Carol Guzy, who has photographed tragedy and conflict around the world, is the only journalist to have received four Pulitzer Prizes. Photo by Lauren Rooney.
COM to Honor Veteran Photojournalist on Campus
Carol Guzy’s war photography will be on display in October, and she will speak at COM on November 1
Ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. A Rwandan genocide. Earthquakes in Haiti and Puerto Rico. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
For more than 40 years, photojournalist Carol Guzy has bravely gone to the front lines of devastating wars and natural disasters to document their human toll, as well as stories of survival and inspiration. Besides shining a spotlight on some of the last half-century’s biggest news stories, Guzy’s work has earned many accolades. Notably, she is the only journalist to win the Pulitzer Prize four times, most recently in 2011 for her photographic coverage after the 2010 earthquake that killed more than 200,000 Haitians. This fall, members of the BU community will be able to engage with Guzy’s work through a monthlong exhibition on the COM lawn, in front of 640 Comm Ave, and with the photojournalist herself when she visits campus in early November.
[Guzy] is the only journalist to win the Pulitzer Prize four times, most recently in 2011 for her photographic coverage after the 2010 earthquake that killed more than 200,000 Haitians.
In 2022, COM honored Guzy with one of two Hugo Shong awards, hers for lifetime achievement. But because Guzy was on assignment photographing the war in Ukraine, she was unable to attend an event celebrating the award and her work. Guzy will finally accept her award publicly in November. Many of the photos Guzy took of the initial weeks of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will be on display on the COM lawn from October 2 to November 6 in an exhibit titled, “Don’t Look Away.” Guzy’s conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist and COM master lecturer, Greg Marinovich, will take place November 1 in the Colloquium Room in the Kilachand Center at 2 pm and is open to the public.
“I have been aware of [Carol’s] stellar work and career forever. Her Haiti work is astonishingly good,” says Marinovich, who met Guzy in Boston while covering a protest over the 2020 murder of George Floyd. “All her work is of an incredibly high standard and quality. In addition, it is journalistically rock-solid—not something we can say about all our colleagues who produce aesthetically great work.”
Earlier this year, Guzy was given a coveted Lucie Award, which honors the best photographers in the world, also for lifetime achievement. Originally trained as a nurse, Guzy studied photography in South Florida and was hired by The Miami Herald. In 1988, she began shooting for The Washington Post, where she stayed until 2014. Guzy now works as a freelance photojournalist.
COM’s Hugo Shong Lifetime Achievement Award is an important part of the journalism program at BU, says journalism Chair Brian McGrory. “The outdoor display lets us share the power of Carol’s visual work with the whole college and even the entire university,” McGrory adds. “In doing that, we’re really displaying the power and impact of great journalism in general.”
