Sergio Santimano was born and raised in present-day Maputo, Mozambique, and started his career as a photojournalist in the early 1980s. During this time, he embarked on an extensive documentation of the newly independent nation that emerged after Portugal relinquished control in 1975.

‍

Santimano's work captured the experiences of his generation, documenting the joy and human suffering brought about by the civil war that erupted during the decolonization period, for both domestic and international press. Following the war's end in 1992, a new era in Mozambican history began, and Santimano continued to chronicle these developments through his photographs.