FARA NOSH

Canadian-born photographer Fara Nosh graduated in 2002 from the Western Academy of Photography in Victoria, British Columbia, where she won awards for best photojournalist and best portfolio. She also holds a Bachelor of Geography from the University of British Columbia.

In September 2002, three months after completing her diploma in photojournalism, Nosh moved to Iraq where she was based for 11 months. She has created a portfolio of work from Iraq that includes months under the former Iraqi regime until July 2004. Being one of the few western freelance photographers working in Baghdad under the regime of Saddam Hussein, Nosh quickly had the opportunity to be published in several North American and British publications.

Nosh is also Iraqi, but she had never known her family in Iraq before the conflict began. When the U.S.-led war against Iraq began in March 2003, she made the difficult decision to leave the compound of western journalists, working under the watchful eye of the Iraqi regime, and live isolated in a small house in western Baghdad with her family. She spent the war having hardly a sense of what was going on outside their home. Instead, Nosh developed a wartime photo-reportage of her family. Since then, she has returned to Iraq repeatedly, covering both the Iraqi civilian side and embedding with American military forces. Nosh remains committed to exposing the human face of the Iraq war. She returned to Iraq in February and March 2006, covertly moving around Baghdad to begin her work on intimate daily life in the troubled city.

In May 2006, National Geographic Magazine offered Nosh a grant to continue her latest Iraq work. In March 2005 Photo District News (PDN) chose Nosh as one of the top Thirty Emerging Photographers. In 2004, Getty Images asked Nosh to join the Editorial Assignment Division. Nosh continues to do assignments for Getty Images today.