Carol Guzy

Pulitzer Prize-Winning Photographer

“Take every experience, every part of your history, and put it all together to do good for the world. Ultimately, the goal is to be a person of great human decency.”

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By Roadtrip Nation

Carol Guzy

Milestones

My road in life took a while to figure out.

Born into a working-class family in Pennsylvania; she lost her father when she was a child and watched as her mother struggled to support her family.

She had always had a passion for art, but was convinced that she couldn’t make a practical career out of it.

Originally went to college to be a nurse; has an associate degree in nursing from Northampton Community College.

Her friend gave her an SLR camera so she decided to take a photography class at her community college—says, “The first time that I developed a print, that was the defining moment.”

She enrolled at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale to study photography—says she discovered her niche after taking a class in journalism.

Has worked as a staff photographer for The Miami Herald and The Washington Post; she now works mainly as a freelancer.

She has won the Pulitzer Prize four times—one of only four people to do so, and the only journalist to have achieved that feat.

Says her nursing background has made her a better photojournalist: ”It gave me the foundations of compassion and empathy...if you don’t have those things then you can’t tell someone's story.”

Keep following my journey