Deborah Mesa-Pelly (Cuban-American 1968) is a New York–based photographer known for large-scale staged photographs that explore identity, psychology, and constructed narrative. Born in Havana, Cuba, she earned a BFA in Photography and Printmaking from Purchase College, State University of New York and an MFA in Photography from Yale University. Mesa-Pelly creates meticulously fabricated environments and theatrical scenes that blend surrealism, fantasy, and everyday imagery to examine emotional states, memory, and the boundaries between reality and illusion.