Smita Sharma
Smita Sharma is a Delhi based photojournalist, visual storyteller & speaker whose work centres the traumatised and forgotten voices of those subjected to human rights abuses, especially victims of gender violence, human trafficking and environmental issues in the Global South through long-form visual narratives. Smita is a TED fellow, TED Speaker and an IWMF reporting fellow.
Her work has been published in various places like The New York Times, BBC World, Human Rights Watch, Die Zeit, TIME amongst many others and she is a contributor to the National Geographic Magazine. Smita is actively engaged in public speaking, victim advocacy and international public education and her work has been exhibited and shown globally, including at the UN Headquarters in New York.
For Stolen Lives, her in-depth work documenting sex trafficking in India and Bangladesh for National Geographic Magazine, she received the Amnesty International Media award (UK) and the Fetisov Journalism Award (Switzerland) for Outstanding Investigative Reporting. Her book We Cry In Silence documenting cross-border trafficking of underage girls in South Asia received the Award of Excellence at POY International and the 2023 Lucie Photo Book Prize in the Independent Category. Smita also received the Indian Of The Year award, Exceptional Women of Excellence award, Las Fotos Advocacy (US) award and One World Media UK award.
She is actively engaged in public speaking, victim advocacy and international public education and serves as a jury member to grants and awards worldwide, including the Art Works Projects, The Nature Conservancy, The Indian Photo Festival, The Everyday Projects amongst many others.
“We Cry In Silence” is Smita’s book on cross-border trafficking of minor girls across South Asia. The multi-lingual book (English, Hindi, and Bengali) includes illustrations and resources for understanding the complexities of trafficking. Published by FotoEvidence (France) in 2022, it won a 2023 Lucie Photo Book Prize under the Independent Category and the Award of Excellence in the Photography Book of the Year 2022 category at Pictures of the Year International.
