Photo essays

Fear in El Salvador

Mara Salvatrucha and 18th Street Gang, the major street gangs in El Salvador, have plunged the country into the spiral of fear, brutal violence, killings and death. Photo essay from El Salvador.

A member of the 18th Street Gang (M-18) proudly shows off his gang tattoos in San Salvador, El Salvador.

Exorcist

Exorcism, a religious ritual of evicting demons from a possessed person, performed at the Church of the Divine Saviour. Photo essay from Mexico City, Mexico.

A Mexican woman fights with demons during the exorcism ritual performed at the Church of the Divine Saviour on outskirts of Mexico City, Mexico.

Rainforest wood

Pacific rainforests in Colombia suffer from deforestation and environment destruction due to the uncontrolled logging. Photo essay from Tumaco, Colombia.

A Colombian worker, carrying wood cutoffs, walks on a pile of boards at a sawmill in Tumaco, Colombia.

Semana Santa Cora

Semana Santa Cora (Holy Week) merges indigenous shamanism rituals with the Christian Easter celebration. Photo essay from Nayarit, Mexico.

A Cora Indian boy, with body and face painted all over, prepares himself for the spiritual celebration of Semana Santa (Holy Week) in Jesús María, Nayarit, Mexico.

Santa Muerte

Santa Muerte (Saint Death) is a religious cult from Mexico, a syncretic faith merging Aztec death worship rituals and Catholic beliefs. Photo essay from Mexico City, Mexico.

Swamp People

Deep in the mangrove swamps on the Pacific coast in Colombia, people search and collect a shellfish called ‘piangua’. Photo essay from the Pacific coast of Colombia.

Stiven, the 13-years-old Colombian boy, picks up a shellfish from the mud in the mangrove swamps on the Pacific coast, Colombia.

Fear in El Salvador

Mara Salvatrucha and 18th Street Gang, the major street gangs in El Salvador, have plunged the country into the spiral of fear, brutal violence, killings and death. Photo essay from El Salvador.

A member of the Mara Salvatrucha gang (MS-13) shows a hand sign of “Devil's head” in the prison of Tonacatepeque, El Salvador.

Forgotten exodus: Colombia Displaced

Due to the armed conflict, Colombia has the highest number of internally displaced people (civil war refugees) in the world. Photo essay from Colombia.

Displaced people wait in a queue to be given aid in the government office dedicated to displacement (Accion Social) in Puerto Asís, Putumayo dept., Colombia.

Boxing dreams

Young Cuban boxers jump rope during a regular afternoon drill at Rafael Trejo boxing gym. Photo essay from Havana, Cuba.

Young Cuban boxers jump rope during a regular afternoon drill at Rafael Trejo boxing gym, Havana, Cuba.

Palo: African Ritual in Cuba

Palo, the Afro-Cuban religious ritual, worships natural powers and spirits and works with magical symbols. Photo essay from Santiago de Cuba, Cuba.

Nukak Makú

The Nukak Maku people, a nomadic indian tribe from Amazonia, live in a refugee camp with no chance to return to the jungle. Photo essay from Amazonia.

The poor people of Haiti fall deeper into the extreme poverty. The population suffers from hunger, social and living conditions in Haitian slums are a human tragedy. Photo essay from Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

A little orphan boy asks for food in the Orphanage Bon Samaritain in Croix-Des-Bouques, Haiti.

Comandante and the people

People of Cuba are proud of their heroes. They put up the photos of the Cuban Revolutionary leaders (Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, Raul Castro) in homes, working places or shops. Photo essay from Cuba.

A Cuban watchmaker works in front of a wall covered by pictures of the Cuban Revolutionary leaders in Havana, Cuba.

Selected photo essays

Fear in El Salvador
El Salvador

Fear in El Salvador

Mara Salvatrucha and 18th Street Gang, the major street gangs in El Salvador, have plunged the country into the spiral of fear, brutal violence, killings and death.

Rainforest wood
Tumaco, Colombia

Rainforest wood

Pacific rainforests in Colombia suffer from deforestation and environment destruction due to the uncontrolled logging.

Exorcist
Mexico City, Mexico

Exorcist

Exorcism, a religious ritual of evicting demons from a possessed person, performed at the Church of the Divine Saviour in Mexico City.

