Vanessa Cowling is a mother, lecturer and artist, currently living and working in Cape Town, South Africa.
She graduated from the Michaelis School of Fine Art (UCT) with a BA Honours in 1998 after which she spent a number of years as a practicing photographic artist in New York, London and Edinburgh before returning home.
Vanessa lectures part time in the Photography department at UCT and where she recently completed her MFA, earning a distinction. She was awarded the 2023 Tierney fellowship, and won the Paris based, international “Blurring the Lines” competition for her Masters work.
Her work is featured at the 2024 Venice Biennial, at the Personal Structures Exhibition, curated by Steve Bisson and she has been invited by the same curator to create an installation at the Biennale de la Photographie de Mulhouse, Mondes Impossibles.
Her research has a strong emphasis on sustainable photographic practices and the environment, questioning the role of photography in a changing landscape.