Joel (Alírio) Chiziane born in 1964 in Manjacaze in southern Mozambique's Gaza province, Joel (Alírio) Chiziane is the son of a tailor-turned-politician. After finishing high school in Maputo, he began his photojournalistic activities in 1984 at AIM under the direction of Carlos Cardoso. He spent the next ten years travelling in Mozambique, southern Africa, Europe and the Americas (New York and Brazil). He covered a range of journalistic assignments, including the war in Mozambique and other horrific man-made and natural disasters, and he has extensive experience as a photographer for a number of international news organisations, including the 'Associated Press', 'Agence France Presse', 'Reuters' and 'Lusa'. In 1994 he helped found the weekly 'Savana', and since 1999 he has been an administrator of 'Mediacoop', the media co-operative that produces 'Savana', 'Mediafax' and 'Mozambique Inview'. Joel Chiziane lives in Maputo and has been vice president of AMF since 1992.

"These pictures remind me of the most critical phase of the war in Mozambique. Five and then ten years had gone by in the second war in Mozambique, the war between the FRELIMO Government and the RENAMO rebels. Between 1987 and 1990 I was already tired of reporting bloody, barbarous deaths and horrific massacres as a press photographer. I began to adopt a different point of view about the type of photographs that I should present to society, correcting or diminishing the photographic representation of terror "
Joel Chiziane