MASARU GOTO has 19 years experience photographing social and human rights issues in Southeast Asia and South America. Masaru’s photographs convey a strong message of compassion; highlighting the plight and resilience of ordinary people who are caught in conflicts, suffering under oppression or economically disadvantaged.

In 2002, Masaru won the prestigious Fifty Crows Foundation award for Documentary Photography for his photos essay on Human Rights in Colombia “got rights? Human Rights in Colombia”. His photography books include “My Journal of Cambodia 1997-1998” is a powerful photographic essay about the final years of civil war waged by the Khmer Rouge and “Smile in Despair: Stories from a Cambodian AIDS ward” is about the HIV/AIDS crisis in Cambodia.

Masaru has vast experience photographing refugees and civilians affected by political upheaval. His work in Kashmir documented family impact by the Indian-led militarization; his photographs from Aceh, a part of Indonesia, were commissioned by Terre des hommes (TDH) Germany and Asian Forum for Human rights and Development (Forum Asia), a regional human rights organization and for an International information campaign. Most recently, Masaru has been working in Southern Thailand in Muslim communities affected by the outbreak of violence that erupted earlier this year. And he had currently finished in book project in collaboration with Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC) about the refugees along Thai-Burmese border. Masaru immerses himself in long -term documentary project; spending time with the people in his images and sharing their sense of humanity. For the past four years, Masaru has devoted himself to a work-in -progress on the AIDS crisis in Cambodia. His photos portray the stigma and abandonment experienced by many people living with HIV/AIDS and their families. This work presented at the Bangkok International AIDS conference in July 2004.

And 2004, Masaru’s images of HIV/AIDS in Cambodia won two of the category, "LOVE" and "ILLNESS" for "the River of Life" World Health Organization (WHO) photo competition. Masaru strongly believes in sharing his photographs with NGO’s and civil society groups for advocacy and information campaigns on the issues he passionately examines in his work. He has participated in numerous campaigns on human right and social issues.