Moises Saman was born in 1974 in Lima, Peru, but spent most of his youth in Barcelona, Spain, after his family moved there. Moises studied communications and sociology in the United Sates at California State University, graduating in 1998. It was during his last year in university that Moises first became interested in becoming a photographer, influenced by the work of a number of photojournalists that had been covering the wars in the Balkans.
Moises interned at several small newspapers in California, and after graduating from university he moved to New York City to complete a summer internship at New York Newsday newspaper. That fall, upon completion of the internship, Moises spent a month traveling in Kosovo photographing the immediate aftermath of the last Balkan war.
In 2000, Moises joined Newsday as a staff photographer, a position he held until 2007. During his seven years at Newsday, Moises’ work focused on covering the fallout of the 9/11 attacks, spending most of his time traveling between Afghanistan, Iraq, and other Middle Eastern countries. In the fall of 2007, Moises left Newsday to become a freelance photographer represented by Panos Pictures. During that time he became a regular contributor for The New York Times, Human Rights Watch, Newsweek, and Time magazine, among other international publications.
Over the years Moises’ work has received awards from World Press Photo, Pictures of the Year International and the Overseas Press Club and his photographs have been shown in several exhibitions worldwide.
Moises joined Magnum Photos in 2010.
