World Refugee Day

Photo: © Nacho Hernandez

Today is World Refugee Day. According to the UN Refugee Agency there are 42 millions of forcibly displaced people worldwide.

In the image Raul, a young Saharawi living in the Smara refugee camp near Tindouf, in Algeria. Already two generations of Saharawis have been born as refugees in the Tindouf camps. Some 150,000 Saharawi people survive there under very harsh conditions, waiting and hoping to go back to their homeland the Western Sahara one day. They have been waiting for over 30 years now.

More photos from the Saharawi refugee camps and the Western Sahara in my website.

Arpoador - Rio de Janeiro

Photo: © Nacho Hernandez

Arpoador (also known as Arpex by the local crowd) is a rock / beach in Ipanema, and a major surf spot in Rio de Janeiro.

Cariocas also claim that it offers one of the best sunset views in town.

Surf in Rio

Photo: © Nacho Hernandez

Surf's up.

I am finally in Rio de Janeiro, where I'll be shooting and available for assignments during the next three months (June, July and August) .

Winter is coming but the light is great ...

Farewell Washington DC

Photo: © Nacho Hernandez

As I pack and mop my own floors I realize two things:
1. I have accumulated too much junk over the years.
2. I will really miss this city.

I was going to do a list of all the things I like best and least in Washington but, the balance is so overwhelmingly positive that I will just say this: I will always carry this city in my heart.

That said, I am really looking forward to the future. During the next three months I will be based in Rio de Janeiro, and in September I will move to Manila, from where I will cover Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

Stay tuned!

Rio de Janeiro

Photo: © Nacho Hernandez

I will be based in Rio de Janeiro and available for assignments during the months of June, July and August. Please send me an email if you will need images from this city.

Some photos from Rio already available in my website's archive.

In the photo, Ipanema beach.

March on the Pentagon

Photo: © Nacho Hernandez

Last Saturday the streets of Washington DC saw the first big demonstration since Barack Obama is President. March 21st was the 6th anniversary of the beginning of the war in Iraq and thousands of protesters marched to the Pentagon to mark the date.

In the image, a demonstrator carries the American flag upside-down, a code for "distress".

More images of demonstrations in the streets of Washington in my website.

Tibet

Photo: © Nacho Hernandez

Today, at a demonstration in front of the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC. March 10th 2009 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Tibetan's uprising in Lhasa, in 1959, an event that would ultimately lead to the flight of the Dalai Lama and thousands of Tibetans into exile.

Protest in Washington DC

Photo: © Nacho Hernandez

Environmental groups lead by Greenpeace organized a march and a civil disobedience act in Washington yesterday. They blocked the entrances to the coal plant that heats the Capitol and the Congress office buildings, as a symbol of their fight against coal energy and to raise awareness about climate change. Very fittingly, when talking about climate change, we had one of the coldest days of the year (in March), and a snow blizzard during the night.

The streets of Washington continue to be a theater where the most diverse groups play out their frustrations regularly. You can see more images of protests in Washington in my website.

Western Sahara

Photo: © Nacho Hernandez

I recently spent a week traveling in the Western Sahara (in the part not occupied by Morocco), taking photos for my ongoing project on the Sahrawi people. During this trip I had a taste of the "desert hospitality" and the confirmation that the Sahrawi are some of the friendliest people on earth.

The Sahrawi are the descendants of the "Children of the Clouds", desert nomads who in the past would roam the Sahara with their herds, following clouds laden with rain. For over thirty years now they have been chasing an equally elusive goal: independence for their homeland, first a Spanish colony and since 1975 occupied by Morocco. Some 150,000 Sahrawi live in the bleak refugee camps near the Algerian border town of Tinduf. Others live under Moroccan control in the Western Sahara, and some still live as nomads in the part of the Western Sahara not controlled by Morocco. They are all waiting for the UN-sanctioned referendum on independence to take place, a referendum stalled by Morocco.

You can see a gallery of photos from the Western Sahara and the Tindouf refugee camps in my website. More photos of the Sahrawi refugee camps and from the Western Sahara available in my archive.

Photos and texts available for publication. Please send me an email if interested.

A new dawn for the USA?

Photo: © Nacho Hernandez

A whoosh of fresh air blew through Washington DC this past week. 1.20.2009 will be remembered as the day when the system in this country was rebooted. It needed it badly.

