Ana Maria Arévalo Gosen

Ana María Arévalo Gosen (Spain) is a Venezuelan visual storyteller, documentary photographer, visual artist and National Geographic Explorer based in Madrid. Through long-term projects focused on women’s rights, social justice and environmental issues across Latin America, she combines rigorous research with intimate and emotionally honest storytelling that seeks to create empathy, encourage reflection and contribute to lasting social change.

After studying Political Science in Toulouse, France, Ana María discovered her passion for photography at ETPA before moving to Hamburg in 2014 to work as a freelance visual storyteller. Her approach is grounded in research, integrity and close engagement with the people whose stories she documents, placing their experiences and voices at the centre of her work.

Her long-term project Eternal Days documents the realities faced by women in prisons and pretrial detention centres across Venezuela, Guatemala and El Salvador. The project received major international recognition, including the Leica Oskar Barnack Award and the Camille Lepage Prize in 2021. Her wider work has been supported by National Geographic, the Pulitzer Center and Women Photograph and has appeared in publications including National Geographic, The New York Times and El País Semanal.

Alongside her photographic work, Ana María is an educator and founder of the Ojo Pelao workshops, which provide free training for emerging documentary photographers in Venezuela. Whether working inside prisons, exploring the experiences of young mothers or documenting environmental issues, she uses photography to reveal difficult realities with honesty and humanity — and to encourage viewers not only to look, but to reflect and care.