Ziyah Gafic was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia.
He graduated in World Literature at Sarajevo University.
In 2001 his reportage about Last Bosnian village won the Ian Parry scholarship
In 2001 he was awarded on World Press Photo contest.
In 2001 he participated on prestigious World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass..
In 2002 his reportages won two prizes on World Press Photo contest.
In 2002 year his work was exhibited at Visa pour l’Image festival in Perpignan and was awarded with Kodak award for young reporters.
In 2003 he was elected as one of the 30 emerging photographers by Photo District News magazine
In 2003 he received special mention award by HSBC foundation.
In 2003 he was also awarded with annual prize of City of Prague.
In 2003 he received Grand Prix Discovery of the Year in Arles Meetings of Photography.
In 2005 his work on Chechnya won Giacomelli memorial fund.
In 2006 he was nominated for UNICEF photographer of the year.
In 2007 he won Getty Images Grant for Editorial Photography.
In 2007 his work on Afghanistan won Photo District News annual award
In 2007 his work was selected for American Photography annual
He regularly contributes to magazines and newspapers such as: Liberation, Le Monde 2, La Reppublica, Photo, Telegraph Magazine, The New York Times Magazine, Tank, L’Espresso, Newsweek, The Times Magazine…
His work has been widely exhibited in Perpignan, Arles, Amsterdam, London, Milan, New York, Geneva
His photo essay on aftermath of Bosnian war was published in a book “Tales from globalizing world” by Thames & Hudson. His photographs are included in Thames & Hudson book “Photography as contemporary art”.
His main topics are societies in conflict /transition; from Bosnia to Rwanda, from Chechnya to Iraq.
He just completed his long-term project “Troubled Islam: Short Stories from Troubled Societies”
Ziyah Gafic is based in Sarajevo.