Life and career

Guzy was born into a working-class family in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and she grew up there.

She graduated with an Associate degree in nursing in 1977 from Northampton Community College and planned to work as a nurse until a friend gave her a camera. In 1980, she earned an associate degree in applied science in photography from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Afterward she became an intern, and then a photographer, at The Miami Herald. She married UPI photographer Jonathan Utz in 1988. That year she also moved to The Washington Post, following her husband to a job in the city. They divorced in 1998.

In 1990, Guzy was the first woman to receive the Newspaper Photographer of the Year Award, presented by the National Press Photographers Association.

She was detained by police and arrested on April 15, 2000 as a part of the IMF World Bank detentions.

In 2001, she was awarded the Northampton Community College Alumni Association's Professional Achievement Award. Upon receiving it, Guzy said,

The nursing program gave me more than a degree. It helped me gain an understanding of human suffering and an incredible sensitivity to it. I know that without this background, my photography would have a totally different edge

Besides her work in the Washington Post, Guzy's work has appeared on the Photography Channel.

In August 2007, Guzy's photos of animals left behind on the Gulf Coast, where she spent months in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, were included in a three-artist benefit exhibit titled "Lest We Forget: Three Perspectives on Hurricane Katrina" at the Discovery Too art gallery in Bethesda, Maryland.

Guzy lives in Arlington, Virginia.

Awards

• 1986 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography, Guzy and Michel Ducille, The Miami Herald
• 1995 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography, Guzy, The Washington Post
• 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography, Guzy, Michael Williamson and Lucian Perkins, The Washington Post
• 1990; 1993; 1997 Photographer of the Year awards in the National Press Photographers' annual contest
• 2009 Best of Photojournalism, Enterprise Picture Story, National Press Photographers Association
• 2009 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award (International Photo)
• 2009 The Hillman Prize, Photo-journalism
• 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography, Guzy, Nikki Kahn and Ricky Carioti, The Washington Post
• 2012 Photographer of the Year, Photo Imaging Manufacturers and Distributors Association (PMDA) annual awards
• 2013 Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism "In recognition of her creative and principled use of the camera in pursuit of compassion and social justice"

Selected works

• "1997 Picture of the Year", The Washington Post
• "1st Place, Enterprise Picture Story (large markets)", Best of Photojournalism
• "Carol Guzy and other panelists talk about how difficult the editing process can be", Inside Media: Celebrate FotoWeek DC, November 22, 2008
• "Tapestry of Life: Essay and Photos by Carol Guzy", Poynter Online, Feb. 23, 2000

[ Source: Wikipedia ]