Santa Muerte
Mexico City, Mexico

Santa Muerte

Santa Muerte (Saint Death) is a religious cult from Mexico, a syncretic faith merging Aztec death worship rituals and Catholic beliefs.

Colombia Displaced
Colombia

Colombia Displaced

With nearly fifty years of armed conflict, Colombia has the highest number of civil war refugees in the world. During the last ten years of the bloody civil war more than 3 million people have been violently displaced.

Palo: African Ritual in Cuba
Santiago de Cuba, Cuba

Palo: African Ritual in Cuba

Palo is a syncretic religion which developed in Cuba during the colonial era. The roots of Palo grow from the spiritual concepts of indigenous people in Africa, worshipping the spirits, nature and work with magical symbols.

Comandante and the people
Cuba

Comandante and the people

People of Cuba are proud of their heroes. They put up the photos of the Cuban Revolutionary leaders (Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, Raul Castro) in homes, working places or shops.

Hunger and Rage
Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Hunger and Rage

The poor people of Haiti fall deeper into the extreme poverty. The population suffers from hunger, social and living conditions in Haitian slums are a human tragedy. The rage grows and the misery continues.

Nukak Maku
Guaviare, Colombia

Nukak Maku

The Nukak Maku people, a nomadic indian tribe from Amazonia. Roughly cut off their original tribal lifestyle in refugee camps, they stuck between worlds.

Photo essay archive

Semana Santa Cora

Nayarit, Mexico

Semana Santa Cora (Holy Week) merges indigenous shamanism rituals with the Christian Easter celebration.

Swamp People

Tumaco, Colombia

Deep in the impenetrable labyrinth of mangrove swamps on the Colombian Pacific coast, hundreds of people struggle every day, searching and gathering a tiny shellfish called ‘piangua’.

Life of a Scavenger

Managua, Nicaragua

The biggest garbage dump in Central America (La Chureca) gives a poor livelihood to hundreds of Managua dwellers. They live and work on the dump re-collecting trash.

Dancing Devils

Sierra Nevada, Colombia

“The Dance of the Devils”, a colorful celebration of the Christian feast of Corpus Christi, is kept for centuries in few communities on the Colombia's Caribbean coast.

Banana Republic

Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia

Eighty percent of the exported bananas in the world are grown in Latin America. A local farmer has no other alternative than to sell for a price offered by the multinational company.

The Battle of Colors

Barranquilla, Colombia

Carnival of Barranquilla, the traditional festival with street dance, music full of Caribbean rhythm and masquerade parades.

Jangadeiros

Ceara, Brazil

Brazilian artesanal fishermen using unique wooden raft boat called jangada. They spent up to several days on sea being tens of kilometres far from the coast, with no navigation on board.

Boxing dreams

Havana, Cuba

Young Cuban boxers train at Rafael Trejo boxing gym, an outdoor sport facility in the Old Havana.

Amazon River

Amazonas state, Brazil

People living on the Amazon river banks, the largest river system in the world. Indigenous people pushed to the edge, Brazilians caught in the jungle towns with no hope to escape.

Furious Fiesta

Cotacachi, Ecuador

‘La toma de la Plaza’, a furious and violent dance ritual held by Andean indigenous communities during the Inti Raymi (San Juan) festivities in Ecuador.

Esmeralda

Muzo, Colombia

Emerald mining areas in Muzo, the central part of Colombia. Life and work of guaqueros, digging for gemstones, keeping the dream about magic green stone alive and facing the no man's land rules.

Holy Week

Malaga, Spain

Traditional christian celebration held during the Holy Week in Malaga, Andalusia. Cofradías (The Brothehoods) organize religious processions throughout the city.

Jesus Combat

Cali, Colombia

El Calvario slum in the pure centre of Cali is the final stop. Poor dwellers recollect the garbage, children get high by sniffing the shoe glue and all together watch out for not getting shot dead by El Sheriff.

Harraga

Tanger, Morocco

Young moroccan immigrants (harraga) trying to cross illegaly the Strait of Gibraltar to escape to Europe.

Tap-tap

Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Tap-tap vehicles, decorated with bright and shiny colors, serve as public transportation in Haiti.

50 years after Revolution

Cuba

About 50 years after revolution, led by Fidel Castro, and adopting the communist ideology shortly after the victory, the Caribbean island of Cuba is the only country in Americas having the communist political system.