Larry Towell (born 1953) is a Canadian

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who uses a camera to make photographs. Duties and types of photograp ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

, and

oral historian The word oral may refer to: Relating to the mouth * Relating to the mouth, the first portion of the alimentary canal that primarily receives food and liquid **Oral administration of medicines ** Oral examination (also known as an oral exam or oral ...

. Towell is known for his photographs of sites of political conflict in Ukraine, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Standing Rock and Afghanistan, among others. In 1988, Towell became the only Canadian member of

Magnum Photos Magnum Photos is an international photographic cooperative owned by its photographer-members, with offices in Paris, New York City, London and Tokyo. It was founded in 1947 in Paris by photographers Robert Capa, David Seymour (photographer), Davi ...

Early life and education

Towell was born in 1953, in

Chatham-Kent, Ontario Chatham-Kent ( 2021 population: 103,988) is a single-tier municipality in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is mostly rural, and its population centres are Chatham, Wallaceburg, Tilbury, Blenheim, Ridgetown, Wheatley and Dresden. The current ...

and grew up in a large family in rural

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, attending local schools. He studied visual arts at

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

in Toronto, where his interest in photography first began. One of his teachers at

was

Tim Whiten Tim Whiten (born August 13, 1941) is an American-born Canadian artist who works in the areas of sculpture, drawing, performance , performance art, and multi-media installation art, installations, using a wide range of materials. He has also wor ...

, the acclaimed contemporary artist.

Life and work

In 1976, Towell volunteered to work in Calcutta, India, where he became interested in questions about the distribution of wealth and issues of land and landlessness. Returning to Canada, he taught folk music and wrote poetry during the 1980s. Towell became a freelance photographer in 1984. Towell's photographic projects are often long-form investigative pieces; this format allows him to connect with the subjects he depicts. His early work included a project on the Contra war in Nicaragua, in which he met civilians who the United States-backed Contras had persecuted, including landmine victims. He also photographed the civil war in El Salvador, American

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

veterans who worked to rebuild Vietnam, and relatives of the "disappeared" in Guatemala - those presumed murdered by Guatemalan security forces. His book ''House on Ninth Street'' is a collection of his photos taken in Guatemala during this time. In 1988, Towell joined the

agency, becoming the only Canadian associated with the group. His first magazine essay looked at the ecological damages from the

Exxon Valdez oil spill The ''Exxon Valdez'' oil spill was a major environmental disaster that occurred in Alaska's Prince William Sound on March 24, 1989. The spill occurred when ''Exxon Valdez'', an oil supertanker owned by Exxon Shipping Company, bound for Long Be ...

. He has since had picture essays published in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

,'' ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

,'' ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

,'' and other magazines. His work has included documentation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict,

Mennonite Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...

migrant workers A migrant worker is a person who Human migration, migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have an intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant workers ...

in Mexico, and a personal project on his family's farm in southern Ontario. From 2008 to 2011, Towell traveled five times to Afghanistan to photograph the social effects of the Afghan civil war. Between 2013 and 2015, he photographed the above and underground construction work in Toronto's

Union Station A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...

. In 2015, his photo ''Isaac's first swim'' was published by ''

Canada Post Canada Post Corporation (, trading as Canada Post (), is a Canadian Crown corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in Canada. Originally known as Royal Mail Canada (the operating name of the Post Office Department of the Can ...

'' as a stamp. In 2016, Towell photographed the Standing Rock protest in Standing Rock, North Dakota. He works in both film and digital photography formats. He has said "Black and white is still the poetic form of photography. Digital is for the moment; black and white is an investment of time and love." He has also worked with

panoramic cameras A panorama (formed from Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography (panoramic photography), film, seismic images, or 3D modeling. The word ...

to document the impact of natural disasters such as

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

. Towell has published books of photographs, poetry, and oral history. He has also recorded several audio CDs of original poetry and songs.

Personal life

Towell lives in rural

Lambton County Lambton County is a county in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is bordered on the north by Lake Huron, which is drained by the St. Clair River, the county's western border and part of the Canada-United States border. To the south is Lake Saint Cla ...

, and sharecrops a 75-acre farm with his wife Ann and their four children.

Publications

* ''Burning Cadillacs'' (1983) * ''Gifts of War'' (1988) * ''Somoza's Last Stand'' (1990) * ''The Prison Poems of Ho Chi Minh'' (1992) * ''House on Ninth Street'' (1994) * ''El Salvador'' (1997) * ''Then Palestine'' (1999) * ''The Mennonites'' (2000) **Second edition. London: Gost, 2022. . Re-edited, re-sequenced and with 40 new images. * ''No Man's Land'' (2005) * ''In the Wake of Katrina'' (2006) * ''The World From My Front Porch'' (2008) * * ''Ruins: Afghanistan'' (2009)

Films

*''Indecisive Moments: Video Diary of a Still Photographer'' (2007) – 40 minute video diary made in the

Israeli-occupied territories Israel has occupied the Golan Heights of Syria and the Palestinian territories since the Six-Day War of 1967. It has previously occupied the Israeli occupation of the Sinai Peninsula, Sinai Peninsula of Egypt and southern Lebanon as well. Prio ...

