About

Carlos Barrera

El Salvador

Carlos Barrera is a documentary photographer and photojournalist from San Salvador, El Salvador, whose work focuses on political and social issues in Central America. 

Barrera studied communications and began his career in advertising before shifting to photography. He later completed the documentary photography seminar at the VII Academy, an educational extension of the VII Photo Agency, and participated in portfolio reviews at The New York Times and the City University of New York. In 2023, he was selected for the Eddie Adams Workshop in New York. His work has been published in New York Magazine, Bloomberg News, NPR, Vice, Internazionale.it, El Pais and El Faro.

In 2020, Barrera received an honorable mention from the Inter-American Press Association for his work The Old Measure of Pressure for the Maras. In 2023, his work on plastic pollution in El Salvador was selected among the top 50 best journalistic works in Latin America by the Gabriel García Márquez Foundation. 

World Press Photo Involvement:
2025 World Press Photo Contest winner

Carlos Barrera on Social Media:
Instagram: @carlesbarrerah
Twitter: @barreraescarlos

Carlos Barrera

Portrait credit: Carlos Barrera