I think that Barack Obama is honest, committed and has common sense by spades. He is cool too. A big, big change. The bad news for him is that the country is in shambles and the expectations are too high. The good news is that the bar has been set so low in the last eight years that it is almost impossible to do a worse job as President than his predecessor. Even if he tried. So, best of luck to Obama. We all need him to succeed.

In the image, the Washington Monument at dawn, a few hours before Barack Hussein Obama was sworn in as 44th President of the United States of America. More images from inauguration week in my website www.nachohernandez.net

Obama's inauguration

Photo: © Nacho Hernandez

Washington is getting ready for Obama's inauguration. Tomorrow will be one of the biggest days in the history of the United States, and I will be witnessing and taking images of this historic day. Please send me an email if you need photos from the inauguration ceremony at the Mall in Washington DC.

Western Sahara

Photo: © Nacho Hernandez

From January 3-10 I will be in the Sahrawi refugee camps of Tindouf, Algeria, and in the Western Sahara, working on my ongoing project on the Sahrawi people. Please send me an email if you need photos.

Paris, Museum of quai Branly

Photo: © Nacho Hernandez

As if Paris needed more museums ...
The excellent quai Branly museum of indigenous art is the latest addition. Well worth a visit.

Notre Dame de Paris

Photo: © Nacho Hernandez

Art and coffee

Photo: © Nacho Hernandez

El Circulo de Bellas Artes is one of my favourite spots in Madrid. Many floors with exhibitions, a rooftop with amazing views of the city, and one of the best cafes in town. Get a table by the huge windows and watch life passing by ...

Madrid, Paris

Photo: © Nacho Hernandez


I am shooting in Madrid until December 25th, and then in Paris until January 2nd. Please send me an email if you need specific images from any of these two cities.

Some images from Paris and Madrid already available in my archive.

Lisbon, the city of light (and shadows)

Images from my trip to Lisbon last Summer.

All photos available for licensing. Check them out at my website, or directly in my archive by clicking on a photo.

Josef Koudelka

Photo: © Nacho Hernandez
(Photo in background: © Josef Koudelka)


Josef Koudelka, member of Magnum, last night at an exhibition of the famous photos he took in Prague in 1968. This was a great opportunity to listen to one of the legends of photography talking about his work.

Check out his portfolio.

Tuscany

I spent a week in Tuscany this Summer, taking a workshop with photographer David Alan Harvey, of National Geographic fame and a member of Magnum photo agency (hopefully some of his magic rubbed off).

You can also access my photos from Tuscany going to my archive.

Oh! bama

Photo: © Nacho Hernandez

Happy Halloween

Photo: © Nacho Hernandez

Olha que coisa mais linda ...

Photo: © Nacho Hernandez

I have finally edited the photos from my recent trip to Rio de Janeiro. You can check them at my archive.

Back in the USA

Photos: © Nacho Hernandez


I am back in Washington DC, and everyone is talking about the same two things, all the time ...

Desert Refugees

The Spanish magazine DT included in its Summer issue a note about my recent exhibition at the US Congress, and published some images from my ongoing photographic project on the Sahrawi people.

Thank you to this publication for its interest in the Sahrawi refugees, too often forsaken by the international media and public opinion.

You can see more images from this project in my website.

Winter in Rio

Photo: © Nacho Hernandez

Two days ago, winter in Rio looked like winter. In the image, Ipanema beach.

The girl from Ipanema

Photo: © Nacho Hernandez

Or one of them, anyway.

Rio de Janeiro

Photo: © Nacho Hernandez

I am currently shooting in Rio de Janeiro and available for assignments. Please send me an email if you need images from the "cidade maravilhosa".

Barcelona

Photo: © Nacho Hernandez

I had not been to Barcelona for quite some time. A meeting with some very dear friends and a brand new high-speed train from Madrid were the perfect excuses to visit this lovely city again.

In the image, a Ronaldinho impersonator shows some skills at the Paseo de las Ramblas (he didn't get the memo; somebody please tell him that Ronaldinho is now playing for Milan).

Lisbon smells of sardines

... and I mean it in a nice way. The smell of grilled sardines creeps up the narrow streets, grabs you and doesn´t let you go until you have had half a dozen with a nice bottle of vinho verde.

The (very big) "sardines" in the photo are from Lisbon´s Oceanario, one of the biggest in the world...

Stay tuned for more photos from Lisbon, where I am shooting now.

Happy Fourth of July

Happy Fourth of July to all my friends in the USA