TITLE: Olympus: ancestral life in the jungle

In the heart of the Panamanian jungle, the Emberá indigenous community inhabits a space where nature and culture merge. This photographic series is a visual portrait of the inseparable bond between the human being and the land that nurtures them.

The images show Olympus, an Emberá man, navigating the river as his ancestors did. Partially naked and covered with traditional fabrics, he is presented as a figure symbolizing resistance and rootedness. The river becomes an extension of his identity, a space that connects people, homes, and their lives. The huts with thatched roofs and wooden structures speak of an architecture designed to coexist with the environment. These buildings are a testament to ancestral knowledge that is now threatened by the pressures of modernity, deforestation, and cultural globalization.

This series aims to invite reflection on the fragility of a way of life rooted in balance, sustainability, and respect for nature. It speaks of identity, belonging, but also of the vulnerability of a way of life that, despite being ancestral, is threatened by modernity.

AUTHOR: Itzel Montoliu Divison (Spain)

I’m Itzel, a multidisciplinary creative based in Barcelona, with a background in art direction, photography, and advertising. I’m passionate about conceptualization and the creation of imaginaries, deeply inspired by culture and design. Over the years, I’ve nurtured my aesthetic sensitivity and developed photography into an essential part of my creative language.

My photography is born from a desire to observe intuitively, capturing the essence of the everyday. I see travel as an intimate experience between myself and what I choose to photograph. That’s why my images move between the documentary and the poetic — between the reality of places and the way I live and perceive them. Each destination invites me to look differently — and I let myself be guided. I seek to connect with what is sensitive, human, and spontaneous. I photograph to remember, to understand, and to share a way of being in the world that is honest, critical, and emotional.

My work lives at the intersection of the visual, the conceptual, and the strategic. I understand art direction as a powerful tool of communication, capable of creating emotional, cultural, and social impact. My experience in editorial, artistic, and audiovisual environments has taught me to work from intuition, always searching for narrative coherence and a balance between visual expression, strategy, and social purpose.

I’m especially drawn to themes related to feminine identity, desire, and nature. I’m inspired by voices such as Virginia Woolf, Annie Ernaux, Sara Torres, and Carmen Winant — women who dwell in fragility, memory, and the power of the everyday. Like them, I aim for my work to speak from a sincere and lived place, bringing meaning to the contexts that surround me.