Biography

American, b. 1969

Michael Robinson Chávez, a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer, was captivated by photography when a friend gifted him a camera before a journey to Peru. Half Peruvian and a native Californian, Chávez has established himself as a prominent freelance visual journalist based in Valencia, Spain. Having completed a 15-year tenure at The Washington Post and previous roles at The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, and the Associated Press, he has a rich background in photography.

His lens has documented stories in over 75 countries, capturing significant events such as climate change’s effect on artisanal fishing in the Bay of Bengal, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Venezuela's collapse, the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia, California's historic drought, the Egyptian revolution, gold mining in Peru, climate change in Siberia, the 2006 Hezbollah/Israel war, and cobalt mining in Democratic Republic of Congo.

Chávez's accolades include two Pulitzer Prizes, including for Explanatory Journalism in 2020 as part of The Washington Post's climate change coverage. He's a three-time Robert F. Kennedy Award winner for Photojournalism, Pictures of the Year International's Photographer of the Year in 2020, and recipient of numerous awards from prestigious bodies like the Best of Photojournalism, Siena International Photo Awards, Prix de Photographie Paris, and the Scripps Howard Foundation.

He teaches workshops with the Foundry Photojournalism Workshops and Leica Akademie, lectures frequently and has had his work exhibited throughout the world.