Melissa Spitz (b. 1988) is an artist from St. Louis, Missouri, based in New York City. She holds a BFA from the University of Missouri–Columbia and an MFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design.
She is a recipient of Magnum's Inge Morath Award (2018), which recognizes a woman photographer under the age of 30, and was named TIME Magazine's Instagram Photographer of the Year in 2017. Her photographs circulate internationally, most recently at the Dresden Museum of Hygiene in Germany, and her first monograph is forthcoming. Her TEDx talk, "Why I 'Shot' My Mother," examines perseverance, art-making, and catharsis. Across her work, Melissa is drawn to the camera itself — its effect on the people and relationships in front of it.
Forbes described her project, You Have Nothing to Worry About, as "shocking — in a good way." Seeing the work, the writer noted, felt like rising to speak in a crowd expecting to be shouted down, only to be defended by a stranger: shocking because of its goodness.
Melissa is available for speaking engagements. Select works available for purchase, please inquire via the adjacent form.
CV available for download.