Smita Sharma is a photojournalist, visual storyteller and speaker whose work centres the traumatised and forgotten voices of those subjected to human rights abuses, especially victims of gender violence, human trafficking and environmental issues in the Global South through long-form visual narratives.
From documenting the effect of pregnancy on girl’s education in Kenya to child marriage in Nepal, and sex-trafficking in South Asia, Sharma is committed to representing people with dignity and telling underrepresented stories with impact.
Smita is a TED fellow, TED Speaker and an IWMF reporting fellow. For Stolen Lives, her in-depth work documenting minor sex trafficking in India and Bangladesh for National Geographic Magazine, she received the Amnesty International Media award for photojournalism and the Fetisov Journalism Award (Switzerland) for Outstanding Investigative Reporting. Smita also received the Indian Of The Year award 2017, Exceptional Women of Excellence award 2018, Las Fotos Advocacy 2021 award, One World Media award for her short film Rebels with a Cause and the Gender Warrior award from International Advertising Association in association with Google and UNICEF.
Her work has been published in various places like The New York Times, BBC World, Human Rights Watch, Die Zeit, TIME magazine amongst many others. Smita is actively engaged in public speaking, victim advocacy and international public education and her work has been exhibited and shown globally, including at the UN Headquarters in New York.
Her book We Cry In Silence documenting cross-border trafficking of underage girls in South Asia received the Award of Excellence at POY International and the 2023 Lucie Photo Book Prize in the Independent Category. Smita Also organised a year long “We Cry In Silence” campaign aimed at educating and raising awareness amongst the communities most vulnerable to human trafficking.
She serves as a jury member to grants and awards worldwide, including the Art Works Projects, The Nature Conservancy, The Indian Photo Festival, The Everyday Projects and is a member of The Photo Society, a community of National Geographic Magazine photographers and also part of Women Photograph and Diversify Photo community.
Smita is a Leica Scholar with Leica India. She has taken HEFAT training in Mexico City and is available for assignments and speaking engagements globally. She is a graduate from the photojournalism and documentary photography program of International Center of Photography, New York and has a post graduate diploma in Journalism from University of Pune.
Watch Smita’s TED talk presented at TEDWomen 2021.
Watch Smita’s TEDx talk presented at TEDxGateway 2023.
Watch Smita’s talk at MIT Solve, Cambridge, 2024.