Cesar Dezfuli
César Dezfuli is a Spanish-Iranian journalist and documentary photographer whose work focuses on migration, identity, and human rights. With a background in journalism and a long-standing documentary practice, he explores the social and political dimensions of displacement. Since 2015, he has documented the European migration crisis, particularly along the Central Mediterranean route. His ongoing project Passengers examines the visual portrayal of migration through intimate, post-rescue portraits. His work has been published internationally, exhibited worldwide, and recognized by institutions such as World Press Photo, POYi, and the CatchLight Fellowship.
César Dezfuli began his career in journalism, working across several international newsrooms before fully dedicating himself to documentary photography. He applies a long-form approach to investigate social, political, and human rights issues. His reporting has taken him to post-election contexts in Kenya, Rwanda, and Kosovo, and to China, where he documented families defying the one-child policy.
Since 2015, he has worked extensively on the European migration crisis, with a sustained focus on the Central Mediterranean route. His project Passengers (2016–ongoing) portrays rescued migrants moments after being saved at sea. Through this work, he seeks to reframe how migration is represented—moving away from abstract statistics and toward individual narratives and presence.
His work appears regularly in De Volkskrant and Le Monde, and has been published in The Guardian, Time, Al Jazeera, Süddeutsche Zeitung, and the BBC. He has received major international recognitions, including World Press Photo, Pictures of the Year International, the Sony World Photography Awards, the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize, and the CatchLight Fellowship.
Dezfuli’s work has been exhibited internationally, both in solo and group shows across Europe, Asia, Latin America, Australia, and the United States. Solo exhibitions include Passengers at the Festival Internacional de Fotografía de Castilla y León (Spain, 2025), PhEST (Italy, 2024), Bucharest Photofest (Romania, 2024), Kyotographie (Japan, 2023), iMEdD Forum (Greece, 2023), and the Centro Cultural de España in Lima and Montevideo (2022). Earlier exhibitions were held in Málaga, Slovenia, Amsterdam, and Michigan.
Group shows include The Family of Migrants at the FENIX Museum of Migration (Netherlands, 2025), World Press Photo’s flagship exhibition at De Nieuwe Kerk (Netherlands, 2023), Art Basel (Switzerland, 2021), and the Sony World Photography Awards at Somerset House (UK, 2020).
His work appears in several book publications, including Portrait of Humanity (Hoxton Mini Press / 1854 Media, 2019), Chiedo Permesso (E20 Progetti Editore, 2017), and The Family of Migrants (Hannibal Books, 2025). His visual storytelling extends into film: he contributed to the award-winning documentaries Iuventa (Michelle Cinque, 2018) and The Island (Anca Damian, 2021), and co-directed the short film Banjul to Biella. A feature-length documentary expanding on Passengers is currently in development.
César Dezfuli’s visual storytelling spans photography and film, having directed the short film Banjul to Biella (2018) and contributing to award-winning documentaries Iuventa (2018) and The Island (2021). He is currently developing a feature-length documentary based on Passengers. His work has been exhibited widely—in solo shows across Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Australia—including Kyotographie (Kyoto, Japan, 2023), Bucharest Photofest (Romania, 2024), World Press Photo’s flagship exhibition at De Nieuwe Kerk (Amsterdam, Netherlands, 2023), the Centro Cultural de España in Montevideo, Uruguay (2022), and the Alianza Francesa de Málaga, Spain (2020).