Nathalie Bertrams is a documentary photographer and National Geographic Explorer reporting on environmental conflict and social justice, mainly across Africa. She is a regular contributor to Süddeutsche Zeitung, De Groene Amsterdammer and Al Jazeera. Her work is also featured in El País, The Guardian, BBC News, Mongabay and Washington Post Magazine and she makes TV documentaries for Arte/ZDF. Nathalie has a master’s degree in Fine Arts from Kunstakademie Düsseldorf and exhibits her work internationally. She has received multiple grants and awards for her storytelling and is a member of the International Press Institute, Frontline Freelance Register, and Women Photograph.
Studies
1994 – 2002 Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Germany – MFA
2001 Nagoya Zokei University of Art & Design, Japan – Artist residency
1998 Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, France – Artist residency
1997 – 1998 San Francisco Art Institute, USA – Postgraduate Studies
1988 – 1993 Akademie Beeldende Kunsten Maastricht, Netherlands – BA
Media
Al Jazeera, Arte/ZDF, BBC News, China Dialogue, Chrismon, Christian Science Monitor, Courrier international, Daily Maverick, Dagbladet Information, Deutsche Welle, De Groene Amsterdammer, Der Standard, Die Welt, Die Zeit, El País, Financial Times, Granta, Hinterlands, Internazionale, Irish Times, La Corriere della Sera, Lettre International, Mail & Guardian, MO*, Mongabay, New Internationalist, NRC, PRI/The World, Reportagen, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Sunday Times, Tages-Anzeiger, The Guardian, The Telegraph, Wall Street Journal, Voice of America, Vreme, Washington Post Magazine
NGOs & Clients
African Renewable Energy Alliance, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bloomberg, BMZ, GAGE, GiZ, Goethe Institute, Greenpeace, Fairtrade International, Heinrich Böll Foundation, Max Havelaar, Overseas Development Institute (ODI), Oxfam, Rabobank, SVN Netherlands Development Organisation, UNOPS, Volkswagen, Welthungerhilfe, World Future Council
Grants & Awards
2024 Marilyn Stafford Foto Reportage Award – Shortlist
True Story Awards – Honorable Mention
Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting – Research grant, Norway, South Korea, Chile
2023 Stiftung Kulturwerk/ VG Bildkunst – Photography grant, South Africa
Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting – Research grant, Japan
Fonds Bijzondere Journalistieke Projecten – Reporting grant, Mauritania
Journalismfund Europe – Earth Investigations Grant, Latvia+Estonia
Kolga Tbilisi Photo Awards, Georgia – Shortlist
Journalismfund Europe – Earth Investigations Grant, Cameroon
Dejan Anastasijević Award for Investigative Journalism, Serbia – Winner
2022 Superscrieri Award, Romania – Winner local news + jury prize
Dejan Anastasijevic award, Serbia – Nomination
Journalismfund Europe – Earth Investigations Grant, Guinea
IWMF – Howard G. Buffett Fund for Women Journalists, Ireland
Journalismfund Europe – European Cross-Border Grant, Serbia
Free Press Unlimited – Reporting grant, Ireland
Fonds Bijzondere Journalistieke Projecten – Reporting grant, Suriname & the Netherlands
2021 National Geographic Explorer – Storytelling grant, Romania+Ukraine
Fonds Bijzondere Journalistieke Projecten – Reporting grant, Georgia
Fetisov Journalism Awards – Shortlist for Outstanding Investigative Reporting
2020 N-Ost/Renovabis – Research Prize Eastern Europe, Georgia
IJ4EU – Investigative Reporting Grant, Romania
2019 Kolga Tbilisi Photo Awards – Shortlist
Robert Bosch Foundation – Reporters in the Field fellowship, Indonesia + Singapore
Fonds Bijzondere Journalistieke Projecten – Reporting grant
Free Press Unlimited – Reporting grant, Kenya
2018 Earth Journalism Network – Reporting grant, Indonesia
National Geographic Explorer – Storytelling grant, South Africa
Hostwriter Story Prize – Winner
European Journalism Center – Global Health Journalism grant, DR Congo
2017 Free Press Unlimited – Reporting Grant, Madagascar
Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting – Reporting grant, Malawi
Stiftung Kunstfonds – Photography grant, Israel
2016 Hostwriter Story Prize – Winner
Martin Lagois Photo Prize – Finalist
Kuala Lumpur International Photoawards – Finalist
2015 Kolga Tbilisi Photo Awards– Shortlist
European Commission – Lorenzo Natali Media Prize, Mozambique
Felix Schoeller Photo Awards – Shortlist & Finalist
Books
2018 Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting: Toxic Planet
2017 Bertrams/Gazit: Outcast – Refugees in Israel
2016 International Journal of Media and Information Policy (MIPJ): Indigenous Edition
2015 World Future Council: Kinderrechte
2013 Bertrams: Madagascar. Travel photography
2012 Bertrams/Neuberger: Forests for People – Insights into Rwanda’s Forest Policy
Bertrams: Crossing Borders – Vom Atlas zur Goldküste
Bertrams: Crossing Borders – Vom Kap bis Kairo
Hefat training
2022 Cosain Consultancy & Acos Alliance, Birmingham, UK
Affiliations
Reporters Without Borders, International Press Institute, Frontline Freelance Register, Women Photograph
Articles (selection)
2024
Christian Science Monitor – Overfishing of Mauritania’s octopus threatens a big industry – and a smart species
Reportagen – Hunderttausend Euro für einen Papagei
De Groene Amsterdammer – Gegrild, gekookt, als sashimi of salade
Süddeutsche Zeitung – Abgegraben. Wie für Pflanzenerde die Natur zerstört wird
El País – El hambre de pulpo amenaza a la mayor potencia de pesca de cefalópodos del mundo
2023
Süddeutsche Zeitung – Darf man Oktopusse noch essen?
Daily Maverick – Caught in Mauritania and eaten in Japan, the octopus is being fished out
Vreme – Dugački pipci jednog biznisa
Eesti Päevahlet – Turba All
De Groene Amsterdammer – Bossen voor Banden
Daily Maverick, Chinese rubber giant ‘destroys’ rainforests, indigenous lives in Cameroon
Süddeutsche Zeitung, Europas Gier nach Gummi
Africa Eco News, How Europe’s greed for rubber destroys Cameroon’s rainforest
Al Jazeera, South Africa’s gold mining legacy
Süddeutsche Zeitung, Das traurigste Statussymbol der Welt
Trouw, Van Guinee via Serbie naar Nederland: Gevleugeld smokkelwaar is goud waard
Daily Maverick, Trafficked from Serbia: How birds from Guinea end up in European pet shops
Vreme, Papagaji vredni kao kokain
2022
NRC, Zeewierkoorts: grote plantages kunnen het ecosysteem van de Noordzee verstoren
Süddeutsche Zeitung, Neue grüne Welle
Mongabay, Europe considers large-scale seaweed farming; environmental effects unknown
BBC News, The plans for giant seaweed farms in European waters
De Groene Amsterdammer, De schimmige wereld van de handel in zangvogels
De Groene Amsterdammer, In Ierland woedt een turfoorlog
Deutsche Welle, Lithium, Geld, Politik: Ein Dorf in Serbien kämpft gegen ein Bergwerk
De Groene Amsterdammer, Servië staat niet te koop
Vreme, Da li je Rio Tinto zaista otišao
Vreme, Pritajena kompanija, skrivena država
Süddeutsche Zeitung, Wo unsere Schneeglöckchen herkommen