Mackenzie Calle is a freelance documentary photographer and National Geographic Explorer based in Brooklyn. 

In 2024, she was awarded World Press Photo for North & Central America, Open Format, and was a finalist for the Sony World Photography Awards.

She was selected as a Magnum Foundation Counter Histories Fellow in 2022. That same year, she was named one of the Lenscratch 25 to Watch and was shortlisted for the PhMuseum Women Photographers Grant. In 2023, she was named as a LensCulture Emerging Talent Award winner and received the Dear Dave Fellowship.

Mackenzie is a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts with a degree in Cinema Studies and was awarded the Director’s Fellowship to attend ICP’s Documentary Practice and Visual Journalism Program. She was selected to Eddie Adams Workshop class XXXV. She is an Adjunct Lecturer at CUNY’s College of Staten Island. Prior to her freelance career, she was a photo producer at NBCUniversal. 

Her work has been exhibited at Fotografiska Stockholm, Photoville, Pride Photo Festival, and Noorderlicht International Photo Festival. 

Clients include National Geographic, The Washington Post, GAYLETTER, Discovery, MSNBC, and The Wall Street Journal. 

AWARDS/SELECTIONS:

2024 WORLD PRESS PHOTO, North & Central America Open Format, Winner

2024 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORER GRANT

2024 SONY WORLD PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS, Finalist

2024 TORINO FOTO FESTIVAL, EXPOSED Grant for Contemporary Photography, Finalist

2024 AESTHETICA ART PRIZE, Longlisted Artist

2023 DEAR DAVE, Fellowship Winner

2023 LENSCULTURE, Emerging Talent Winner 

2023 NEW YORK PORTFOLIO REVIEW

2022 MAGNUM FOUNDATION, Counter Histories Grantee

2022 PHMUSEUM, Women Photographers Grant, Shortlist 

2022 LENSCRATCH, Student Prize Honorable Mention

EXHIBITIONS:

2024 Fotografiska Stockholm, Space: A Visual Journey, Group Exhibition

2024 World Press Photo 2024, Worldwide Group Exhibition

2024 Sony World Photography Awards 2024, Somerset House, Group Exhibition 

2023 Noorderlicht International Photo Festival, Regenerate, Group Exhibition

2023 Photoville, Container Exhibition

2023 Pride Photo, Group Exhibition

2022 The Curated Fridge, Group Exhibition

2022 Shifting Selves, Group Exhibition, International Center of Photography

SELECT PRESS/TALKS:

2024 Eddie Adams Workshop, Artist Talk

2023 SANTA FE WORKSHOPS, Artist Talk

2022 EDITED, OKS Berlin

2022 Lenscratch: 25 to Watch

2022 Shift Magazine, Featured Photographer

2022 PhMuseum Featured Story

EDUCATION:

Eddie Adams Workshop XXXV

International Center of Photography, Documentary Practice & Visual Journalism, Director’s Fellowship

New York University, BA, Cinema Studies