Vik Muniz (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈvik muˈnis]; born 1961) is a Brazilian artist and photographer. His work has been met with both commercial success and critical acclaim, and has been exhibited worldwide. In 1998, he participated in the 24th International Biennale in São Paulo, and in 2001, he represented Brazil at the 49th Biennale in Venice, Italy.

Vik Muniz was born in 1961 in São Paulo, Brazil, as the only child of Maria Celeste, a telephone operator, and Vincente Muniz, a restaurant waiter. In his memoir, Muniz recalled struggling with writing in school which is why he turned to visuals to communicate his thoughts. At the age of 14, his math teacher recommended him to enter an art contest. He won and was awarded a partial scholarship to an art studio.

At the age of 18, Muniz got his first job working in the advertising industry in Brazil, redesigning billboards for higher readability. While on the way to his first black-tie gala, Muniz witnessed and attempted to break up a street fight, where he was accidentally shot in the leg by one of the brawlers. He was paid by the shooter to not press charges and used the money to travel to the USA, Chicago, in 1983. In Chicago, Muniz worked at a local supermarket cleaning the parking lot while he attended night school to study English. In the English class, he learned Polish, Italian, Spanish, and Korean without any improvements to his English vocabulary. Later, Muniz attended culinary and carpentry classes where he learned most of his English.

Muniz took his first trip to New York in 1984 and moved there just two months after that. His friend lent him a studio where he started his career as a sculptor. Muniz was 28 when he had his first solo exhibit in 1989.

In the 1980s, he photographed drawings and subtly altered the images, softening their appearance. To unify the series, he printed the photographs using a halftone screen, similar to those employed in publishing. This synthesis brought Muniz's memories of iconic images back to their original form—photographs printed in halftone.

Through this artistic process, viewers confront a fascinating dichotomy: they recognize the images while realizing they are more like the "pictures of thought" than precise replicas. Muniz's work prompts reflection on the reliability of our memories regarding images and events, inviting us to question their veracity.

By the mid-1990s, Muniz had begun to integrate unconventional everyday materials into his artistic process, as in his most well-known bodies of work Pictures of Chocolate series of 1997, rendered in chocolate sauce. The artist borrowed from popular culture and Old Masters artists such as Georges Seurat and Vincent Van Gogh to make his works more familiar. He called this approach the “worst possible illusion.” Action Photo, after Hans Namuth (1997) is from this series.

Beyond his artistic exploration, Muniz is committed to the belief that art can be a catalyst for positive change in the world and should not remain exclusive to elitist circles. His work often serves as commentary on global social and environmental issues, frequently accompanied by documentary reports that shed light on social inequality, poverty, and the lack of support for vulnerable groups within society.