Zésopol was born and raised in East Timor and was an activist for the country’s independence with the National Resistance of East Timorese Students (RENETIL). He studied Business Administration in Jakarta and was first introduced to photography during the resistance movement, when he smuggled a camera into the jail cell of resistance leader Xanana Gusmão. Since then his photos have been published widely in Timor’s and international media. He is one of the founder and former editor in chief of TALITAKUM, an investigative magazine published in Indonesia and Timor-Leste and is a founder and the head of the Timor-Leste Photographers’ Association (TiLPA).
Zésopol has a Postgraduate Certificate in Journalism from the University of Queensland, Australia and was a Human Rights Advocate with the Center for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University. He has provided journalism and photography training to various groups in Timor and abroad, including young refugees in Kibondo, Tanzania. Most of his photographs focus on the social and political life of ordinary people.
He is currently based in New York City.