Cristobal Olivares PHmuseum Limited Edition Print
Cristobal Olivares PHmuseum Limited Edition Print
Cristóbal Olivares (Santiago, Chile 1988) is a documentary photographer with a special interest in social affairs. He is the Co-founder of Buen Lugar Ediciones, an independent editorial initiative that publishes books and zines of photography.
From 2014 to mid-2016 Cristóbal was part of the VII Mentor Program. He is a 2019 Magnum Foundation Photography and Social Justice Fellow. He has been awarded prizes, residences and grants from different organizations such as Magnum Foundation, MAST Foundation for Photography Grant (Italy), Open Society Foundation (USA), POY Latam, Photographic Museum of Humanity, FotoVisura (USA), PhotoEspaña, ENS(Colombia), National Council for the Culture and Arts(Chile), Images Singulières Festival (France), Querétaro Photofest (Mexico), FIFV (Chile), Rodrigo Rojas Denegri Award (Chile) and 15 times winner at the National Press Photo Awards (FotoPrensa) in Chile including the Photo of the Year.
He is the main character of the documentaries “Rectángulo en el Ojo” about Chilean contemporary photographers and “A Conscious Dream” by Photographic Museum of Humanity.
This image was taken in the context of a personal project named "South by the sea". The Strait of Magellan is a maritime passageway located at the extreme southern tip of South America, between Patagonia and the big island of Tierra del Fuego. Thus, it is the main natural passageway between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Ferdinand Magellan a Portuguese explorer and navigator in the service of Charles I of Spain, became the first European to navigate the strait in 1520 during his global circumnavigation voyage. Until the Panama Canal opened in 1914, the Strait of Magellan was the main route for steamships travelling from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. Nowadays this whole area, especially Patagonia remains as one of the most pristine waters in the world but highly threatened by the fishing industry that is now settling on the country's last virgin coasts, in the region of Magallanes, south of Patagonia and Southwest Atlantic on the Argentinian side. The expansion is taking place without scientific evidence or serious studies to limit production to water capacity. This could have catastrophic consequences for local ecosystems, which are part of one of the greatest aquifer reserves of the world. These photographs were taken during sailings from the Port of Coquimbo to the Strait of Magellan in Chile concluding with disembarkation at Puerto Madryn, located northeast of the Province of Chubut, Argentina. Also, from Montevideo in Uruguay to the south again. Trips were made in Dec.2015, Feb 2017 & Nov 2019.