Zed Nelson is a photographer known for long-term projects that explore contemporary society. His work is driven by a critical focus on the intersection of modern capitalism and human psychology. Nelson has been recognised by numerous photography awards and previously published three books, Gun Nation, Love Me, and A Portrait of Hackney.
Nelson’s latest body of work, The Anthropocene Illusion, the product of a six-year project, was awarded the overall prize in the Sony World Photography Awards 2025, with Nelson named Photographer of the Year.
‘The Anthropocene Illusion’ (2025) explores how, while we destroy the natural world around us, we have become masters of an artificial ‘experience’ of nature – a reassuring spectacle, a stage-managed illusion. The work reveals not only a phenomenon of denial and self-delusion, but also a genuine craving for a connection to a world we have turned our back on. Aesthetica Magazine described the book as ‘a triumph’, adding, ‘the book takes one of the biggest topics in modern discourse and distils it down to single moments, driving home a message that is often too big to comprehend.’
Nelson’s previous projects include A Portrait of Hackney (2014), a reflection on the area of London that Nelson grew up in, observed at a time of rapid change and gentrification, Love Me (2009), an exploration of the cultural and commercial forces that drive a global obsession with youth and beauty, and ‘Gun Nation‘ – a disturbing reflection on America’s deadly love affair with the gun, which explores the paradox of how America’s most potent symbol of freedom is also one of its greatest killers.
Nelson’s work has toured internationally in solo and group exhibitions at galleries including Tate Britain, the National Portrait Gallery, and the V&A museum in the UK.