Awards

*1991: Silver Medal, Canadian National Awards *1991: Grant of $2500 from the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund to make work about the

Nahuas The Nahuas ( ) are a Uto-Nahuan ethnicity and one of the Indigenous people of Mexico, with Nahua minorities also in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. They comprise the largest Indigenous group in Mexico, as well as ...

in El Salvador *1991/93: Gold Medal, Western Canada Magazine Awards *1993: 1st Prize, Daily Life Stories category,

World Press Photo World Press Photo Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Founded in 1955, the organization holds the annual World Press Photo Contest for press photography. Since 2011, World Press Photo has orga ...

*1994: Winner,

World Press Photo of the Year The World Press Photo of the Year award is part of the World Press Photo Awards, organized by the Dutch foundation World Press Photo. Considered one of the most prestigious and coveted awards in photojournalism, the World Press Photo of the Ye ...

and General News Stories category *1994: 1st Prize, World Press Photo, Daily Life Stories category *1994: Picture of the Year, Canon Photo Essay Award *1994/95: Gold Medal, Canadian National Awards *1995: Photographers' work grant, The Ernst Haas Awards, Maine Photographic Workshops *1996: El Mundo Award *1996:

Oskar Barnack Award The Leica Oskar Barnack Award, presented almost continuously since 1979, recognizes photography expressing the relationship between man and the environment. It was known as the Oskar Barnack Award when presented by World Press Photo between 1979 an ...

*1997: Golden Light (Best Monograph Award) *1998: Society of Publication Designers, Merit Award, ''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. The magazi ...

'' *1998:

Society of Publication Designers A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soc ...

, Magazine of the Year, ''

'' *1998:

Overseas Press Club The Overseas Press Club of America (OPC) was founded in 1939 in New York City by a group of foreign correspondents. The wire service reporter Carol Weld was a founding member, as was the war correspondent Peggy Hull. The club seeks to maintain ...

, New York, Citation of Excellence *1998: Pictorial Prize, Pictures of the Year Foundation, University of Missouri *1998: 1st Prize, Portraiture Essay category,

Alfred Eisenstaedt Alfred Eisenstaedt (December 6, 1898 – August 23, 1995) was a German-born American photographer and photojournalist. He began his career in Germany prior to World War II but achieved prominence as a staff photographer for ''Life'' magazine af ...

Awards for Magazine Photography, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism *1999: Picture Of the Year (Best Use of Photography in Books) *1999: Roloff Beny Book Award *1999: Grant from the

Hasselblad Foundation The Hasselblad Foundation was established in 1979 at the will of Victor Hasselblad, as a fully independent, not-for-profit foundation based at Götaplatsen in Gothenburg, Sweden. The main aim of the foundation is to promote research and academic ...

, Gothenburg, Sweden *2000: Society for News Design Award, La Nacion *2003: Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation Award *2005:

Prix Nadar The Prix Nadar is an annual prize awarded for a photography book edited in France. The prize was created in 1955 by Association Gens d'Images and is awarded by a jury of photojournalism, photojournalists and publishing experts. The prize is nam ...

, for the book ''No Man's Land'' *2007: Finalist, Alicia Patterson Award, USA *2007: Achievement In Filmmaking Award, New York International Independent Film and Video Festival *2009: Shortlisted, And/or Photography Book Award, Kraszna-Krausz Foundation, UK for ''The World From My Front Porch'' *2011: The Paul de Hueck and Norman Walford Career Achievement Award, Ontario Arts Foundation

Exhibitions

* 1991: Le Mois de la Photo - Maison de la Culture Plateau, Montreal, Quebec, Canada * 1994: ''Carnets de Voyage'' - Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada * 1994: ''Retrospective - Nieuwekerk,'' the Netherlands * 1997: Circulo de Bellas Artes, Madrid, Spain * 1997: Noorderlicht Photo Festival, Groningen, Netherlands * 2001: Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada * 2001:

Scottish National Portrait Gallery National Galleries Scotland: Portrait is an art museum on Queen Street, Edinburgh. Portrait holds the national collections of portraits, all of which are of, but not necessarily by, Scots. It also holds the Scottish National Photography Collec ...

, Edinburgh, UK * 2005: ''No Man's Land'' -

Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson The Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation (French: ''Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson''), also known as Fondation HCB, is an art gallery and non-profit organisation in Paris that was established to preserve and show the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson an ...

, Paris * 2006: FOAM, Amsterdam, Netherlands * 2008:

George Eastman House The George Eastman Museum, also referred to as George Eastman House and the International Museum of Photography and Film, is a photography museum in Rochester, New York. Opened to the public in 1949, is the oldest museum dedicated to photography ...

, Rochester, New York * 2012:

Royal Ontario Museum The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is a museum of art, world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the largest museums in North America and the largest in Canada. It attracts more than one million visitors every year ...

, Toronto, Ontario, Canada * 2025: "The Museum Collection" solo exhibition a
Stephen Bulger Gallery
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

References

External links

Towell's page at Magnum PhotosFocus on Lune Froide : Larry Towell"Larry Towell" in ''Photography in Canada, 1839-1989: An Illustrated History''
by Sarah Parsons and Sarah Bassnett, published by the Art Canada Institute {{DEFAULTSORT:Towell, Larry 1953 births Living people Canadian photographers Magnum photographers Photography in Afghanistan