Nadia Bseiso

b. 1985, Amman, Jordan lives in Amman, Jordan.

Nadia Bseiso is a Jordanian documentary photographer based in Amman, Jordan. She concentrates on long term projects based on personal research in geopolitics, history, anthropology, and environmental degradation. 

She began her series Infertile Crescent in 2016, attempting to visualize what happened to an area once known as the ‘Fertile Crescent’ spanning modern-day Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine and Jordan. Also known as the cradle of civilization, the area once known for its rich soil and biodiversity, gave rise to multiple great civilizations. Today the area is marked by conflict and the devastating impact of climate change.  In the 9 featured photographs, Bseiso focuses on water scarcity and other environmental challenges faced by Jordanian villages on the Israel/Palestine border. Her work comments on the disruption caused by generations of conflict on the lives of villages living along manmade dividing lines. Here, Bseiso uncovers the layers of history, culture, and conflict that have altered humans’ relationship to Mother Nature. 

Bseiso completed a degree in photography in Florence, Italy in 2011, returning for a residency in Fondazione Fotografia in Modena, in 2015. In 2016, she was selected for the Arab Documentary Photography Program, funded by The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture, Magnum Foundation and the Prince Claus Fund, for her project “Infertile Crescent”. Bseiso was selected as one of 34 Women in Photography by Time – Lightbox, March 2017. She has been working with several local and international NGOs since 2011. Clients include The New York Times, The Telegraph, Reuters, Zeit magazine, the Intercept, The Globe and Mail, and U.S. News & World Report.