Jenn Ackerman is a Minneapolis-based photographer specializing in reportage, travel and portraiture.
Originally from the East coast, Jenn moved to the Minnesota and quickly fell in love with the quirkiness of the Midwest. Known for her ability to get access to people and places, she focuses on showing life beyond the surface.
Awards
2020 American Photography 36 Book Selection
2020 Minnesota State Artist Initiative Grant Recipient
2019 PDN Photo Annual
2019 Communication Arts Photography Annual
2019 American Photography 35 Book Selection
2018 American Photography 34
2018 Photolucida Critical Mass Finalist (Winner TBD)
2018 American Photography 34
2017 American Photography 33
2017 Communication Arts Photography Annual
2016 American Photography 32
2015 Communication Arts Photography Annual
2015 American Photography 31
2015 PDN Photography Annual
2015 Minnesota State Artist Initiative Grant Recipient
2014 Communication Arts Photography Annual
2014 American Photography 30 Book Selection
2013 Alexia Foundation Award Finalist
2013 Documentary Project Fund Recipient
2013 Minnesota State Artist Initiative Grant Recipient
2012 McKnight Fellow
2012 NPPA Short Grant Winner
2012 PDN’s 30
2012 Best of ASMP
2012 Magenta’s Flash Forward Winner
2011 CENTER Project Competition: Honorable Mention
2010 Magnum Expression Award: Finalist
2010 Anthropographia: Honorable Mention for Competition for Human Rights
2009 Photolucida’s Critical Mass Top 50
2009 Emmy Awards: Won for Trapped
2009 Inge Morath Award: Runner Up
2009 Emerging Photographers Fund: Finalist
2009 Communication Arts Photography Annual
2009 Webby Awards: Official Honoree for Documentary: Individual Episode
2009 Best of Photojournalism Awards: 1st Place - Non-Traditional Photojournalism Publishing
2009 Best of Photojournalism Awards: 1st Place - Documentary Video
2009 Photographers Giving Back Photo Award: Recognized in Portrait of the Year category
2009 First Book Prize in Photography: Finalist for the Honickman Book Prize
2009 Anthropographia: Nominated for The Photojournalism Competition for Human Rights
Clients
AARP The Magazine
Bicycling
Bloomberg BusinessWeek
Bloomberg Markets
Bon Appetit
Chase Bank
Cosmopolitan
Delta
Delta Sky Magazine
Deluxe
Departures
ESPN The Magazine
Esquire
Family Circle
Fast Company
Field & Stream
Food & Wine
Fortune
Inc. Magazine
International Bus
Men's Health
Microsoft
Midwest Living
Minnesota Monthly
Miss Universe
Money Magazine
Monocle
Mother Jones
Mpls. St. Paul Magazine
National Geographic
National Geographic Traveler
Outdoor Life
Outside Magazine
People Magazine
Pew Foundation
Popular Science
Prevention
Refinery29
Rolling Stone
Runner’s World
Samsung
The Atlantic
The New York Times
The Wall Street Journal
The Washington Post
Target
T-Mobile
TIME
Travel & Leisure
US Bank
Wired
Speaking
Speaker, Women Photograph at Photoville. Brooklyn, NY. September 2017
Speaker, Real Life Photo Conference. Canmore, Canada. November 2016
Speaker, APEX Awards. Washington, DC. September 2016.
