Bénédicte Desrus

Bénédicte Desrus is a documentary photographer based in Mexico. She is represented by Sipa Press USA and has worked throughout Europe, East Africa, the United States and Latin America.

She focuses on humanitarian and social issues around the world. Her photography explores the lives of people ostracized by society, and the communities they form to survive and find respect. She often spends months with her subjects. Recent stories explored the lives of elderly sex workers living in a shelter in Mexico City, Prader-Willy syndrome in Mexico, Donovan Tavera - Mexico's only government-certified forensic cleaner, the anti-gay bill & persecution of homosexuality in Uganda, the albinos killing in Tanzania and global obesity.

Her work has appeared in: National Geographic, Harper’s magazine, The New York Times, Time, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Al Jazeera, Bloomberg Businessweek, Creative Time Reports, World Policy Journal, The Nation, Slate, Saveur, The Financial Times, The Sunday Times magazine, The Observer, The Guardian, BBC, Arise, 6Mois, Libération, Le Monde, Courrier International, L’Équipe, The Toronto Star, Maclean’s, Alberta Views, Herizons, Internazionale, L’Espresso, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Der Spiegel, Néon, Udvikling, Aftenposten, Jyllands Posten, Dagens Næringsliv, Globus, De Volkskrant, Esquire, Marie Claire, Grazia, Elle, Henne, Annabelle, Gazeta Wyborcza, La Jornada, El Universal, Soho, Chilango, Revista Somos, La’Isha, The British Journal of Photography and L’oeil de la Photographie, among others. 

An archive of all publications located here: www.benedictedesrus.contently.com

She has received commissions from a wide range of clients, such as: Adidas, Deutsche Post DHL group, Ford Foundation, Néstlé, Reuters-East Africa, Blink, Luxury Retreats, NBC Universal, The European Commission (EC), Agence Française de Développement (AFD), Angie, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNESCO, Global Fund For Women, Gaz de France Foundation, WaterAid, Help Age, Tanzania Albino Society (TAS), South Sudan Microfinance Development Facility (SSMDF), Population Service International (PSI), among others. 

Her photographs are published in the book: "40 years of Photojournalism: Generation Sipa" by Michel Setboun & Sylvie Dauvillier, © 2012, Éditions de La Martinière - France.

She co-authored the book "Las amorosas más bravas" ("Tough Love"). The eight-year-long project documents the lives of the women living in the Casa Xochiquetzal, a shelter for elderly sex workers in Mexico City.

She has earned numerous awards and distinctions including:

2020 Addis Foto Fest (Ethiopia) 

2018 Indian Photography Festival – Hyderabad (India)

2016 Pride Photo Award (The Netherlands)

2016 SoPhot Photo contest (France)

2015 Syngenta Photography Award (Exhibition Scarcity-Waste at Somerset House in London)

2014 Moscow International Photo Awards

2013 China’s Humanity Photo Awards

2013 REVELA - II International Photography Award for the Social Rights Holders (Spain)

2012 Mexico Contemporary Photography Contest - Coahuila’s Mexican Foundation of Cinema and Arts 

2012 New York Photo Awards

2012 International Photography Awards (USA)

2012 NPPA’s Best of Photojournalism, 2012 OPEN Photo - Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa

2012 PDN Photo Annual

2012 New York Photo Festival

2012 Kuala Lumpur International Photo Awards

2011 Pride Photo Award (The Netherlands)

2011 China’s Humanity Photo Awards

2011 XIV Luis Valtueña International Humanitarian Photography (Exhibition / Spain)

2011 Open Society Institute - Moving Walls 18 (USA).