National Geographic photographer Catherine Karnow, was born in Hong Kong to an artist mother and journalist father, whose reporting on Vietnam changed the way Americans viewed the Vietnam War. Based in San Francisco and Provence, Catherine has photographed for countless publications over a 40-year career.

A notable life project has been her 30 years photographing Vietnam. In 1994, she had unprecedented access to General Giap on his historic return to Dien Bien Phu. In 2013, she was the only foreigner to photograph the funeral and burial of General Giap. Catherine has documented Vietnamese families and children affected by Agent Orange. Her work has won numerous awards and led to real change. 

Her 2015 retrospective: Vietnam: 25 Years Documenting a Changing Country opened at the Art Vietnam gallery in Hanoi. She is regularly profiled in the Vietnamese press. Her book of the same name is available in bookshops worldwide. A passionate teacher, Catherine’s Photo Workshops in Romania, France, Italy, Vietnam-Cambodia and India are unique in the roster of workshops.

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• Vietnam: 25 Years Documenting a Changing Country (2015)