Christina Simons is an award-winning international documentary photographer focused on humanitarian issues and cultural diversity. Her work has been exhibited throughout Australia, the United States, England, Europe, the UAE, Russia and Mexico.
Icelandic & American, Simons resides in Australia and is a true citizen of the world speaking multiple languages. She is a member of the Women Photograph collective and regularly mentors and teaches photography in Melbourne, Australia. Throughout her 25-year visual arts career, her work has has featured in prominent publications such as The New York Times, the BBC Online, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, The Guardian UK and much more. Simons has also collaborated with several humanitarian organisations such as Medicines Sans Frontiers (MSF), the UN, Marie Stopes and UNICEF.
Her dedication to pursue under-reported stories has culminated in various bodies of work, to name but a few:
Running to Nowhere – portraying the experience of Central American refugees, this multi-award-winning body of work garnered solo exhibitions and a book publication
Lil Bullfighters – a multi-award winning series portraying the youngest participants of bullfighting in Mexico
The Haiti Project – highlighting the plight of children in domestic servitude in Haiti
Derby Girls – a multi-award winning series depicting the sport and culture of roller derby in Australia
From Violence to Peace – focusing on a positive parenting program in Papua New Guinea
Casa Xochiquetzal – depicting the people living in a home for retired sex workers in Mexico
More recently, Simons has focused her attention on climate change and its environmental and social impacts. Her work on assignments commissioned by the New York Times on the impact of bushfires in south-eastern Australia in 2019 – 2020, titled Australian Apocalypse, earned various accolades. In 2022, Simons turned her attention to the impacts of extensive flooding brought about by climate change in South Sudan, and the plight of the South Sudanese community and the ongoing humanitarian disaster occurring in the newly formed country, titled Uncertain Land.
Simons’ passion for social justice and compulsion to observe has resulted in the creation of striking bodies of work that offer unique visual commentary upon important social, environmental and cultural issues.
AWARDS & RECOGNITION:
Uncertain Land: Climate Change and Its Impact on the Internally Displaced People of South Sudan
Gomma Photography Grant: Documentary Photography - Finalist 2023
BarTur Photo Award : Photojournalist of the Year - Shortlist 2023
International Women in Photo Award 2023
The Roma of Messolonghi, Greece
Marilyn Stafford FotoReportage Award - Shortlist 2022
Australian Apocalypse: The Consequences of the 2020 Bushfires
BarTur Photo Award : Climate Change Category - Highly Commended 2022
Marilyn Stafford FotoReportage Award - Shortlist 2020
Montier Photo Competition Award - Shortlist 2020
From Violence to Peace:
Transforming Communities through Positive Parenting in Papua New Guinea
Manuel Rivera-Ortiz Foundation Documentary Award Shortlist 2020
BarTur Photo Award Shortlist 2020
Marilyn Stafford FotoReportage Award - Honourable Mention 2019
Running to Nowhere: Central American Refugee Crisis Series
Shortlisted for the Tim Hetherington Visionary Award 2019
Winner of the ‘Segregation and Human Rights’ Series Category
in The 12th Julia Margaret Cameron Awards 2018
Marilyn Stafford FotoReportage Award - Honourable Mention 2018
Winner of The Luminous Endowment DxO One Grant 2017
3rd Prize Winner Tokyo International Foto Awards 2017
Tokyo International Foto Awards Bronze Winner 2017
Image 1. A team of MSF health promoters goes door-to-door in Nueva Capital, Honduras.
Image 2. A man, his child on his shoulders, looks to jump on a train as they migrate north through Mexico.
Medicos Sin Fronteras top 50 Photos of the year 2019
Image 12. MSF social worker speaks to traumatised deported migrant in Reynosa, Mexico.
Image 45. Domestic violence victim receives a hug from an MSF nurse Choloma, Honduras.
Medicos Sin Fronteras top 50 Photos of the year 2017
El Salvadorian Refugee Rebecca aged 1
Moscow International Foto Awards - Honourable Mention 2016
International Photography Awards™ - Honourable Mention 2016
Image 13. Honduran Refugee Maria Esmerelda shows a picture of her murdered son. Ixtapec, Mexico.
Medicos Sin Fronteras top 50 Photos of the year 2016
Casa Xochiquetzal: A Home for Retired Sex-Workers in Mexico
Honourable Mention in The 12th Julia Margaret Cameron Awards 2018
Resilient : Women of Honduras Series
Sony World Photography Awards Shortlist 2018
Honourable Mention in The 12th Julia Margaret Cameron Awards 2018
Little Bullfighter Series
Honourable Mention in The 12th Julia Margaret Cameron Awards 2018
2nd Prize Winner - Sony World Photography Awards 2017
International Photography Awards™ - Honourable Mention 2017
Tokyo International Foto Awards - Honourable Mention 2017
International Photography Awards™ - Honourable Mention 2016
Moscow International Foto Awards - Honourable Mention 2016
Child Bullfighter Salvatore aged 6 - Professional People: Children Category
1st Prize Winner Moscow International Foto Awards 2016
Child Bullfighter Salvatore aged 6 - Family of Man Category
International Photography Awards™ - Honourable Mention 2016
Antipodean epic - night dust from the series Antipodean epic
with Performance Artist Jill Orr
Bowness Photography Prize Finalists with Jill Orr 2017
Georgia Stirs Her Cake Mix
Winner of Best Shots Photographic Competition UK April 2013
Roller Derby Girls Series
International Photography Awards™ - Honourable Mention 2013
CCP Documentary Photography Awards Finalist 2011
EXHIBITIONS:
Uncertain Land: Climate Change and Its Impact on the Internally Displaced People of South Sudan
& Australian Apocalypse: The Consequences of the 2020 Bushfires
Photo|Frome Festival, Frome, UK
June-July 2023
BarTur Photo Award 2022 Winners Exhibition
Australian Apocalypse: The Consequences of the 2020 Bushfires as part of a Group Exhibition of Award winners
f3 – freiraum für fotografie Gallery, Berlin, Germany.
