Louie Palu

Biography

Louie Palu’s projects have been selected for a Guggenheim Fellowship, Arnold Newman Prize, and World Press Photo Award. His work has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, National Geographic, the Guardian, Der Spiegel, Le Figaro, and El Pais. His work is held in numerous collections including the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and the National Gallery of Art.  

Louie Palu

See Work

PORTFOLIOS / Fall 2024

The Next Cold War

By Louie Palu

If you are going to war in Finland’s Arctic, you’ll need skis and tanks, of course, but you may also need newspapers. The Fins have been using this cheap, homemade innovation for sweat-absorbent (and disposable) insoles for decades. 

Finnish ski troops during military exercises. Lapland, Finland, December, 2019.
PHOTOGRAPHY

The Golden Triangle

By Louie Palu

Louie Palu describes his twelve years of photographing the mines and mining towns of the Canadian Shield

AUDIO / Fall 2010

The Underground Giant: Life in the Hard Rock Mines of Quebec and Ontario

By Louie Palu

I tag in. I am a number now. The worn, round metal tag hangs on a nail next to the level I will be working today. My number is my birth year—1968. If I don’t come up from the mine, they know where to start looking for me.

Shaft miner at the 2,500-foot-level station before mucking and drilling, Louvicourt Mine, Val-d’Or, Quebec.
REPORTING

The Fog of War: Returning from Guantánamo

By Louie Palu

Surrounded by the faces of Southern Afghanistan, it’s hard to remember this is Cuba.

Spring 2010

Total War

By Louie Palu

It was the peak of the Afghan fighting season, a time in late summer when all the perfect conditions for war come terribly together. The medics stood outside the UMS, like they had all summer long, waiting for the casualties. No one said a...

Canadian soldiers walk through smoke and dust at dusk after blasting an insurgent weapons cache in the Sperwan area of Panjwai District.
REPORTING

Shooting Gitmo: Day Two

By Louie Palu

It is apparent that perhaps a new regime is taking hold here. Some of the restrictions are being slowly loosened.

REPORTING

Shooting Gitmo: Day One

By Louie Palu

On photographing inside Guantánamo.

REPORTING

Arriving at Guantánamo

By Louie Palu

Photographer Louie Palu begins photographing the infamous facility.