Lianne Milton is a photographer, journalist, and educator. For nearly two decades, I have photographed environmental and socioeconomic issues across Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the US for international news publications and NGOs, including a significant period in Brazil (2013-2019). Prior, I was a newspaper photographer in California covering wine-related agriculture, immigration, and local news.
My published work brought global attention to the 2014 World Cup in Rio de Janeiro, the Zika epidemic, and other important social issues, appearing in newspapers, editorial magazines, peer-reviewed journals, and NGO reports. I have been a frequent contributor to news publications such as Die Zeit, Guardian UK, Le Monde Magazine, Newsweek, New York Times, US News & World Report, The Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal, as well as travel publications, including inflight magazines, Conde Nast Traveller, and National Geographic Traveller. I also photograph for major international NGOs, such as Audobon, ActionAid, Open Society Foundations, Smile Train, UNICEF, and UN Women.
I hold an MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a BA in Journalism from San Francisco State University. Currently, I reside in Philadelphia with my husband, Fábio Erdos, and teach as an adjunct professor of photography.
RESEARCH
My research interests center on using documentary photography and interdisciplinary practices to explore contemporary social issues, focusing on environmental issues, human rights, and cultural narratives such as diaspora, identity, mythology, and maternal landscapes. My approach is rooted in a post-documentary, socially engaged framework and integrates journalistic methods, archival inquiry, traditional knowledge systems, and site-specific investigations.
TEACHING
As an educator, I believe my student-centered teaching philosophy is at the heart of my photographic practice—to facilitate social change. Deconstructing and dismantling colonialism and the white, patriarchal gaze in photography have long been central to my photographic practice and forms an integral part of my teaching philosophy. Through experiential learning, reflective writing, and creative assignments, my students engage critically with their own environments using photography as a tool for exploration and expression. Echoing Pablo Helguera's philosophy, my goal is for students to use their knowledge of art as a tool for interpreting and engaging with the world.
Select awards & recognition: 2023 Alan Hangman Grant (NPPF), 2022 American Photography 38 + annual award book; 2022 University of Wisconsin-Madison Creative Arts Award; 2020 Manuel Rivera-Ortiz Documentary Photography Award, Finalist; (multi-year) American Photography (AP-AI) Latin America Fotographía Award; 2019 University of Wisconsin-Madison, Interdisciplinary Artist Research Cohort Scholar; 2018 Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting Grant; 2018 International Womens Media Foundation Fellow; 2018 Visura Grant on Global Climate Change finalist; 2015 Yves Rocher Foundation Photography Award; 2014 Sony Global Imaging Ambassador; 2013 L’Espresso Magazine Pictures of the Year; 2013 PDN Photo Annual.
Select exhibitions: 2024 Automated By Design traveling exhibition, in collaboration with Panos Pictures, Stop Killer Robots, and Amnesty International, New York City, commissioned; 2023 Harvey Milk Photo Center in San Francisco, invitation; 2023 The Arts + Literature Laboratory, Madison, Wi, invitation; 2021-22 University of Wisconsin-Madison; 2018 Universal Health Care Forum, supported by UNDP, invitation; 2016 Festival Photo La Gacilly, invitation; 2016, Visa Pour L’Image, invitation; 2015, Photoville in NYC, commissioned; 2015/2014 Photo London at Somerset House, London, invitation; (multiple) Los Diez Latin American Photography Exhibition, invitation; American History Museum, in Washington, DC, permanent collection