Keynote Speaker, Symposium Trends in Communication “Visual Storytelling”. Kufstein, Austria. April 2014
Speaker, Minnesota News Photographers Association Conference. Minneapolis, MN. April 2012
Speaker, Eddie Adams Workshop. Jeffersonville, NY. October 2011
Speaker on Making Reportage Projects Happen. PDN PhotoExpo Plus, New York, NY, October 2010
Speaker and faculty at Maine Media Faculty Presentations, Union Hall, Rockport, ME, June 2010
Faculty at Eddie Adams Workshop, Jeffersonville, NY, October 2009
Exhibitions
2017 Showing Exhibit | Mazmanian Gallery, McCarthy Center, MA
2017 Women Photographers, Group exhibition | Photoville, Brooklyn, NY
2017 Minnesota Fine Arts Exhibition, Juried group exhibition | St. Paul, MN
2016 Magazzini Fotografici Exhibit | Venice, Italy
2016 Trapped, Solo exhibit | Washington, DC
2016 Minnesota Fine Arts Exhibition, Juried group exhibition | St. Paul, MN
2015 Magenta’s Flash Forward Exhibit | Fairmont Battery Wharf, Boston, MA
2014 Solo exhibit | Kufstein, Austria. April 2014
2013 McKnight Fellow Exhibit | Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
2012 Invisible Solitudes - Life at the Edge of Mental Health | Università degli Studi di Milano Bicocca, Milan, Italy
2012 Photoville, New York, NY | Cruel and Unusual, Curated by Hester Keijser and Pete Brook
2012 Shoot for Change, Group exhibition | Soho Photo Gallery, New York, NY
2012 Burn in Print, Group exhibition | Head On Photo Festival, Sydney, Australia
2012 Cruel and Unusual, Group exhibition | Noorderlicht Photo Gallery, The Netherlands.
2012 Women in Multimedia, Group exhibition | Spazio Labo, Bologna, Italy
2011 Minnesota Fine Arts Exhibition, Juried group exhibition | St. Paul, MN
2011 Wide Angle View, Group exhibition | Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana, CA
2011 Woman as Photographer, Group exhibition | Minneapolis Photo Center, Minneapolis, MN
2010 Exposed: Photolucida’s Critical Mass, Juried group exhibition | The Photo Center NW, Seattle, WA
2010 New York Photo Festival, Group exhibition | Brooklyn Bridge Plaza, Brooklyn, NY
2010 Lumix Festival for Young Photojournalism, Group exhibition | Fotofestival Hannover, Germany
2009 Anthropographia Juried group exhibition | Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, Quebec
2008 AIDS Athens Film Festival | Athens, GA
2008 Southern Appalachian International Film Festival | Johnson City, TN
2008 Reel Venus Film Festival | Anthology Film Archives, New York, NY
Press
Nancy Rosenbaum. “The Power of Personal Projects.” November 2016.
Wired. “Inside the Wild, Raging World of Ice Car Racing in Minnesota.” June 2016.
A Photo Editor. “The Art of the Personal Project.” February 2016.
Refinery 29. “Striking Pictures Show What Beauty Pageants Look Like.” December 2015.
The New York Times. “Frozen in Place and Time.” April 2014.
Rear Curtain. “Sense of Place: Jenn Ackerman”. January 2014.
Humble Arts. Women in Prison Photography. March 2012.
Shoot for Change. “Trapped: Mental Illness in America’s Prisons.” March 2012.
Cold Mountain Review. “Out of the Mines by Jenn Ackerman.” Winter/Spring 2012. Henion, Leigh Ann.
New York University’s Mind Time Radio Show. “Jenn Ackerman.” February 2012.
News Photographer. “Freelancing in 2012.” January 2012. Donald Winslow.
ASMP. “Client Favorites.” December 2011.
Fraction Magazine. “Trapped: Mental Illness in America's Prisons by Jenn Ackerman.” May 2011.
Minneapolis StarTribune. “Picturing women in 'Woman As Photographer'” March 2011. Abbe, Mary.
Photo District News. “Restoring Relevance to Photo-J Competitions.” January 2011. Walker, David.
Burn.01. Italy, 2010.
“The PGB Photo Book: The Best Photography From Around the World.” Falth & Hassler. Sweden, 2009.
Prison Photography. “Jenn Ackerman. Trapped: Mental Illness in America’s Prisons.” July 2009. Brook, Pete.
The New York Times Lens Blog. “Behind the Scenes, New but Seasoned.” June 2009. Dunlap, David.
DPI. “All Too Human: A critical examination in Jenn Ackerman's photojournalistic series.” June 2010. Pipe, Olivia C.
Burn Magazine.“Women with cameras.” June 2009. Harvey, David Alan.
Mind Hacks. “Trapped. Mental Illness in America’s Prisons.” August 2008.
Photo District News. “Picture Story: Prisons as Mental Wards.” June 2008. Walker, David.