Susan Meiselas: The Witness Who Stays Introduction Susan Meiselas (b. 1948, Baltimore) is one of the most significant and morally rigorous documentary photographers of the last half-century. A member of Magnum Photos since 1976 — and President of the Magnum Foundation since its founding in 2007 — she first came to prominence with Carnival Strippers (1976), a groundbreaking multi-year project photographing women performing in travelling strip shows across New England. That work established the hallmarks that would define her entire career: long-term immersion, ethical commitment to her subjects, and a documentary practice that goes far beyond the single image. She is best known internationally for her coverage of the Sandinista insurrection in Nicaragua (1978–1979), producing some of the most iconic images in the history of conflict photography — most notably Molotov Man (1979), named by Time magazine as one of the 100 mo...
"The camera is an instrument that teaches people to see without a camera" - Dorothea Lange