Eleanor Moseman is a photographer, adventuress, and storyteller focusing on social and cultural narratives involving women and persecuted groups of people around Asia. More specifically, she visually conserves the politically sensitive regions of Tibet and Xinjiang. She has a BFA in Photography and Film from Virginia Commonwealth University.

From 2008-2020, Eleanor was based in China and focused her efforts on drawing international awareness to the humanitarian issues of persecuted Buddhists in Tibet and the Muslim Uighurs (or Uighur community) of Xinjiang. As political regimes eradicate these cultures’ traditions and the landscapes change, she is working on creating photographic historical records of an era soon to be gone.

Eleanor uses her photography and storytelling skills to contribute to the research of anthropologists, historians, conservationists, and activists. Eleanor is deeply committed to women’s issues that range from persecuted Buddhist and Muslim women to female competitors in the World Nomad Games in Kyrgyzstan.

Eleanor’s photography has been published in The Guardian, PBS NewsHour, The Atlantic, Nikon: Learn & Explore, The LA Times, and many other international publications. In 2020 her work was exhibited at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C., the Rose-Hulman Institute, and the British Museum in London.

Eleanor began exploring Asia on a two-year 15,000-mile solo bicycling tour around China, Tibet, and Central Asia that ended in 2012. This adventure was the catalyst that moved her towards a career in photojournalism while embarking upon many more intrepid solo adventures. These journeys into remote regions of Asia bring her closer to the people, culture, and pressing social issues that need to be documented and shared with the rest of the world through photography and knowledgeable reports.

After living in China for over a decade, Eleanor speaks fluent Mandarin and has been studying Tibetan for nearly four years while beginning to explore the studies of the Uyghur language.

With Tibet being blocked off from the world since she left three years ago, Eleanor plans to return as soon as possible to continue her long-term work, begin new projects, and share how this delicate region has changed over the last few years. As one of the few photographers working continually in the area for over a decade, she feels responsible for documenting and sharing what has transpired politically, physically, and culturally. However, because of limitations, she has now begun working on the other side of the Himalayan region in Ladakh, where she explores stories of climate change and how it affects the local people and, ultimately, the world.