They co-founded Tacet Eye, an interdisciplinary educational community focused on alternative approaches to visual narratives, poetics, process and ethics. Sarah is also faculty at the International Center of Photography.
Sarah’s long-form projects have spanned over a decade, focusing on adolescent development, group identity, and ideology. Beckon Us From Home received the Alexia Foundation grant and the Catchlight fellowship in 2017. It was also supported by the Eugene Smith Fellowship in 2018. In 2019, Beckon Us From Home received a first place prize in the Long-Term Project category of World Press Photo. Their long-form work is interested in themes of silence, speech, testimony, and trauma.
CONTACT@SARAH-BLESENER.COM
+1 651 373 9709
NEW YORK, NY
@SARAHBLESENER
EDUCATION & RESIDENCIES
2025 - MFA: Art and Social Practice, PSU
2025 - Artist Residency: Arts Letters & Numbers, New York
2025 - Workshop with Leigh Ledare
2025 - Studio Art Therapy Techniques, School of Visual Arts, NYC
2024 - Forensic Architecture, Brooklyn Institute of Social Research
2024 - Dreams and Dreaming: Philosophy, Psychology and the Unconscious, Brooklyn Institute of Social Research
2024 - Artistic Realism: From Representation to Revolution, Brooklyn Institute of Social Research
2024 - German Language Sudies: Goethe Institute, New York, NY, USA
2023 - Silence: Art, Literature and Philosophy, Brooklyn Institute of Social Research
2023 - Writing the Ephemeral, Jordan Kisner, Pioneer Works, New York
2023 - ACOS Alliance Annual Safety Coordination Meeting: Psychological Safety, Ford Foundation, New York, NY
2023 - Introduction to Trauma, Brooklyn Institute of Social Research
2022 - Trauma Informed Approaches to Journalism, the Poynter Center
2022 - Trauma Awareness for Journalists, the DART Center & the International Committee of the Red Cross
2021 - Russian Language Studies: Middlebury Language School, VT, USA
2020 - French Language Studies: Alliance Française, New York, NY, USA
2020 - Spanish Language Studies: Cervantes Institute, New York, NY, USA
2019 - Philosophy and Critical Theory: The Brooklyn Institute of Social Research, NY, USA
2019 - German Language Studies: Goethe Institute, Munich, Germany
2018 - Photobook workshop with Teun van der Heijden and Sandra van der Doelen, Rome, Italy
2017 - New York Times Portfolio Review
2017 - Eddie Adams Workshop XXX, New York Times award
2017 - Teaching Assistant for the Magnum Foundation Fellowship with Fred Ritchin and Bob Sacha
2016 - Reporting Safely in Crisis Zones: DART Center, Columbia Journalism School, New York, NY, USA
2015 - Visual Journalism and Documentary Practice: International Center of Photography, New York, NY, USA
2012 - Russian Language Studies: Bookvar Russian Language Academy, Minneapolis, MN, USA
2012 - Bachelor of Arts: Psychology, Minneapolis, MN, USA
EDUCATOR
2025 - Workshop - Looking In: The Conversations Between our Images and Ourselves, International Center of Photography, NYC
2025 - Grant and Creative Writing Workshop in partnership with the International Center of Photography and Indian Photo Fest
2024 - Panel Participant: Visual Strategies In Documentary Practice, International Center of Photography, NYC
2024 - Guest Speaker, Photojournalism, University of Berkeley, California
2023 - Looking In: The Conversation Between Our Images and Ourselves, International Center of Photography, NY
2022 - Guest Lecture at Columbia University for Nina Berman
2021 - Co-instructor with Brian Frank, Documentary Practice and Personal Project Development: Intermediate, Social Documentary Network
2020 - Guest Lecture Series at Cochise College
2019 - Artist Talk at MANA Contemporary, NJ
2018 - Guest Speaker at Oxford High School, CT
2018 - Artist Lecture at the International Center of Photography, NYC
2018 - Artist Lecture at Dokfestivalen, Fredrikstad, Norway
2018 - Artist Lecture at Scandinavian Photo, Oslo, Norway
2018 - Artist Lecture at United Nations International School, New York, NY
2017 - Artist Lecture at Pratt Institute, New York, NY
2017 - Artist Lecture at California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA
