Abdo Shanan was born in 1982 in Oran, Algeria, to a Sudanese father and an Algerian mother. He studied telecommunications engineering at the University of Sirte, Libya, until 2006. In 2012, he undertook an internship at Magnum Photos Paris, which gave him the opportunity to reflect on his photographic approach and make his first story for the magazine Rukh. His photographs have been published by a number of print and online magazines as well as by newspapers. In 2015, he received a nomination for Magnum Foundation Emergency Fund and in 2016 his series “Diary:Exile” was selected by the Addis Fotofest. In 2019 he won the CAP (Contemporary African Photography) Prize for his ongoing project “Dry,” and in the same year he was selected for the Joop Swart Masterclass by World Press Photo.