Erin Grace Triebis an award-winning photojournalist focusing on geopolitical conflict, humanitarian issues, and cultures around the world.
Over the course of two decades, Erin has documented conflict across some of the world's most complex landscapes—from Israel, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and Ukraine, to Uganda and beyond. Her work equally encompasses major domestic stories, including the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd, Covid-19 hotspots across the United States, and the aftermath of devastating hurricanes in Texas and Louisiana. Spanning international news, cultural trauma, and women's rights, her photography reflects both remarkable range anchored in social injustice. She contributes regularly to National Geographic, The New York Times, NBC News, Rolling Stone, ESPN Magazine, Smithsonian Magazine, National Geographic and many others.
Her work has received international recognition and awards from World Press Photo, Pictures of The Year International, The Art Director's Club, the Magenta Foundation, and American Photography. In 2007 she was the youngest photographer to receive a World Press Photo award for her coverage of Kinky Friedman’s gubernatorial race in Texas. Her documentary work of U.S. military medics in Afghanistan won an award from Pictures of the Year International in 2010.She was the youngest recipient to receive the distinguished Alumni Award in 2014 from her Alma Mater, Texas A&M University-Commerce. In 2017 she was named a Female Icon of Adventure by Outside Magazine, and in 2020, the Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas invited Erin as the youngest photographer to contribute her archive to the Briscoe’s permanent photography collection.
Erin’s photography has exhibited at The Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles, The United Nations headquarters in New York, the Visa Pour L’Image Festival in Perpignan, France, The Houston Center of Photography in Texas, and the Bronx Documentary Center in New York. Her work from the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan was included in “War/Photography: Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath” at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, which toured nationally throughout 2012, and is now included in the museum’s permanent collection.
Erin is a frequent event speaker and panelist. She has presented as a keynote speaker at the Fearless Masters photography conference in the Netherlands (2023), the Lumix Festival for Young Visual Journalism in Germany (2016), the Association of Texas Photography Instructors annual conference (2017), and she has toured with Pop Up Magazine’s multi-city speaking tour (2017). She has also participated as a panelist at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado (2022), The Gotham Film and Media Institute with TIME Studios in New York (2019), and the Photoville Festival in Brooklyn, New York (2014), among many others. Erin frequently guest lectures at universities and educational institutions.
While passionate about photography, Erin is also an avid humanitarian and is involved with non-profit work. In 2010 she founded The Homecoming Project, a non-profit and educational campaign highlighting the effects of trauma from war on the U.S. military and veterans. The Homecoming Project exhibited in over 50 platforms worldwide and has been highlighted in media outlets such as The New York Times, TIME Magazine and Newsweek.
Erin’s most recent project includes filming, directing, and producing TO THE SKY, a feature-length documentary film that follows the first female Afghan mountain climbers to summit Mount Noshaq, Afghanistan’s highest peak (24,500 feet). In 2018 TO THE SKY was chosen by the Independent Filmmaker Project to present at its international co-production market in New York. TO THE SKY is partnered with TIME Studios and is currently in post-production with an expected release in 2027.
Erin is based in Bozeman, Montana.
Accolades
2024 T. Anthony Pollner Professorship Awarded by the University of Montana
Global Focus ProjectThe War At Home selected for exhibition, Xposure International Photography Festival, Sharjah, UAE
The Jon Krakauer Journalism Scholarship Awarded by End Violence Against Women International
2023 American Photography Awards (AP-39) Selected work for annual awards book, A Month of Terror in Bucha, Ukraine
New York Press Club Journalism Award Spot News category, A Month of Terror in Bucha, Ukraine
2022 The Hansel Mieth Prize“Beyond Good an Evil” for Stern Magazine
2019 Independent Filmmaker Project’s marketplace selectionfor TO THE SKY film
