Simon Townsley | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation(s) | Photojournalist, Entrepreneur |
| Years active | 1985–present |
| Website | www |
Simon Daniel Clifford Townsley is a British photojournalist based in London. [1] He has documented international news, particularly, conflicts, and humanitarian crises.
Townsley was raised in Wellington, New Zealand. [1] He began his photography career in 1985 at The Dominion newspaper in New Zealand and covered the first Fiji coup in 1986. [2] [3]
In 1987, Townsley moved to London and joined The Sunday Times as a senior photographer. [4] [5] During his time, he covered international events, including the Tiananmen Square protests (1989), the fall of the Berlin Wall (1989), the Gulf War (1990–1991), the Siege of Sarajevo (1992–1996), the election of Nelson Mandela (1994), the Dunblane school shooting (1996), and the funeral of Princess Diana (1997). [6] [4] [1] [7]
Since 2018, Townsley has worked for the Telegraph Media Group, [8] as a chief photographer on the Global Health Security project, which is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. [9] [5] [3] His recent assignments include coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, [10] [11] floods in South Sudan, [12] [13] displacement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, [14] [15] [16] and the 2023 earthquake in Turkey. [17] He has also documented scientific and healthcare projects in Ghana. [18] [19] [20]
In 1995, Townsley co-founded image.net, [21] an image distribution platform later acquired by Getty Images in 2004. [7]
From 2002 to 2005, Townsley worked on OILMAN, a photography series of industrial landscapes. [5] [22]
In 2006, he co-founded Ready to Air, a secure video preview platform for television journalists. [23]