Cape Town-based Per-Anders Pettersson was born in Sweden in 1967. He began his professional career in 1985 working for a local newspaper in his hometown. In 1990, he moved to New York and has covered major news and feature stories in over 50 countries, including Afghanistan, the Balkans, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Pakistan, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Per-Anders works regularly on assignment for GEO, Stern, Time, Newsweek and many other major international newspapers and magazines. In 1995, he produced a book of his work from 1991-95. Per-Anders’s work on the Flying Squad, a South African police unit, was exhibited at Visa Pour l’image in Perpignan in September 2001. In the spring of 2002, he participated in the A Day in the Life of Africa book project, shooting one day in Kinshasa, Congo.

Per-Anders’s essay, “Sexual Abuse of Children in South Africa,” received second prize in the category Issue Reporting Picture Story in the 2003 Pictures of the Year International.

Per-Anders was also a runner-up for the 2003 International Grand Prix for humanitarian reporting for the same story, which was exhibited at Visa Pour l’image in Perpignan in September 2003.

A part of his ten–year South Africa project was shown as a slide show at Visa Pour l’image in Perpignan in September 2004. He received third prize in NPPA in 2005 in the Magazine Feature Story category for his essay on the black elite in South Africa, shot for Stern. He also received honorary mention in NPPA 2006 in the General News Category for work on poverty in Malawi.

Per-Anders recently photographed a book project, 24 Hours in the Life of the Catholic Church, shot in South Africa.

He is a finalist in the 2006 International Grand Prix for humanitarian reporting for his story on child prostitution in Kinshasa. His photographs were exhibited at Visa Pour l’image in Perpignan in September 2006.