The 6x6 Global Talent Program recognizes six visual storytellers from six global regions, to highlight talent from around the world and present stories with diverse perspectives. Launched in 2018, the initiative completed its first cycle last year, spotlighting 36 talents from six global regions.
The new cycle began in April, with six new talents from Southeast Asia and Oceania. We are now proud to present the new talents from South America: Johanna Andrea Alarcón Alvarez (Ecuador), Andrés Cardona Cruz (Colombia), Felipe Jácome (Ecuador), Prin Rodriguez (Peru), Liz Tasa Palomino (Peru), and Marcos Zegers (Chile).
Johanna Andrea Alarcón Alvarez is a photojournalist and graphic designer based in Ecuador. Her work focuses on social, cultural, human rights and gender issues.
Her project ‘Cimarrona’ explores African spirituality alive in Ecuador, by portraying and documenting the women who save their ancestral practices. The Cimarrona refers to the female spirit, expressed in all forms of resistance against slavery and discrimination. Currently, about 8% of the country’s population are afro-Ecuadorians. Despite the migration to rural areas, spiritual expressions and celebrations are still keeping and reconfigured in each new territory. See more
Roxan Jaramillo, Tamia Jaramillo and Mishell Borja, members of the pan-African activist group Addis Ababa, prepare for their presentation of African ancestral clothing at the Machankara. Cultural House in Quito, Ecuador. 31 August 2018.
Revelers at a wedding reception in Juncal, Ecuador. 26 May 2018.
A woman carrying a statue of the Virgin of Mercy during a pilgrimage of Afro-Ecuadorians, whose beliefs blend Catholic and African ancestral rituals. Quito, Ecuador, 27 October 2018.
Addis Ababa is an activist group that works with the black youth to rescue ancestral spirituality and fight racism. In African spirituality, the "Orishas" (African deities) have no gender. Quito, Ecuador, 31 August 2018.
Born in Colombia in the middle of the armed conflict, Andrés Cardona Cruz’s work tries to help build and rebuild the historical memory of the inhabitants and conflict survivors in Latin America.
His project ‘Wreck Family’ is a personal interpretation of the effects of the armed conflict in Andrés Cardona Cruz’s family and a search attempt of his disappeared mother. Learn more
“My cousin Aldemar Vargas Jr., whose father was executed in Colombia alongside my father, and dumped into a mass grave. My mother's body was buried in the pantheon of Suaza in Hulia in southern Colombia. She was not recognized and is now buried without knowing exactly what her corpse is.” 12 April 2017.
“Hernando and Aldemar, the oldest children of my father and uncle, in a re-creation of their fathers’ burial. This is a representation of what it means to lose a father.” 11 August 2018.
“On Sept. 3, 1993, my mother was holding a workshop with peasants when she and several others were executed after being accused by the military of being guerrillas.” 12 March 2019.
“Death is not just the act. It is also the consequence, and in this case, it is loneliness, austerity, lack of joy and sadness that lingers for years. My cousins Jaider, left, and Sara.” 12 March 2019.
Felipe Jácome is a photographer born in Ecuador. His work focuses on human mobility and human rights issues.
In 'Caminantes: The Venezuelan Exodus' Jácome transfers images from Venezuelan migrants to the defunct Bolivar currency, bonding the images to the bills, “the very symbol, cause and consequences of the Venezuelan crisis.” Learn more
Andreina and her daughter start walking from Cucuta at 5 am. They arrived from Venezuela 6 months before, but Andreina got involved in an abusive relationship with a Colombian man. They hope to find a new life in a different city in Colombia. While locals have become increasingly reticent to giving rides to Venezuelan migrants, many still try to help women and children like Andreina walking along the road.
A Venezuelan child poses for the camera along the migrant route between Cucuta and Bucaramanga. 2019.
Portrait of a migrant walking along the road of the Berlin highland, the highest and coldest point between Cucuta and Bucaramanga. Many migrants have died of hypothermia since the mass exodus began. 2019.
Based in Lima, Peru, Prin Rodriguez is a photographer and co-founder of the Pariacaca Collective. Her interest in photography is linked to the representation of identity and family legacy.
In her series 'Alicia', Rodriguez reflects on the importance of the feminine legacy and the presentation of the family memory: “Alicia is the name of my mother, grandmother and sister. For several years I have photographed my mother to address questions about my family history through her image. At the same time, I’ve explored the letters, cuts and traces of her personal history and my family that she has saved.” Learn more
My grandmother and the flowers of Huaganku, 9 January 2018.
Secrets, 15 February 2018.
Liz Tasa Palomino has worked as a photojournalist for different media in Peru, including Diario El Comercio and Correo. As a photographer, she has developed several documentary projects that revolve around social exclusion, racism, and human rights issues.
For Yapatera: The descendants of slavery, Tasa documents Yapatera, a town that emerged from the vestiges of a sugar plantation, and where many of its residents currently survive under the shadow of discrimination, malnutrition and infant mortality. Learn more
The deep loneliness evoked by the landscapes of Yapatera are connected to the abandonment of the State and the lack of employment opportunities. Dozens of young people leave their homes as soon as they have the opportunity to. In Yapatera, there are not many opportunities to grow professionally. It is a town dedicated to agriculture. 27 October 2015.
Yapatera has a population of about 10,000, of which 7,000 are direct descendants of slaves from Africa who were brought to work the land during colonialism. 29 October 2015.
In Yapatera, time is frozen. People live in harmony with nature. It is a town that breathes peace, and forgetfulness on the part of the authorities. It is very common to see people resting outside their homes and greeting their neighbors. 29 October 2015.
The town of Yapatera is mostly inhabited by the oldest settlers. 18 July 2014.
Marcos Zegers’ documentary research work as a photographer mainly focuses on geopolitical and territorial conflicts.
His project 'The 93 Chileans stranded in Russia after Pinochet's coup in 1973' refers to a text recently published about 93 Chileans between 15 and 25 years old who went to Russia to study to be agricultural machinery technicians. The young people, most of them from rural areas of Chile, left with a scholarship from the Soviet Union with the commitment and hope to improve themselves and then return and contribute to the development of the country within the framework of Salvador Allende’s socialist project. However, just when they arrived in Ajtyrski, the small town that was waiting for them, Pinochet’s coup d’état took place in Chile. What should have been a three-year journey, lasted decades. Learn more
Victor Fuentes and Victor Yañez, both part of the Chilean group who are still left in Russia, remember their tractor driving lessons on the same property more than 40 years ago. Part of the school they attended through the URSS scholarship can be seen in the background. Both of them have never returned to Chile. Akhtyrkiy, Russia, July 2018.
Professor Lilia Aleksandrobna Lilia, a translator and professor formerly from Chile, prepares to receive treatment from Dr. Diego Galvez due to a problem with her legs. Diego was a student of Lilia and since then they have had a very close relationship, as if they were family. Abinsky, Russia, July 2018.
The tomb of Luis Abarca, one of the Chileans of the group who died in the village leaving his Russian family behind. Akhtyrkiy, Russia, July 2018.
Krasnodar, with buildings and Soviet monuments in the background, Krasnodar, Russia, July 2018.
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The next region in this second cycle of the 6x6 Global Talent Program is Europe. Discover the results of the first cycle in Europe, and the key dates for this region, here.
