Photographers

Andrew McConnell (born 1977 in Ireland) is an award-winning documentary photographer whose work focuses on underreported stories, displacement, conflict, and the aftermath of global crises. He began his career as a press photographer in Belfast during the final years of the Northern Ireland conflict, before turning to long-form documentary work driven by a commitment to amplify marginalized communities and overlooked humanitarian issues. McConnell has worked extensively throughout Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, creating deeply researched visual narratives that examine the human dimensions of conflict, migration, and resilience.

His major projects include long-term coverage of the Democratic Republic of Congo; a landmark series on the Sahrawi people of Western Sahara, which earned him first place in the World Press Photo portrait story category; and “Hidden Lives,” an ambitious project on urban refugees made across multiple continents. Additional bodies of work explore themes such as e‑waste in Ghana, surfers in the Gaza Strip, the Syrian civil war, and the lived conditions of displacement across global cities. McConnell’s photographs combine strong visual clarity with a quiet, empathetic approach, offering intimate portraits that counter stereotypical depictions of crisis.

McConnell has received multiple major honors, including two first-place World Press Photo awards, numerous NPPA awards including Best of Show, and recognition from the Sony World Photography Awards. His work has been widely published in international outlets such as National Geographic, Vanity Fair, Time, the New York Times, Der Spiegel, Stern, and Le Monde. He continues to produce long-term documentary projects that examine conflict, environmental precarity, and the shifting conditions of human survival around the world.