Born in Brittany, France in 1958, Michel Nafziger began working in his father's company at age fourteen. Self-educated, he got his start in photography in Paris in 1977 as a photographer assistant.

In 1980, he went to the United States, where he spent two years in San Francisco and earned the Merit Award Scholarship of the Academy of Art College in 1982.

His professional career as an independent photographer began in 1985. He started out in publicity, going on to work for women's publications (Per Lui, Lei, 20 ans, Marie Claire, ID magazine, and Elle,Vogue among others) in fashion photography and doing portraits of celebrities.

Michel Nafziger spends his time between Paris and New York.