Abbie Trayler-Smith is an aclaimed British documentary and portrait photographer. Her work draws primarily on an emotional response, capturing people’s reactions and responses to contemporary events and social issues. Her work is exquisitely personal and naturally observed. She engages with her subjects, revealing the everyday, the ordinary, the anguish, the humility and the extraordinary courage of those behind her lens.
Born in Wales, Abbie has travelled extensively for her work. During her eight years as a photographer with The Daily Telegraph, she covered important world events such as the conflicts in Iraq and Darfur, and the Asian tsunami. Her more recent trips and covered the environmental activism in the Antarctic and the Indian Ocean with Greenpeace, as well as chronicling national celebrations such as the Platinum Jubilee, Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral and most recently the Coronation of King Charles III.
Abbie has a number of prestigious awards to her name, including the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait prize (twice), The World Press Photo Award, and Ideastap Magnum Photographic Awards.
She successfully published her monograph ‘Kiss It!’ this year with GOST books, which is part of her ongoing, personal project ‘The Big O’ on childhood obesity.
Connect
Commercial
Eileen Fisher / Oxfam / Save The Children / UNICEF / Sony / BBC Worldwide / British Red Cross / Greenpeace / International Rescue Committee / Novo Nordisk / NSPCC / Action Aid / Samaritans.
Editorial
Time / The Sunday Times / The Daily Telegraph / The Independent Review / Marie-Claire / Tatler / Monocle / Vice / CNN.
Publications
Kiss It! Published with GOST Books, 2023.
Awards
1st Prize: World Press Photo Awards: 2nd Prize Staged Portraits, 2014
1st Prize: Ideastap Magnum Photographic Award 31+, 2014
4th Prize: The Taylor Wessing Prize at The National Portrait Gallery, 2009
1st Prize: PPY UK Multimedia, 2009
1st Prize: The Nikon Award for Multimedia, 2009
