What’s up mi gente,and welcome back to another episode of Sombra Y Cultura — where we shine a light on the shadows of our culture, history, and identity through the lens of photography. I’m your host Chris, and today... we’re diving into the powerful, poetic, and emotionally raw work of one of Latin America’s most important visual storytellers — Adriana Lestido.

If you haven’t heard her name before, no worries— that’s exactly why we’re here. By the end of this episode, I promise you’ll have a new appreciation not just for her photography, but for the ways images can hold memory, resistance, and deep emotional truth.

Adriana Lestido was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1955. She began her career as a photojournalist in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s — during a time when Argentina was under a military dictatorship. Journalists and artists were often silenced or threatened, but Lestido used her camera to push back. Quietly. Powerfully.

What sets her work apart isn’t just the political moment — it’s the emotional depth and ethical commitment behind each frame. Her black-and-white photography explores deeply human themes: motherhood, solitude, love, imprisonment, absence.These aren’t just topics — they’re lived realities, and Lestido approaches them with profound respect and care.

What I really admire is that she doesn’t just snap photos — she builds relationships. She listens. She waits. She creates an emotional space where her subjects are seen and not judged. That intimacy — that truth — lives in every frame she captures.

One of Adriana’s most powerful and recognized images (shown below) is “Madre e Hija de Plaza de Mayo.”

In this photograph,you see a mother and daughter wearing white headscarves — the symbol of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo, women who gathered to demand justice for the loved ones who were forcibly “disappeared” during Argentina’s dictatorship.

The mother’s fist is raised, her mouth open — mid-chant, mid-cry, or maybe both. Her gaze cuts through the frame, full of urgency and pain. And beside her, the little girl mirrors her mother — her small fist raised, her expression fierce. Even at that age, she’s carrying the weight of resistance.

The background is cluttered with placards — names, dates, cries for truth. The frame feels tight,like the pressure of grief itself is closing in.

What Adriana captured here isn’t just a protest. It’s a legacy. A visual representation of how trauma passes from generation to generation — and how resistance does, too.

Lestido’s photography is grounded in empathy, activism, and intimacy. She became one of the first female photographers in Argentina to focus entirely on women’s lived experiences — and I don’t mean in a posed, commercialized way. I mean raw, intimate, and truthful.

In her series Madres e Hijas (Mothers and Daughters), she followed multiple pairs over the years, capturing unspoken tension, inherited wounds, and deep connections. You can feel the silence in these photos — and the love.

In Mujeres Presas (Women in Prison), she documents incarcerated women and their children. And listen — these aren’t sensational or exploitative images. They’re moments of quiet humanity. Of longing, regret, and hope. She reminds us that these women aren’t just statistics or mugshots — they’re mothers, daughters, human beings.

So let’s talk about her contributions — because Adriana Lestido didn’t just document stories. She reshaped the language of documentary photography itself.

She redefined the role of the photographer — moving away from the detached observer model and toward collaborative storytelling. Her work influenced a whole generation of Latin American photographers — especially women — to pursue long-form, emotionally involved visual narratives.

She was the first woman to win Argentina’s prestigious Konex Award in Visual Arts. Her photographs have been exhibited worldwide — from Buenos Aires to Paris, New York, and beyond — giving visibility not only to her subjects but to the power of Latin American photography as a whole.

She also helped create workshops and photography programs for women and youth, especially those from vulnerable communities. Her mission isn’t just to create art — it’s to empower others to tell their stories through the lens.

She teaches us that the camera isn’t just a tool— it’s a bridge. A way to reach across pain, across time, across silence — and connect.

Adriana Lestido reminds us that photography doesn’t have to be loud to be powerful. The quietest frames often hold the loudest truths. Her work speaks to the complexity of emotion — grief, resilience, tenderness — and brings those feelings into sharp focus without ever dramatizing or exploiting them.

As someone working to tell stories of culture, sport, and struggle, I take deep inspiration from her. She doesn’t objectify or glorify. She sees. And in seeing, she honors.

That, to me, is the true purpose of storytelling— to witness, to humanize, and to hold space for those often pushed to the margins.

Before we wrap up, if this episode spoke to you, please take a second to subscribe to Sombra Y Cultura on your favorite podcast app. If you’re on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, dropping a quick rating and review really helps others discover the show. I read every single one, and I appreciate them more than you know.

You can also checkout my photography here!

And feel free to connect with me.— I’d love to hear what you think of the show or any future topics you’d like me to cover.

Gracias por estar aquí conmigo. Until next time — keep capturing the culture, keep telling the story, and as always...stay in the light.