February 2023
Uncertain Land: Climate Change and Its Impact on the Internally Displaced People of South Sudan
Solo exhibition in partnership with Medicins Sans Frontieres, Switzerland
Featured Exhibition as a part of PhotoSCHWEIZ Photo Festival, Zurich, Switzerland. January 2023
Featured Exhibition as a part of Xposure International Photo Festival, Dubai, UAE. February 2023
Running to Nowhere: The Central American Refugee Crisis Solo Exhibition
Tyrvee Gallery, Messolonghi, Greece.
May 2022 - July 2022.
#everydayclimatecrisis Visual Petition Group Exhibition
‘Scorched’ & ‘Hope’ images from ‘Australian Apocalypse Series’
Climarte Gallery, Melbourne, Australia.
June 2022 - July 2022
Marilyn Stafford FotoReportage Award Shortlist Exhibition 2020
‘From Violence to Peace’ as part of a Group Exhibition of shortlisted winners
The Nikon School, London, UK.
March 2020.
Running to Nowhere - Huyendo Hacia Ninguna Parte Solo Exhibition
The Central American Refugee Crisis
In Partnership with Medicos Sin Fronteras
Museo de Arte e Historia de Guanajuato Leon, Mexico.
October 2019 - February 2020.
Marilyn Stafford FotoReportage Award Honourable Mention 2019
Running to Nowhere : as part of a Group Exhibition of shortlisted winners
After Nyne Gallery, London, UK.
July 2019.
The 12th Julia Margaret Cameron Awards - Group Exhibition 2019
Winning series image of Rebecca from ‘Running to Nowhere’
Honourable mention image of Cristobal from ‘Little Bullfighters’
Galleria Valid Foto, Barcelona, Spain.
May 2019.
Sony World Photography Awards - Shortlisted Group Exhibition 2018
Resilient : Women of Honduras Series - Professional Photography Category
Somerset House, London, UK.
April - May 2018.
"Forzados a Huir" Forced To Flee : An Interactive Refugee Experience
Medicos Sin Fronteras.
Bosque de Chapultepec, Mexico City, Mexico April 2017.
Mexico Wide Tour. 2017-2018.
2nd Prize Winner - Sony World Photography Awards - Group Exhibition 2017
Little Bullfighters Series - Professional Photography Category
Somerset House, London, UK
April - May 2017.
EXODUS: Central American Refugees in Mexico.
Medicos Sin Fronteras.
Plaza Luis Cabrera, La Roma, Mexico City, Mexico 2016.
Mexico Wide Tour. 2017.
1st Prize Winner - Moscow International Foto Awards Group Exhibition 2016.
Child Bullfighter Salvador aged 6
Na Kashirke Gallery. Moscow, Russia
July-August 2016.
Day-Mares of a Bride to Be.
Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA 2013.
Roller Derby Girls.
Finalist in the 2011 CCP Documentary Photography Awards Group Exhibition
Centre for Contemporary Photography.
Fitzroy, Australia. Nov 2011.
Australia Wide Tour. 2012-2014.
Human Landscape - Solo Exhibition
Salus Spa, Daylesford, Australia. 2010.
The Haiti Project - Solo Exhibition
The Albury Library Museum, Albury, NSW. February – April, 2011.
Storm Gallery, Surry Hills, Sydney, NSW. April 2010.
Uber Gallery, St Kilda, Melbourne, Victoria. February 2007.
Collaborative Projects with Performing Artist Jill Orr:
Detritus Springs
This Is No Fantasy Gallery, Melbourne, Australia. June-July 2020.
Antipodean Epic – Night Dust
Bowness Photography Awards – Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne, Australia. Oct - Nov 2017.
Cracks In the Seams
Ballarat International Foto Biennale, Ballarat, Australia. Aug - Sept 2017.
Antipodean Epic Section One, Section Two & Section Three
Fehily Contemporary Gallery, Melbourne, Australia. Nov 2016.
Space Place and Recurring History.
Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. Nov 2012.
The Promised Land
John Buckley Gallery, Melbourne, Australia. Nov 2012.
Between Somewhere and Nowhere
Jenny Port Gallery, Melbourne, Australia. Nov 2011.
Vision
Jenny Port Gallery, Melbourne, Australia. June 2010.