Photo © Marco Garro
Talent of the Year 2020 - NOMINEE: Marco Garro
The Gold We inherited, the Gold of Our Dreams
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Gold has fascinated humankind for millennia. Ancient civilizations across the world saw the powerful sun in its yellow glow, and immortality in its lasting shine. In Peru, gold was used in sacred ceremonies and symbolized divine authority in pre-Columbian societies as early as 2000 BC. Spanish conquerors later seized tons of gold from Incan temples to ship to Europe, introducing its use as currency. Today, Peru is an important supplier of gold that circulates in the world, as it was during the colony. Global demand for gold today, from financial traders, tech companies and the jewelry industry, supports both legal and illegal mines. Hundreds of thousands of people make a living looking for it, fueling environmental destruction and providing important export earnings for the state. It remains an important symbol of power and stature. As the Italian historian Antonello Gerbi once noted, long before man ever set foot on South America, the future of Peru was written in the ore embedded in its earth. This is the legacy Peruvians have inherited. Gold continues to fuel our dreams, shaping events and reflecting our values and desire.
I originally envisioned bright photographs to mimic the sun-like quality of gold. But I ended up being drawn to the darkness surrounding gold’s glow that hints at the mystery, greed and violence associated with it over time. That, too, is part of gold’s legacy in Peru. The flicker of light glimpsed in the darkness, the promise of riches for anyone willing to grasp at it. This work was produced with the support of the musée de quai Branly- Jacques Chirac.
About author:
Marco Garro (Perú) bachelor in Communications at the University of Lima. He focuses on environmental and social issues in his native country Peru. Between 2016 and 2017, Garro completed a master’s degree program, Mal de Foco, in Lima’s Centro de la Imagen. Between 2009 and 2011 He has received two scholarships from Fundación Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano to participate in workshops and Latin-American meeting of journalist.
In 2018 he received The Photography Residencies “Musée du Quai Branly - Jacques Chirac”, and in 2017 was first Place in "the Photography Salon" by the Peruvian-North American Cultural Institute in Lima (Peru). Garro was also received in two year, 2016 and 2018, the first place in the press organization IPYS, Peru, as the best photography project.
Garro has had a solo exhibition in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Perú, and been part of several group exhibition in festivals and museums exhibitions such Brazil, Spain, Guatemala, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
During his career, he has worked in locals newspapers in Peru and he was a media Correspondent of Deutsche Presse Agentur and Agency France Press in Perú. His work has been published in The Wall street Journal, The Guardian, Financial Times, Internazionale, Het Financieele Dagblad, Svenska Dagbladet, among others.
He joined Supayfotos, a Peruvian collective focused on photo documentalism that has exhibited in Peru and abroad. He represents the Collective in the International photojournalism festival Visa Pour L´image for 4 years straight.
I originally envisioned bright photographs to mimic the sun-like quality of gold. But I ended up being drawn to the darkness surrounding gold’s glow that hints at the mystery, greed and violence associated with it over time. That, too, is part of gold’s legacy in Peru. The flicker of light glimpsed in the darkness, the promise of riches for anyone willing to grasp at it. This work was produced with the support of the musée de quai Branly- Jacques Chirac.
About author:
Marco Garro (Perú) bachelor in Communications at the University of Lima. He focuses on environmental and social issues in his native country Peru. Between 2016 and 2017, Garro completed a master’s degree program, Mal de Foco, in Lima’s Centro de la Imagen. Between 2009 and 2011 He has received two scholarships from Fundación Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano to participate in workshops and Latin-American meeting of journalist.
In 2018 he received The Photography Residencies “Musée du Quai Branly - Jacques Chirac”, and in 2017 was first Place in "the Photography Salon" by the Peruvian-North American Cultural Institute in Lima (Peru). Garro was also received in two year, 2016 and 2018, the first place in the press organization IPYS, Peru, as the best photography project.
Garro has had a solo exhibition in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Perú, and been part of several group exhibition in festivals and museums exhibitions such Brazil, Spain, Guatemala, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
During his career, he has worked in locals newspapers in Peru and he was a media Correspondent of Deutsche Presse Agentur and Agency France Press in Perú. His work has been published in The Wall street Journal, The Guardian, Financial Times, Internazionale, Het Financieele Dagblad, Svenska Dagbladet, among others.
He joined Supayfotos, a Peruvian collective focused on photo documentalism that has exhibited in Peru and abroad. He represents the Collective in the International photojournalism festival Visa Pour L´image for 4 years straight.