César Dezfuli (b. 1991) is a Spanish-Iranian journalist and documentary photographer whose work focuses on migration, human rights and international affairs. In 2016 he began working on his most renowned project named "Passengers", with which he aims to question the historical visual representation of migration. This project, which has already been exhibited in more than thirty countries and published in numerous international media, follows the story of 118 people rescued from a boat adrift in the Mediterranean, on their migratory route to Europe. Dezfuli, who has been accompanying and documenting their lives for the past eight years, advocates for the individualization of migration narratives and a more empathetic approaches that deconstruct stereotypes.
He is currently working on the production of a documentary film on the project that will be released in the coming years, while focusing on the divulgation on migration matters, with numerous talks and workshops in journalism and human rights forums, such as the European Fundamental Rights Forum of Vienna in 2024, or the Athens iMEdD International Journalism Forum 2023.
Dezfuli is a frequent contributor to Le Monde and De Volkskrant newspapers, while his work has been published in various international media such as The Guardian, TIME Magazine, Al Jazeera or the BBC. He has received several recognitions such as the World Press Photo award (2023), the European Press Prize (2023), the Catchlight Fellowship (2020) or the Pictures of the Year International prize (2018), among others.
His work has been exhibited worldwide individually or as part of collective exhibitions at venues as the National Portrait Gallery (UK); the Museum of Sydney (AU); the European Center for the Arts (DE); the Kyotographie Festival (JP); or the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts (USA).