Picturing World Cultures: Fabiola Ferrero – Venezuela

Today’s podcast has us sitting down with Venezuelan photographer and investigative journalist Fabiola Ferrero to discuss her long-term photographic projects in Venezuela, for Picturing World Cultures.

Above photograph © Fabiola Ferrero

Fabiola walks us through her childhood memories of Venezuela and describes how this period contrasts significantly with the country’s current climate. We also discuss how she got started in photography, and how her time spent both in and out of Venezuela helped grow her photography and more.


Guest: Fabiola Ferrero

Episode Timeline:
0:00 Intro
2:20: Fabiola discusses Venezuelan culture, and questions using the word resiliency in relation to the country’s ongoing crisis.
5:39: How she got started in photography.
8:20: Fabiola talks about overcoming shyness, learning how to photograph people as an introvert, and the advantages of slowly building a connection with subjects.
11:12: On being the last of her family to leave Caracas.
14:43: Fabiola’s early long term projects, Blurred in Despair and I Can’t Hear the Birds, and the importance of image selection to building different narratives. 
19:57: The impact of leaving Venezuela and how this shifted her perspective as a photographer.
24:11: The importance of Fabiola’s assignment work in Venezuela and its impact on her personal work.
25:30: Episode Break
27:04: On migrating to Columbia in 2020, and her eventual return to Venezuela in 2022. 
37:04: Fabiola runs us through her gear and setup.
38:09: Collaborating with other journalists in her latest project, The Wells Run Dry
44:10: The challenging topic of hope when discussing the future of Venezuela
46:50: We ask Fabiola about her mentorship program, Semillero Migrante
54:39: Fabiola Ferrero answers our PWC Visual Questionnaire.

Guest Bio: Fabiola Ferrero was born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1991. Her personal work reflects how her childhood memories contrast with her country’s current crisis. 

Using her background in writing and investigative journalism, she develops long term visual projects focused on collaborative ways to speak about the human condition under hostile contexts.

To bring opportunities to other emerging photographers, Fabiola founded Semillero Migrante in 2021. This mentorship program on the topic of migration empowers Venezuelans and Colombians and promotes the integration of both cultures.

A 2018 Magnum Foundation Fellow in Social Justice, her additional recognition includes a 2021 Inge Morath Award, a 2022 Carmignac Photojournalism Award, and a World Press Photo award for Long Term Projects, which she received in 2023. Most recently, Fabiola completed a one-year fellowship at Columbia University’s Institute for Ideas and Imagination in Paris.

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End Credits: Senior Creative Producer & Host: Jill Waterman

Senior Technical Producer: Mike Weinstein

Executive Producer: Richard Stevens

Theme Music: Gabriel Richards

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[peterbuitelaar]

Visiting Venezuela very often before for mainly business and some tourism since 1992, married with a Venezuelan and almost my whole family is all over the world due to the Venezuelan diaspora. One of the most beautiful countries in the world with a huge potential which I unfortunately never could photograph in the way I would like. I have had many photographing friends in Venezuela which I fortunately met during Flickr meetings more than 20 years ago. As a photographer (did freelance theater photography next to my work in civil engineering) I admire the work of Fabiola but it also hurts when I see her photographs of the protests and people I love so much.