Gazi Nafis Ahmed is a Senior Lecturer in the Media, Communication, and Journalism program at the Department of Political Science and Sociology, North South University. He is an internationally celebrated artist who works with photography and video. He has taught in the undergraduate program at the Danish School of Media & Journalism, the postgraduate program at IED Madrid, delivered lectures to master’s students at Complutense University of Madrid, and has also taught at the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB). In his teaching, he emphasizes visual storytelling, critical thinking, and the ethical dimensions of photographic practice, encouraging students to build their own narrative voice through visual inquiry.

He earned his MFA in Photography from IED Madrid and an MA in Documentary Filmmaking from Lens School of Visual Arts. He completed his final semester of undergraduate studies at the Danish School of Media & Journalism in Documentary Photography. He is an Honorary Fellow at the Center for the Study of Social Differences at Columbia University, an Ivy League institution.

His works have been published internationally and nationally in The Guardian, Forbes, The New York Times, TIME, Bloomberg Businessweek, The New Yorker, Asia Society, Amateur Photographer, The Hindu, National Geographic USA, LensCulture, Politiken, Capital, The Daily Star, Prothom Alo, The Business Standard, Depart, Take Magazine, Ice Today, and Universe in Universe, among others. In addition to his visual practice, he has written on contemporary photography and visual culture, contributing essays and reflections to journals, exhibition catalogues, and art platforms.

Nafis has been the subject of broadcasts on Deutsche Welle, Betevé, Bloomberg TV, ATN News, Channel i, Jamuna TV, NTV, SA TV, and Independent TV, to name a few.

He has won international awards such as the Institute of International Education Art Award, supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in the USA, the Pride Foundation Award in the Netherlands, and the Blurb Award at the Format International Photography Festival in the UK. He was also awarded a year-long artist residency program by the Xarxaprod Network in Catalonia, where he lived and worked across five artist residencies in the Catalonian region: Can Serrat, Jiwar, Centre d'Art i Natura de Farrera (CAN), Hangar, and Nau Coclea.

He has collaborated with the World Bank (International Finance Corporation), UNDP, UNAIDS, the World Food Programme, Save the Children, Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), various European and American embassies, Drik, Politiken, among others.

From 2012 to 2014, he was represented by the world-renowned photography agency VII Photo, based in New York and Paris.

In 2013, he organized the first-ever “Evolution of Photography” event in Bangladesh, creating a platform for the pioneers to share experiences and discuss the history of photography in the country.

He has held solo exhibitions at the Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts in Dhaka; the Edward M. Kennedy Center’s first Bangladesh solo show curated by its founding director; Nau Coclea – Contemporary Art Center, Girona; Alliance Française de Bangalore; and Goethe-Institut Dhaka, among others.

His artworks are part of significant institutional and private collections worldwide. In 2019, he exhibited at the world’s most prestigious art event, the 58th La Biennale di Arte di Venezia, representing the Bangladesh Pavilion.