[5] They moved to the United States in 1992, participating in the Whitney Independent Study Program in New York and earning an MFA in photography from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1997.
Drawing upon their overlapping histories of migration, they have exhibited together in numerous group shows, with solo shows at OBORO Gallery, Montreal, Canada; Camerawork, London, England; and with major installations at the Baguio Arts Festival, Philippines (with Luis Francia); 3rd Guangzhou Triennial, China; 7th Gwangju Biennale, South Korea (as MYDADA with Abdelali Dahrouch); and the 1993 Whitney Biennial, New York (part of Shu Lea Chang’s installation).
deSouza is the author of the books Ark of Martyrs: An Autobiography of V, 2020 (Sming Sming Books, San José);[13] How Art Can Be Thought: A Handbook for Change, 2018 (Duke University Press);[14] Crossing Black Waters, 1992 (co-edited with Shaheen Merali, Working Press London); and The Sikhs in Britain, 1986 (Batsford, London).
[15][16][17] Their photoworks, texts, and installations examine geography, culture, and personal and collective histories, often sourcing existing archives such as travelogs, novels, and familial photographs.
[24][25] For the photographic series The Lost Pictures, deSouza placed a number of slides of old family photos around their house, deliberately allowing them to become scratched, faded, and covered in dust.