Self-taught photographer Tarik Tinazay was born in Ankara, Turkey in 1972. He began his photography career in the Turkish capital of Ankara in 1993 when he joined a national newspaper, Cumhuriyet. He later worked for a number of international photo agencies, including the European Press Photo Agency (EPA) and Agence France Presse (AFP) as their staff photographer in Turkey. He covered the Kurdish conflict in Turkey's southeast and the rise of the political Islamic movement. He often travelled to the divided island of Cyprus on assignment.

He witnessed the aftermath of the devastating earthquakes in western Turkey in 1999 - 2003 and has focused his work on human tragedy. He has traveled to conflict zones such as Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Congo and Rwanda. He has also worked throughout Europe, China, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Philippines and Myanmar.

Tinazay moved to Cologne, Germany in 2005. His work has been published in major newspapers and magazines such as; Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, The Guardian, The Economist, The Independent, MSNBC, View, USA Today, Vanity Fair, Life, Focus, The Digital Journalist, Der Spiegel and Stern.