Rogério Assis was born in 1965 in Belem, Brazil. He became interested in photography as an adolescent.
Initially, his vision turned towards abstraction. Shapes, lights and shadows were what captured his eye.

In 1988 he started his career as a professional photographer and abstraction gave way to documental photography.

His first assignment as a professional was for the D-Campos production company, photographing indigenous tribes for the Emilio Goeldi Museum.

The following year, the opportunity to photograph a recently contacted indigenous tribe resulted in Assis’ first nationally published photographs. An invitation to join the Angular Agency as a photojournalist followed. During that year, the Angular Agency was giving intense coverage to the first direct elections in Brazil after a long period of dictatorship.

Abstraction became ever more distant, giving way to the photojournalism that Assis practiced daily in the various publications where he worked. As a freelancer, and also a staff member, Assis worked for some of the best newspapers and magazines in Brazil, such as O Estado de São Paulo, Folha de S. Paulo, Veja, Isto É, and Visão.

After 10 years as a photojournalist, Assis moved to New York City and graduated from the Digital Media Lab at the International Center of Photography (IPC) while working as a photography correspondent for Folha de São Paulo.

Upon returning to Brazil he participated in the creation of Fotosite, today the most important Brazilian website specializing in photography.

In 2001 Fotosite created Caverna Digital, a photography installation that was part of the V Mês Internacinal da Fotografia, also known as International Photo Meeting, a biennial exhibit in São Paulo. Assis returned to his roots as an abstract photographer.

In 2002 Assis started his photography series Televisão Imaginária which a year later resulted in an exhibit at Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo. The success of that exhibit brought about an invitation to be part of the Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP) through the Pirelli Photography Collection.

Rogério Assis has paticipated in various solo and group exhibits in Brazil and abroad. His photographs are part of important collections, such as Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo (Brazil), Museu da Imagem e do Som (Brazil), Fundação Romulo Maiorana (Brazil), Centro Cultural Humberto Mauro (Brazil), Humboldt University (Berlin), Tachelles Gallery (Berlin), and Fototeca (Cuba).

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