Larry Towell’s business card reads: ‘Human Being’. And for the past 40 years, the celebrated Magnum photographer has chronicled humankind’s deepest struggles. In The Man I Left Behind, the Canadian artist and folk musician reflects on his relentless pursuit of stories shaped by conflict and displacement.

In The Man I Left Behind, Towell pulls from a vast archive of photos, videos, songs, and poetry to contrast the turmoil of conflicts over territory with the serenity of his own family farm. The film poignantly explores how losing land can mean losing self and is a testament to the power of bearing witness. The film ultimately portrays the profound absurdity of war.

“I didn’t want it to be about me. I wanted it to be about the reasons I photograph the people I’ve met, and the way they have changed my life.”

— Larry Towell

About Larry Towell

Larry Towell (b. 1953, Ontario, Can- ada) is one of the most distinctive and respected voices in contempo- rary documentary photography. A member of Magnum Photos since 1988, he has developed a profoundly humanistic body of work over four decades, centered on conflict, memory, land, and the lives of the marginalized. His photography stands out for its poetic depth, political engagement, and unwavering commitment to long-term immersion in the communities he documents. Towell began his artistic journey after studying visual arts at York University in Toronto.

Following volunteer work in Calcutta, he returned to Canada and spent two years living in solitude on a handmade raft, focused on writing. This early period reflects the contemplative and introspective tone that would later define his visual storytelling. In the 1980s, he taught folk music while producing his first major photographic essays on the Contra war in Nicaragua and the families of the disappeared in Guatemala - projects that led to published oral histories and a book of poems. These works marked the beginning of a career that would continuously blur the lines between journalism, art, and personal testimony. Towell’s major photographic projects include a decade-long documentation of the civil war in El Salvador, two books on life in Palestine under occupation, and a powerful study of Mennonite migrant communities in Mexico and Canada. His exploration of Afghanistan, published by Aperture in 2014, offered a rare and nuanced perspective on a country ravaged by decades of war. In 2023, he published The History War, a visual chronicle of the war in Ukraine. His critically acclaimed photo-books - The Mennonites, The World from My Front Porch, Afghanistan, and others - have established Towell as a master of the photobook form, seamlessly weaving together images, text, and personal reflection.

His work has been published widely in leading international outlets such as The New York Times Magazine, Life, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Stern, Geo, and The New Yorker. Towell is also a gifted musician and songwriter. In 2023, he released The Man I Left Behind, a collection of three vinyl LPs featuring original ballads rooted in the people, places, and political struggles he has documented over the years. The project was accompanied by a feature-length documentary of the same name. His career has been recognized with numerous prestigious honors, including the Henri Cartier-Bresson Award, the W. Eugene Smith Award for Humanistic Photography, the Leica Oskar Barnack Award, World Press Photo distinctions, the Prix Nadar, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Towell’s photographs have been exhibited widely and are part of major institutional collections, including the Getty Center (Los Angeles), the National Gallery of Canada, the George Eastman Museum (Rochester), the National Museum of Qatar, and the Archive of Modern Conflict (UK). Despite his international acclaim, he continues to live and work on his family farm in Ontario, staying close to the land that has always inspired his work.