Gillian Laub is an award-winning photographer and filmmaker whose work has been featured in publications such as The New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, and TIME. She is best known for her documentary photography that focuses on social issues, particularly those related to race, gender, and identity.
Laub was born in New York City in 1975 and grew up in a Jewish family. She attended the University of Michigan where she studied photography and film. After graduating in 1997, she moved to Israel where she worked as a freelance photographer for various publications. During this time, she developed an interest in documenting the lives of people living in conflict zones.
In 2002, Laub returned to the United States and began working on her first major project: a series of photographs documenting the lives of African American teenagers living in rural Georgia. This project was published as a book titled Southern Rites (2009) and was later adapted into an HBO documentary film (2015).
Since then, Laub has continued to explore themes of identity and belonging through her work. Her projects have taken her around the world from India to South Africa to Cuba. In addition to her photography projects, Laub has also directed several short films including “The Last Jews of Libya” (2012) which won numerous awards at international film festivals.
Laub’s work has been exhibited at galleries around the world including the International Center of Photography in New York City and the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. She is also a recipient of numerous awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship (2013) and World Press Photo Award (2014).