bio

Sayed Asif Mahmud

Visual Story Teller | Curator | Educator

Currently Based in Kyiv, Ukraine

Asif is a Multimedia Content Production Lead at WFP Ukraine, where he brings a deeply human perspective to some of the world’s most pressing humanitarian crises. Previously, he worked as a Communications Officer and Photographer for WFP in Yemen and Bangladesh, documenting the human cost of conflict and displacementthrough an intimate, visceral lens. His work goes beyond statistics—giving crises a face, a presence, a soul.

Before his work with WFP, Asif was an independent artist, educator, and curator, known for his dark, grainy, high-contrast black-and-white imagery that explores themes of violence, political upheaval, and existentialism. His photographic language is raw and hypnotic, moving beyond documentary into the realm of memory, emotion, and psychological landscapes—where reality blurs into something more visceral and immersive.

His projects, such as Tobacco Tale, have drawn international acclaim for their haunting atmospherics and immersive storytelling, capturing the essence of places not just as they are, but as they feel. His recent work, Sleep Driver, was like a journal—blurring the line between dreams and reality, where romance, urban desolation, and fleeting moments of connection exist in a perpetual twilight. Through this body of work, he focused on political changes and atrocities unfolding in both public and private domains, including the influence of ruling forces on nations and the unsettling reality of abductions in his own and other countries.

His work has been showcased in Chobi Mela, the Dhaka Art Summit, Noorderlicht Festival, and galleries across Europe and Asia, and featured in Time, The Guardian, Nikkei Asia, and Neue Zürcher Zeitung.

Books

Asif’s book "Bittersweet: A Story of Food and Yemen", produced by WFP, is an extension of his documentary practice—using food as a lens to explore culture, history, and survival in a war-torn landscape.

He also authored "Making Waves", documenting the Surf Kids Programme in Bangladesh.

Recognitions & Awards

British Journal of Photography (2015) – Named among the 25 Best New Photographers in the World

NPPA Award (2013) – 2nd Prize in Non-Traditional Photojournalism (Tobacco Tale)

Anthropographia Award (2013) – Honorable Mention (Tobacco Tale)