Moises Saman (born 1974) is a Spanish-Peruvian photographer, based in Tokyo. He is considered "one of the leading conflict photographers of his generation" and is a full member of

Magnum Photos Magnum Photos is an international photographic cooperative owned by its photographer-members, with offices in New York City, Paris, London and Tokyo. It was founded in 1947 in Paris by photographers Robert Capa, David Seymour (photographer), Davi ...

. Saman is best known for his photographs from Iraq. His book ''Discordia'' (2016) is about the revolution in Egypt and the broader

Arab Spring The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in T ...

. ''Glad Tidings of Benevolence'' (2023) is about the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

. Saman has won multiple awards from

World Press Photo World Press Photo Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Founded in 1955, the organization is known for holding an annual press photography contest. Since 2011, World Press Photo has organized a ...

and

Pictures of the Year International Pictures of the Year International (POYi) is a professional development program for visual journalists run on a non-profit basis by the Missouri School of Journalism's Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute. POYi began as an annual competition f ...

, and has received a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

Life and work

Saman was born Lima, Peru. His father is Peruvian and his mother is Spanish (Catalan). At the age of one, his family relocated from Peru to Barcelona, Spain, where Moises spent most of his youth. He is considered "one of the leading conflict photographers of his generation." He worked as a

photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...

in the Middle East from 2011 to 2014. He is best known for his photographs from the wars in Iraq: the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

, the

, and the Iraqi Civil War but has also worked in Afghanistan, Egypt, Libya, and Syria including in rebel-held areas there. He covered the

and the Syrian Civil War for ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' and has worked for

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

. It was during this period in the Middle East that he made ''Discordia'' (2016), a book of personal work about the revolution in Egypt and the broader Arab Spring. In 2010 Saman was invited to join

as a nominee and became a full member in 2014.

Publications

Publications by Saman

*''Discordia.'' Self-published, 2016. Photographs and short essays by Saman. Edited and with collages by Daria Birang. *''Glad Tidings of Benevolence''. London: Gost, 2023. . With a preface by

Sinan Antoon Sinan Antoon ( ar, سنان أنطون), is an Iraqi poet, novelist, scholar, and literary translator. He has been described as "one of the most acclaimed authors of the Arab world." He is an associate professor at the Gallatin School of Individ ...

Publications with contributions by Saman

*''Home.'' Tokyo:

Tokyo, 2018. .

Awards

*2007: Third prize, stories, Daily Life category, World Press Photo Awards,

, Amsterdam. *2007: Third prize, stories, General News category, World Press Photo Awards, World Press Photo, Amsterdam. *2008: Citation, The Olivier Rebbot Award, 2007

Overseas Press Club The Overseas Press Club of America (OPC) was founded in 1939 in New York City by a group of foreign correspondents. The wire service reporter Carol Weld was a founding member, as was the war correspondent Peggy Hull. The club seeks to maintain ...

awards, New York City. *2008: Third Place, Magazine Photographer of the Year, Sixty Fifth Pictures of the Year International Competition,

. *2014: Second prize, singles, General News category, World Press Photo Awards, World Press Photo, Amsterdam. *2014: W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund fellowship for ''Discordia.'' *2015: Second Place, Spot News, Seventy Second Pictures of the Year International Competition, Pictures of the Year International. For "Tragedy on Mount Sinjar". *2015:

from the

John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation was founded in 1925 by Olga and Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, who died on April 26, 1922. The organization awards Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been ...

. *2016: Winner, The Anamorphosis Prize ($10,000), for ''Discordia.''

References

External links

*
Saman's profile at Magnum Photos"A Western Photographer in Hama, Syria"
– interview with Saman in ''The New York Times'' on 19 July 2011 about photographing in the Syrian city of Hama during the Syrian Civil War {{DEFAULTSORT:Saman, Moises 1974 births Living people Peruvian photographers Photojournalists Magnum photographers