Larry Towell studied visual arts at York University in Toronto from 1972–1976 and after a stint of volunteer work in Calcutta, he lived in solitude on a homemade raft for two years in order to write.

In the 1980s Towell taught folk music at night school and simultaneously documented the Nicaraguan Contra war and the relatives of the disappeared in Guatemala which resulted in two oral histories and a book of poems. He joined Magnum in 1988 and became a freelance photographer. He has had numerous international exhibitions throughout his career and his work is held in collections that include The Getty, The National Gallery of Canada, The George Eastman House, the National Museum of Qatar and The Archive of Modern Conflict in UK.