Juanita Escobar - Brazil | Photography | Colombia

Juanita Escobar - Brazil

By LatAm ARTE

Juanita Escobar is an acclaimed Colombian documentary photographer whose work has redefined the visual narrative of her country’s rural landscapes. Born in Cali, she is a self-taught artist who transitioned from a background in documentary cinema to the intimate world of still photography. In 2007, she moved to the Eastern Plains of Casanare, where she lived for over a decade, fully immersing herself in the "llanero" cowboy culture. Her work primarily explores the complex relationship between territory, gender, and identity, often focusing on the lives of women in remote areas. Escobar’s career is marked by prestigious accolades, including the Colombian National Photography Prize in 2009 for her project Gente-Tierra . In 2016, she won the National Geographic Society Portfolio Review Prize for her nine-year body of work titled Llano . She is also a member of the influential photography collective Colectivo+1 and was selected for the World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass. Her more recent projects, such as Orinoco: Frontera de Agua , explore the humanitarian and environmental complexities of the Colombian-Venezuelan border. Through her lens, she captures the profound silence, solitude, and resilience of those who inhabit the edges of the map.