Mauricio Lima, 30, was born and grew up in São Paulo, Brazil. He started working as a trainee photographer for a local sports newspaper in April 1999, when he was at the university.In August 2000 he was invited by Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency to work as a stringer photographer until March 2001, when he became a staffer. Lima has spent several months in post-war Iraq since November 2003, working independently at the beginning and most part of the time attached with the US troops. As part of his personal project, he has started a story about social exclusion, or excluded people, which is one of the main problems in Latin America.

Recognition

· 2005 – 17° Festival International du Photojournalisme VISA Pour L’Image Perpignan – individual exhibition;
· 2005 – World Press Photo 12th Annual Joop Swart Masterclass nominated;
· 2004 – Fundación Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano Gabriel Garcia Márquez - first place with Brazilian “MTST homelessness story”;
· 2004 - 61° POYi - Pictures of the Year International - general division/conflicts - second place with "Dead Iraqi";
· 2003 - Festival International du Scoop et du Journalisme d'Angers - first place with Brazilian “MTST homelessness story”;
· 2001 - Agence France-Presse pictures of the year – February - second place - portrait of French antiglobalization activist José Bové.