award and support from Getty Images, among other honors, and has been exhibited internationally, including at the National Portrait Gallery, London; De Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam; and the Palais des Nations, United Nations, Geneva.
Boyiazis is a contributing photographer to The New York Times Magazine, National Geographic, and GEO. Her work has also appeared in The Guardian and The Washington Post. She is represented by Monroe Gallery of Photography.
She earned an MFA from the Yale School of Art and a BA from the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture. Prior to focusing exclusively on photography, she served as Design Director at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, where she collaborated on major art and architecture publications — an experience that continues to inform the formal precision and narrative structure of her documentary practice.
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)
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)
Featured in collaboration with Dysturb (#WomenMatter campaign)
Additional exhibitions available upon request.
SELECTED AWARDS & HONORS
World Press Photo — Second Prize (2018)
Wildlife Photographer of the Year — Highly Commended (2025)
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
The New York Times Magazine
National Geographic
Der Spiegel
The Guardian
GEO
ESPN The Magazine
SELECTED INVITED TALKS
Austrian Parliament — Vienna (2018)
World Press Photo Festival — Amsterdam (2018)
World Press Photo International Programs (selected cities)
Fowler Museum at UCLA — Artist Talk (2019)
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
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.