Biographical sketch

Javier Manzano, Distinguished Visiting Professor of the UAEH in the context of the International Image Fest 2016 and a country's pride, is a Mexican photojournalist and filmmaker with a strong point of view and a desire to tell a story to the world through his pictures. He has focused on social issues among different countries, which got him the Pulitzer Prize in Feature Photography in 2013 "for his extraordinary picture, distributed by Agence France-Presse, of two Syrian rebel soldiers tensely guarding their position as beams of light stream through bullet holes in a nearby metal wall" (The 2013 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Feature Photography, n.d.).

He received his first B.A. in International Business at Loras College in 1998 and his second B.A. in Photojournalism - Multimedia / Documentary Video Production at Brooks Institute of Photography. He then studied at the Academy of Visual Arts (Spanish: Academica de Artes Visuales, AAVI) in Mexico City. He currently works as a free-lance photographer producing a wide range of material, from editorial and commercial, to news and documentary films. His works have been published in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Washington Post, TIME Magazine, among others.

His passion for photography has taken him all over the world and in his own country, as in the cross-border between Mexico and the United States of America; and to the Middle East, in the conflicts in Syria and Afghanistan. This compromise to focus on social conflicts is one of the most outstanding aspects about Javier Manzano, recognized for his works in feature photography, cinematography and commercials. Among his photography works, we can find: The Siegge of Aleppo (Syria), Snipper Afley (Syria), Security Bubble (Afghanistan), Metal Scrap Collectors (Afghanistan), Afghanistan Portrait Series (Afghanistan), Mexico's Drugs War (Mexico), Exodus: The Inmigrant Journey (Mexico), Santa Muerte (Mexico), Deadly Denial (United States of America), Elections '08 (United States of America) and Tornado (United States of America).

• Pulitzer Prize in Feature Photography, 2013.
• Bayeux-Calvados Prize for War Correspondents, 2013 (French: Prix Bayeux-Calvados des Correspondants de Guerre).
• World Press Photo, Domestic Picture Story, 2011.
• World Press Photo, Domestic New Single, 2011.
• Honorable Mention-New Picture Story, Sixty-Fifty Pictures of the Year International, 2008.
• Honorable Mention- Natural Disaster, 2008.
• Second Place - News Picture Story, Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar, 2007.
• Gold Recipient for Documentary, Sixtieth College Photographer of the Year, 2007.