Latin America Professional Award 2023 Shortlist

These images come from my series Paracetamol e Ibuprofeno (Paracetamol and Ibuprofen), which serves as the biography of a person with AIDS in Chile. Psychiatry, shelters, marginal brothels and sexuality are some of the themes that converge in this work, which follows a man known as ‘Absent’. Through images and handwritten text narrated by the protagonist himself, we delve into the marginality that surrounds a man with HIV whose childhood was marked by untreated sexual abuse. Predestined to live on the street, the project shows the prevailing precariousness of his situation and his desire to reverse his destiny through palliative care and psychological help. ‘I am a good person. I have made mistakes, but I have never wanted to hurt anyone. Like all humans I deserve to live, although all the time I have thought the opposite. I never created a purpose in life.’

Independent documentary photographer based in Santiago de Chile and the rest of South America. His works are based on social issues and the relationship between humans and their environment. Marginality, poverty, recognition of native peoples and their struggles, invisibilities of public space, are some of the themes that we can see in his images. His work has been recognized in his country, Chile, as well as in the United States and Europe.