Giles Clarke is a British photojournalist, visual storyteller, and photography industry expert whose work examines conflict, displacement, and the human consequences of humanitarian crises. Working across some of the worlds most complex and underreported regions, including Sudan, Haiti, Yemen, Somalia, Iraq and Syria, his photography looks beyond immediate violence towards the lives of people caught within it.
A Getty Images Reportage contributor since 2013, Clarke brings decades of photographic and editorial experience to his work. In 2026, he received the Xposures Noor Ali Rashid Legacy Award for Documentary Vision.
Clarke began his film and photography career in West Berlin in the mid-1980s as a 16mm camera assistant before becoming a professional black-and-white photographic printer in London and New York. In 1997, he worked in Richard Avedon’s New York darkroom, an experience that contributed to his understanding of composition, printing and photographic narrative.
A visit to Bhopal, India, in 2007 marked a decisive move towards long-form photojournalism. Clarke began documenting communities living with the continuing toxic legacy of the 1984 Union Carbide disaster, establishing an approach centred on stories whose consequences continue long after international attention has moved elsewhere.
Since 2017, he has worked closely with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, documenting crises including Yemen, the Sahel, Somalia, Haiti and Sudan. His photography concentrates on civilians and displaced communities, connecting the scale of humanitarian emergencies with the individual experiences of those living through them.
Alongside his fieldwork, Clarke brings extensive industry knowledge developed across more than four decades of photography, film, printing, editorial production and international photojournalism. His experience ranges from traditional darkroom practice and large format printing to contemporary digital storytelling and the practical and ethical challenges of reporting from humanitarian crises.
Clarke regularly shares his expertise through photography festivals, talks, portfolio reviews, judging, and discussions on documentary practice. His experience with international media, Getty Images, and United Nations agencies gives him particular insight into commissioning, field production, visual ethics, and the responsibilities involved in representing vulnerable communities.
His long-term coverage of Haiti and Sudan reflects these principles. Haiti in Turmoil received the 2024 World Report Award, while his continuing work from Sudan documents civilians living through conflict and displacement. At Xposure 2026, A Decade Documenting Humanitarian Crisis received the Noor Ali Rashid Legacy Award for Documentary Vision, recognising his sustained commitment to responsible visual storytelling and the dignity of the people he photographs.
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Selected Awards
Noor Ali Rashid Legacy Award for Documentary Vision, Xposure, 2026
World Report Award, Master Award, Haiti in Turmoil, 2024
Sharjah Government Communication Award, Photography, 2022
WARS Photography Award, 2021
Lucie Award, Yemen in Crisis, 2017
National Press Photographers Association, First Prize, Environmental Picture Story, Waste in Time, 2016
