is a photojournalist and documentary photographer based in Southwest Florida.

Originally from Canada, Allan spent many years working in the advertising industry in Toronto where he directed national and international TV commercials for most of the major worldwide advertising agencies. He was the recipient of many awards including the Television Bureau of Canada’s ‘Gold Bessie’ awarded annually for the best TV commercial in Canada

Moving to Florida in 2014, Allan opened a commercial photography studio and began working as a photojournalist and documentary photographer. His work has been exhibited across the US as well as Europe and the United Kingdom. He has dedicated thousands of hours shooting for human rights and social justice organizations and non-profits.  His work photographing migrants at the US-Mexico border and refugees in Ukraine has been published in major newspapers and featured on CNN, NBC, PBS, FRONTLINE and many other local and national media outlets. His work has been recognized with numerous awards and featured in prestigious collections including the Human Rights Art Exhibition in California.. 

Allan has extensively photographed social and racial justice street protests in Southwest Florida and elsewhere in the US and covered numerous other newsworthy events.

He has published two books, Migrants of Matamoros, curated from his 2018 images of the migrant camp on the banks of the Rio Grande across the river from Brownsville, Texas and 48 Hours in Havana, street portraits in the town of Old Havana, Cuba.

He lives in Sarasota, Florida with his wife and two children aged 11 and 13.

He can be reached at allan@allanmestel.com and +1 941-807-7676

Allan in the Media

Sarasota Magazine: A Sarasota Photojournalist’s Latest Images From Ukraine Depict Both Devastation and Resilience

The Observer: Local photographer captures another side of Ukraine war in new project

Spotlight Ukraine: The Scale of Destruction and the Seeds of Hope – captured by documentary photographer, Allan Mestel

Spotlight Ukraine: Allan Mestel, Documentary Photographer – At the Borders of Humanity

FOX 13, Tampa Bay: Bradenton photographer tells 'profoundly moving' story of Ukrainian refugee crisis

WUSF Public Media: A Bradenton photographer uses his camera to humanize the Ukrainian refugee crisis

ABC 7: Bradenton photographer captures heartbreaking images of Ukrainian refugees

Spectrum News 9: Manatee County photographer seeks moments of hope in Ukraine photos

KHOU-11: Photos show what it's like at the U.S.-Mexico border

SRQ Magazine: RADD to Host Scenes of Ukraine Exhibit

The Bradenton Times: Photography Exhibit: Scenes of Ukraine

Sarasota Magazine: A Bradenton Photographer Traveled to Poland to Document the Ukrainian Refugee Crisis

Sarasota Magazine: These Pictures Tell the Story of the Ongoing Russian Attack on Ukraine

The Observer: Longboat human rights photographer recounts travels to Ukraine

Patch: Bradenton Photographer Who Documented Refugees Returns To Ukraine

The Observer: Local photographer documents migrant crisis at the border

The Observer: Up close and personal: Longboat Key photographer makes an impact with recent exhibit

The Observer: Longboat photographer captures decisive moments in studio and out

The Observer: Humanizing homelessness

South x Southeast Photomagazine: Election 2020: What Matters

Sarasota Magazine: Streets of Paradise Establishes First Office in Sarasota

Sarasota Magazine: Streets of Paradise Puts Homelessness in Focus