Hazel Thompson

Hazel Thompson, born in Redhill, England in 1978, is a British 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 such as The New York Times, the Observer Magazine, Le Monde 2, Politiken, and many others.

Career

Hazel photographs deal mostly with social and humanitarian subjects; injustice towards women and children, as well identity within religion, being amongst her central themes.

Working closely with NGOs she often photographs 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 will tour the region for the next three years .

Awards

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’

External links

Hazel Thompson's Website: http://www.hazelthompson.com

Five News Report, "Home and Away, Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8iU1sQAXkw

Five News Report, "Home and Away, Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITcFB5XlOWs

Five News Report, "Home and Away, Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJyhqnAIbKA

British Council, "My Father's House" Exhibition: http://www.britishcouncil.org/me-arts-and-culture-my-fathers-house.htm?mtklink=myfathershouse