Akram Zaatari studied Architecture at the American University of Beirut and obtained his Masters degree in Media Studies at the New School University in New York in 1995. He worked as an executive producer for the daily morning show Aalam Al-Sabah at Future Television-Beirut, where he also produced most of his early video pieces. He has edited three books on photography that were published by the Arab Image Foundation: The Vehicle. Picturing moments of transition on a modernizing society, Portraits du Caire, and Mapping Sitting (with C. Bassil, Z. Maasri, and W. Raad).

His work includes videos and video installations, including Gift (1995), A Family Portrait (1995), The Candidate (1996), All is Well on the Border[i/] (1997), Majnounak (Crazy of You, 1997), Baalbeck (2001), Her + Him Van Leo (2001), Monument #5. The Scandal (2001), and Mapping Sitting (2001, with Walid Raad). Akram Zaatari is a founding member of the Arab Image Foundation.