BIO & WORK

Narciso Contreras is an award-winning documentarian photojournalist born in Mexico City in 1975. 

Since 2010 he has been covering a variety of issues and topics in Southern Asia, North of Africa, Middle East, Europe and Mexico, leading him to focus his work on the humanitarian consequences of conflicts, economics and wars. His work intends to contribute building our visual memory of the world he testifies.

His studies in philosophy, photography and visual anthropology led him to live and study in a monastery in India while photographing religious communities. Since then, he has contributed documenting issues like the ethnic war in Myanmar, the conflict in Gaza strip, the political upheavals in Istanbul and the tribal conflict in Libya. His work was recognized internationally for widely documenting the war in Syria, the military coup in Egypt, the war in Yemen, and for being the first to hand over to the international community the proof in photographs of the network of human trafficking and slavery of migrants in Libya in 2016.

Narciso’s photographs have been exhibited at galleries, museums and photo festivals in Europe, Asia, USA and Mexico. His photographic work of the Syria’s war is part of the collection of the Museum of War of Dubrovnik, and in 2017 his photo exhibition "Libya: a human marketplace" at the Saatchi gallery in London, was recognized the most visited exhibition of photojournalism in the world and the third in the photography category with more than 520,000 visitors. His work was awarded including the Pulitzer Prize in the breaking news category, POYi (Pictures of the Year), the Carmignac Photojournalism Award and the Lucas Dolega Award, among others. 

Narciso has contributed to magazines, newspapers and publications worldwide like TIME, New York Times, The Guardian, Paris Match, Newsweek, Foreign Policy, Washington Post, Der Spiegel, Sunday Times, Wall Street Journal, LEFT, Vogue, L’Espresso, Expressen, Knack, dS Standaard, Wirtschafts Woche, Internazionale, Die Zeit, Aftonbladet, Corriere della Sera, among others. He has contributed also for non-governmental organizations like MSF (Doctors Without Borders), UNHCR (the United Nations High Commission for Refugees), SOSMediterranee and MOAS (Migrant Offshore Aid Station).

Narciso is currently working on long-term documentary projects based on the concepts of "massive human displacement", "environmental migration", "transmodernity, identity and decolonizing turn".

He is available for assignments.

AWARDS

2019: Center of Documentary Photography. Direct Look Photo Contest (Finalist)
2018: Lucas Dolega Award (recipient)
2018: World Report Award. Master Award category (Finalist)
2017: World Reoprt Award. Master Award category (Finalist)
2017: PX3, Silver Prize Professional Press, General News (recipient)
2016: Bayeux-Calvados Award for War Correspondents (finalist)
2016: FotoEvidence Book Award (Finalist)
2015: Carmignac Photojournalism Award (recipient)
2013: Pulitzer price - Breaking News Photography Category
2013: Pictures Of The Year - 3^rd prize Spot News Singles Category

BACKGROUND
EAF, Escuela Activa de Fotografía (Photography Active School) in Mexico City.
ENAH, Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia (National University of Anthropology and History) in Mexico City.
UNAM, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico, in Mexico City.