Hazel Thompson is an award-winning British photojournalist.
In the last decade, she has taken up assignments worldwide in over 40 countries for media organizations such as The New York Times, Stern Magazine, Vogue, FIVE News, The Sunday Times, Observer Magazine, Le Monde 2 and Politiken.
Most recently, ‘TAKEN’ represents Hazel’s consuming passion; to investigate and expose the disturbing truth around India’s sub-culture of sex trafficking, Hazel has immersed herself into Mumbai’s sex trade since 2002, and during this time she spent over 6 months living in Kamathipura, gaining unprecedented access into the second largest sex district in Asia. The result is an extraordinary glimpse into the secrets of Mumbai’s red light that reveals the moving real-life stories of girls tricked, trafficked and sold into 21st century sex slavery.
Hazel applies her skill, and her passion, to photograph and film injustice and prejudice; telling powerful stories and creating global awareness around social and humanitarian issues.
She often works closely with NGOs, where she tackles sensitive and sometimes controversial subjects, such as ‘Kids Behind Bars’ which was aired on ITN & CNN. Posing undercover as an aid worker, she was able to capture exclusive images of children illegally imprisoned inside Filipino jails.
Her essay on the UK’s teenage runaways ‘Home & Away’ evolved from an assignment for Observer Magazine into a three part news series for channel FIVE NEWS, where Hazel wrote, reported and presented the story on camera.
Hazel has also been engaged by The British Council to represent the best of British Photojournalism as an arts ambassador to Uzbekistan, Denmark & Vietnam. This relationship has evolved into a more recent commission for her to document the role of women in Qatar and Bahrain as part of an international arts project called “My Father’s House’’, which has toured the Gulf and UK for 3 years.
Hazel is also a highly acclaimed speaker, workshop facilitator and judge for wide variety of conferences, festivals and competitions around the world.
