Kate Stanworth

I am a London-based artist using photography to tell poignant stories exploring human resilience, identity and the search for belonging. 

I have built long-term relationships of trust and collaboration with individuals and communities as far and wide as Somaliland and Argentina, and am motivated by a desire to connect emotionally with the people I photograph, and to understand their struggles, dreams and aspirations.

I work for a wide range of clients – predominantly NGOs – in the UK and abroad, as well as publishing editorial stories and pursuing long-term personal photography projects.

My work has been published by The Guardian, Tate Publishing, The Sunday Times, BBC News, Al Jazeera, Time Out, The Economist, CNN, International Business Times, Internazionale and many more. My clients include Save the Children, Marie Curie, Shelter, Mencap, SaferWorld, ON Agency, Big Leaf Foundation, The Queen’s Nursing Institute and London Business School.

I have led photography workshops for diverse groups including young Somalis at the Hargeisa International Book Fair, summer school students at Oxford and Cambridge Universities, young displaced people in the UK in collaboration with Big Leaf Foundation, and my local neighbours in South London. I attended facilitator training in participatory photography methods at PhotoVoice, London, in 2019.

I have a first class BA(Hons) Degree in Fine Art from Norwich School of Art and a Masters in Visual Cultures from Goldsmiths College, University of London. I have undertaken hostile environment training in Herefordshire, UK. 

 

Exhibitions

  • 2025 Absent Presence, Palermo, London, Edinburgh. Group Show

  • 2019 12th Julia Margaret Cameron Awards Exhibition, Barcelona. Award Show

  • 2019 209 Women, Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool. Group Show

  • 2018 SALON/18 Photofusion, London. Group Show

  • 2018 209 Women, Portcullis House, London. Group Show

  • 2018 Where We Are Now, Refugee Week at Birkbeck College, London. Group Show 

  • 2018 Month of Photography LA, Color at Play at The Boom Yard, Los Angeles. Group Show 

  • 2018 Somaliland Decides, Africa Research Institute, London. Solo Show

  • 2017 Renaissance Photography Prize, Getty Images Gallery, London. Award Show 

  • 2017 Where We Are Now, SPACE Studios, London, September 2017. Group Show 

  • 2017 Retina International Photography Festival, Edinburgh. Group Show 

  • 2017 Where We Are Now, L’Asilo, Naples. Group Show 

  • 2016 SALON/16, Photofusion, London. Group Show

  • 2015 SALON/15, Photofusion, London. Group Show

  • 2015 Portrait Salon, Embassy Tea Gallery, London. Group Show 

  • 2015 Somaliland Summer, Oxford House, London. Group Show

  • 2015 NCM Exposed, Photofusion, London. Group Show

  • 2014 SALON/14, Photofusion, London. Group Show

  • 2014 Words Not War, Story Moja Festival, Nairobi, Kenya, Group Show

  • 2014 Words Not War, Hargeisa International Book Fair, Somaliland, Group Show 

  • 2013 Somaliland at the Polls, Hargeisa International Book Fair, Somaliland, Group Show

  • 2013 Somaliland at the Polls, University College London, Solo Show

Grants and Awards

  • 2024 Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for Journalism: with Lost in Europe journalist collective

  • 2021-24 Journalism Fund Grants: Joint recipient of nine grants to fund stories on modern slavery and climate change

  • 2020 Rebecca Vassie Trust Rapid Response Grant: Awardee

  • 2018 12th Julia Margaret Cameron Awards for Women Photographers: Winner of Documentary/Culture and Everyday Life categories, Singles 

  • 2018 Rebecca Vassie Trust Education and Training Grant: Awardee 

  • 2018 Latin American Fotografía 7: Chosen Artist

  • 2018 International Photography Awards: Honourable Mention

  • 2018 Critical Mass: Shortlisted Artist 

  • 2017 Rebecca Vassie Memorial Award: Highly Commended 

  • 2017 Latin American Fotografía 6: Selected Winner 

  • 2017 International Photography Awards: Honourable Mention 

  • 2017 Renaissance Photography Prize: Finalist 

  • 2015 Chosen to create a body of work on Mediterranean migration, part of Responding to Crisis Network AHRC funded project in collaboration with Keele and Royal Holloway Universities