MAGICAL REALISM: LATINAS
© Daniela Olave, Colombia
Magical Realism
Fotógrafas Latam (Latin American Women Photographers) is a new photographic initiative that aims to showcase the best of the new wave of women photography across the whole continent. This collective effort, that held its first Congress in Colombia on September 2019, has already attracted widespread participation and also a massive interest on social media.
Latin America is again very much in the news. Popular discontent and massive demonstrations have been rocking the political systems of several countries in the last months, from Venezuela to Chile, including Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia and others.
The immediate reasons are very different, from electoral fraud to cut in subsidies, and many others. The impact also varies, from riots to falling governments, from constitutional change to millions of refugees. This political tsunami affects countries governed by the left (Venezuela, Bolivia) or by the right (Chile, Colombia). At the very least, they lead to changes in governments, as in Argentina and Uruguay.
But there are underlying common reasons. Latin American countries have always been, and still remain, the most unequal societies on the planet. Whatever the measure used, there are huge wealth and income differences in all Latin American countries, with a tiny elite of super rich, a shrinking middle class and a vast majority of poor and excluded.
This is fertile ground for discontent and periodic violence. Naturally, this social struggle has traditionally been the focus of photographers, often from USA or Europe, trying to capture the region's reality. But there is also another fascinating story to be told beyond the headlines, and Latin American women photographers are well placed to do that.
(Image: © Mariceu, Mexico)
Latin American reality going beyond the traditional clichés. The focus is not the usual one of backwardness and violence but one of the dynamic people, diverse and vibrant societies and innovative approaches to life, culture and art.
Latin America seen from the inside. Latin American societies have been photographed mostly by outsiders, who inevitably carry all the usual preconceptions. They portray a region reinventing itself and exploring new ways, beyond old stereotypes.
Women photographers naturally embody a female way of seeing these realities, in societies where women could not always have an autonomous voice. Latin American women as they see themselves and the world around them, empowering other women to come forward with their own personal visions.
The photography collection presented here encapsulates how Latin American women photographers see and want to portray their societies, full of dynamism, diversity and also beauty.
© Ximena Echague, 2020