Since 2006 I have been working on a personal project, Las Pelilargas, where I search and photograph women with long hair across Latin American communities. Women in Latin America wear their hair longer than in most Western countries. This tendency can be attributed to its hybrid culture and the combined influence of Indigenous traditions. In indigenous communities, the cutting of hair represents cutting their thoughts.

Over the last 17 years, I have been returning to the same towns and noticing that younger generations are cutting their hair due to globalisation and mobile phones. This aspect of my beloved South America is slowly disappearing. Will future generations preserve this?

The value of cultural heritage isn’t in cultural manifestation itself. But in the wealth of experience and skills passed down from generation to generation. A group’s cultural heritage is different, precious, and irreplaceable. The task of preserving culture for future generations now falls to the current youth.

I am a woman from Latin America documenting an untold story about women. I aim to extend this project to include men and children. With this award, I plan to travel to Otavalo, Ecuador. Where the indigenous Kichwa have remained rooted in their culture, and men grow their “shamba” (braid) that explicitly recognizes their belonging to this ancient nation. They transmit it to future generations, explaining to them why it is important that they preserve their Otavalo identity.

There are two important reasons why I feel that this is crucial to my project:

Document a disappearing culture: In recent years, there has been a tendency in teenagers to cut their braids, influenced by western cultures.
Challenge gender stereotypes in my region: My pictures can help understand that femininity is an obstacle to becoming successful, on the contrary.