2017 - Artist Lecture at The New School, New York, NY
2017 - Artist Lecture at Gallup High School, New Mexico
2017 - Artist Lecture for Documentary Matters, SDN, Belmont, MA
2016 – Artist Lecture at the Bronx Documentary Center, New York City, NY
AWARDS / GRANTS
2025 RJI Professional Innovation Fellowship
2024 Emmy Nomination, News Feature: Serious Feature - Reporting, Videography, Photography.
2023 LensCulture Portrait Awards
2021 Kathryn Davis Fellow for Peace
2020 Recipient of the Emergency Fund for Journalists from the National Geographic Society
2020 Commission from the International Center of Photography, COVID-19 Personal Project
2019 Featured for Apple’s Year in Review - Female Photographers
2019 World Press Photo Award - 1st Place - Long Term Project Category
2018 Eugene Smith Fellowship recipient
2018 Adobe Rising Star of Photography - Adobe Lightroom
2018 Magenta Flash Forward Emerging Photographer
2018 PDN Photo Annual Winner - Documentary Category
2018 PDN's 30 New and Emerging Photographers to Watch
2018 IWPA - Shortlisted
2018 Gomma Grant - Shortlisted
2018 30 under 30 Women Photographers of 2018 selected by Photo Boite, Artpil
2017 Visura Grant for Outstanding Personal Project - Honorable Mention
2017 PH Museum Women Photographers Grant - New Generation Honorable Mention
2017 Magenta Flash Forward Emerging Photographer
2017 CatchLight Fellowship Recipient
2017 Alexia Professional Grant Recipient
2017 POYi Issue Reporting Picture Story, Award of Excellence
2017 Social Documentary Network, First Place Grant Prize
2016 Emerging Talent Award, LensCulture
2016 Emerging Photographer Award, PDN
2016 Visura Photojournalism Grant Honorable Mention
2016 Alexia Student Grant Award of Excellence
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2023 “The Sun as it Rips Away” at Blink Studio, Greenpoint, NYC
2022 “Ukrainian Female Soldiers” at Anastasia Photo Gallery, NYC
2021 “Upper East Side” for 1014 Museum, Manhattan, New York
2019 “Beckon Us From Home” at MANA Contemporary, NJ
2018 “Beckon Us From Home” at Anastasia Photo Gallery, NYC
EXHIBITIONS
2024 “The Sun as it Rips Away” for Zoom Photo Festival, Saguenay, Canada
2023 “The Sun as it Rips Away” for PhEST festival, Being Human - Monopoli, Italy
2023 “Beckon Us From Home” for IMP Festival Padova, Italy
2023, “Beckon Us From Home” and “Toy Soldiers” for ACAMPA, Madrid, Spain
2023 “Toy Soldiers” for Eyes on the World, Bridge Gallery, Cambridge, Massachusetts
2022 “Beckon Us From Home” for Biennale Della Fotografia Femminile, Mantua, Italy
2021 “Toy Soldiers” for Daegu Photo Biennale, South Korea
2020 “Slow as Summer is, Still” for COVID New York at the International Center of Photography, New York, NY
2020 “Beckon Us From Home” for Estação-Imagem Photo Festival, Portugal
2019 “Haven” for the Alexia Foundation, at Photoville, NY
2019 “Beckon Us From Home” at Pingyao International Photography Festival, China - with the Alexia Foundation
2019 “Beckon Us From Home” for World Press Photo Tour
2018 30 Under 30 Women Photographers, Galerie Claude Samuel, Paris, France
2018 "Beckon Us From Home" for "Focal Points: An Exhibition of the CatchLight 2017 Fellows" at Photoville, New York, NY
2018 "Beckon Us From Home" for "Focal Points: An Exhibition of the CatchLight 2017 Fellows" at SF Camerawork, San Francisco, CA
2018 "Beckon Us From Home" for LUMIX Festival For Young Photojournalism.
2017 "Winter Passage" for In Search of Lost Time, International Center of Photography, NY
2017 "Right to Fight" for Oberstdorfer Fotogipfel, Oberstdorf, Germany
2017 "Toy Soldiers" for Zimmerli Art Museum, "Partisan Views and Public Opinion," New Brunswick, NJ
2016 "Haven" for Another Kind of Paradise, International Center of Photography, New York, NY
EDITORIAL CLIENTS
The New Yorker, National Geographic, New York Times, TIME Magazine, Bloomberg Businessweek, The Atlantic, Telegraph Magazine, California Sunday Magazine, NPR, Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, The Washington Post, The Guardian, New Republic, ABC, Wired, Reveal: Center for Investigative Reporting, New York Magazine, Politico Magazine, Democracy Now, Greenpeace, VICE, Der Spiegel, Zeit, Amnesty International, De Morgen, Dagens Naerings, Tages-Anzeiger, Virginia Quarterly Review, American Scholar, and others.