Michael Christopher Brown
About Michael Christopher Brown
Michael Christopher Brown (USA, 1978) lives and works in Los Angeles. Graduated with a master's degree in photography from the School of Visual Communication at Ohio University in 2003, he funds his projects by collaborating with editorial and commercial clients, including National Geographic Magazine, with which he has worked since 2004. He is known for his innovative use of the iPhone as a primary reporting tool in conflict zones, documenting some of the largest contemporary humanitarian crises.
Photographic Approach of Michael Christopher Brown
Michael Christopher Brown is an artist who uses and questions documentary imagery to draw attention to some of the most urgent humanitarian crises of our time. He has documented various subjects around the world: the chaotic rise of Eastern China, the Arab Spring revolutions, conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Israel, and the West Bank, as well as socio-economic issues in Cuba and the homeless crisis in Los Angeles.
His experience in Libya in 2011 marked a turning point in his approach. He covered several battles along the coast, was caught in several ambushes in Eastern Libya, and was injured twice. More than just documenting the conflict, he began documenting his own immersion, giving rise to a more personal and introspective view of reporting. This need to explore both the war and his own relationship with it shaped his work, positioning him among the most innovative documentary photographers of his generation.
Exhibitions and Publications
A regular contributor to The New York Times Magazine and National Geographic, Michael Christopher Brown was a member of the Magnum Photos agency between 2015 and 2017. His work on the Libyan revolution led to the creation of the short film and book Libyan Sugar, which won the Paris Photo First Book Award and the Infinity Award for Artist’s Book from the ICP (International Center of Photography, New York).
Designed as a visual and narrative logbook, Libyan Sugar retraces a journey through a war zone, blending photographs, diary excerpts, and written exchanges with his loved ones and colleagues. This project questions the boundary between life and death through the eyes of a young photographer discovering war and seeking to grasp its reality.
In 2023, he created 90 Miles, a project that explores the long-standing history of Cubans crossing the 90 Miles of ocean between Havana and Florida, delving into why and how they do it. For over 25 years, this project idea had remained on hold due to access difficulties or political risks and finally came to life thanks to artificial intelligence.
Therefore, Michael Christopher Brown collected data and testimonies from them, drawing on his own experience living in the country. Based on real events, the collection of images spans from the 1950s to the present day. Cuba’s economic crisis in 2022 and 2023 led to the largest exodus since the 1980s, with nearly half a million Cubans fleeing the country. 90 Miles is exhibited at the Hangar Photo Art Center in Brussels as part of AImagine, Photography and generative images.
