Elise Blanchard if a French freelance photojournalist and writer who has been based and working in Afghanistan for seven years, focusing mainly on the impact of conflict on women and girls, as well as the Taliban and their governance.
She worked for AFP's Kabul bureau for two years, covering the Fall of the country in 2021, before returning to freelancing.
Her stories and pictures have since been published in outlets such as TIME Magazine, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Le Monde, Die Zeit, Guardian, Figaro, and others.
She is a regular contributor to Getty Images.
Asides from Afghanistan, she has also worked in Myanmar's rebel-held areas and Ukraine.
As one of the very few journalists still in Afghanistan, she tries to document the realities on the ground, especially in hard-to-reach areas. Recently, she reported extensively on access to maternal healthcare.
A series she produced on the experience of girlhood across Afghanistan was awarded the UNICEF Photo of the Year Award in 2025.
Elise also shot photo and video for humanitarian organisations including Doctors Without Borders, Handicap International, Action Against Hunger, the World Food Program, and others.
In the last few years, her pictures have been shown in several group exhibits in Europe, and a book she wrote over the past three years will come out in 2026.
She graduated with a dual degree in Journalism from Columbia University, in New York, and Sciences Po, in Paris.
