Jorge Fernandez was born and raised in the small Spanish town of Monzon. After finishing high school he moved to Madrid to get a technical engineering degree. In the late 90's he started to study film photography during a few years and after that he decided to do the jump to digital
Woman smoking a big cigar made out of corn leaves and tobacco.
Jorge Fernandez was born and raised in the small Spanish town of Monzon. After finishing high school he moved to Madrid to get a technical engineering degree. In the late 90’s he started to study film photography during a few years and after that he decided to do the jump to digital, the craft of which he learned for himself.
The passion for photography grew hand by hand with the passion for traveling. After more than twenty years of traveling Jorge Fernandez has visited more than 80 countries and the photography portfolio grew with every trip, evolving from focusing mainly on landscapes to the center of his work nowadays which is, above all, the people that live in the places he visits and their everyday lifes and customs.
This series of photographs are part of his work as a documentary travel photographer. The aim of his photography is to show the traditions of the different peoples living in this planet, following the philosophy of the famous collection “The family of man” assembled by Mr.Eduard Steichen for the MOMA, showing the big cultural differences to come to the conclusion that the whole humankind are part of the same essential “oneness”.
His focus is to show how people from all over the world cope with their everyday lifes to find happiness, or at least to do their best to carry on a normal life in spite of the many difficulties and lack of resources that most of the humanity faces. This vision is inspired by his work as a tour guide in Africa and his relationship with many local tribes. Most of the times, westerners feel somehow luckier than most of the peoples of what they call third world because they have all that they need to live a comfort life.
With his photography He’d like to show that people who live a traditional life can also be happy and enjoy an existence full of meaning without the need to copy western ways. Just as long as they keep their right to decide what they want to do with their future.
He rather escapes from conflicts, war or catastrophe zones which invade our news everyday, to try to send a message of hope in the mankind showing the feelings and emotions common to us all in our everyday lifes. He tries to focus on the bright side of the people’s lives, running away from the stereotyped images of hunger, flies and poverty that haunt Africa and other places, emphasising the idea that there is not hope for these people, because He trully believes that there are many possible different ways for this big family of men.
He has participated in photographic assignments and exhibitions in London, Madrid, Barcelona and Zaragoza and have published some pictures in magazines such as GEO Saison, Outside Magazine or National Geographic. He is a regular contributor to agencies like Getty images, Alamy or AGE fotostock. In 2015, Jorge Fernandez was shortlisted in the travel category of the Sony World Photography Awards and commended in some other categories. In the same year he had a nomination award in the Humanity Photo Awards organized by UNESCO & CFPA. In 2016 he got a 3rd place in the Traditions and Cultures category of the IPA photo awards and a honorable mention in the Family of Man category of the same contest. In 2017 he was finalist in the prestigious Travel Photographer of the Year contest and also finalist in the Humanity Photo Awards organized by UNESCO & CFPA, the prize of which is still undecided.
Currently Jorge Fernandez works as a tour leader for a Spanish company organizing trips around the world, where he spends half of the year. When he is not working as a tour guide, he likes to travel as much as possible to grow his photographic archive and to feed the “travel bug”. [Official Website]
Young monk lighting candles in front of an old Buddhist statue.
Portrait of a Burmese man with a typical handkerchief on his head smoking a big cigar made out of tobacco and corn leaves.
Group of young boys wearing red Budhist robes ready to become novices.
Inle Lake fisherman rowing with his feet, the traditional way to do so in the area, Inle lake, Myanmar, Asia.
Portrait of a Padaung woman in her house, Loikaw area, Myanmar, Asia
Padaung woman herding cattle, Loikaw area, Myanmar, Asia
Portrait of a Padaung woman in her house, Loikaw area, Myanmar, Asia
Portrait on a Kayah woman with traditional attire in her house, Loikaw area, Myanmar, Asia
Girl looking out the window of a slow train and old woman sleeping, Myanmar, Asia
Bushmen baby nursing her mother’s breast milk outside their hut.
Portrait of an old bushmen woman from the Kalahari desert.
Portrait of a Mbororo woman with scars on her face and decorative necklace outside her hut.
Portrait of a Mbororo woman with the typical scarification on her face holding her child inside a hut.
Portrait of a Mbororo woman with scars on her face dressed in a very colourful outfit.
Portrait of a muslim man with turban and hands held together.
Portrait of a Bagdeli pigmy with a machete and net hunting with his dog in the jungle.
Portrait of a camel herder looking strait to the camera.
Portrait of a woman from the San tribe in a remote part of the Kalahari desert.
Portrait of a beautiful himba woman sitting on the ground.
Group of Himba women dancing during the day.
Portrait of a woman from the Holi tribe carrying a load of clothes on her head. She is carrying the load to the nearby stream to wash the clothes. In Africa many things are still carried on the heads since not everyone has a motorbike or any other means of transportation. Holi are a tribe from South East Benin who used to adorn their bodies with scarifications, especially on their bellies. Nowadays this tradition is fading, being mostly middle aged women the only ones who preserve it.
For the Yom tribe, the circumcision ceremony is a very important rite of passage from boys to men. A man circumcised in a traditional ceremony shows his penis wrapped in a banana leaf while he rests on a blanket under the shade.
People celebrating Holi festival 2014, Vrindavan, India.
People celebrating Holi festival 2014, Vrindavan, India.
Priest trowing yellow powder to the crowd of the Banke Bihari temple, Vrindavan, India
Portrait of a bushmen from the Kalahari desert with traditional weapons.
Young monks sitting in front of an old statue of Buddha lighted with candles.
Old Christian monk at the Showa gate, Harar, Ethiopia, Africa
Fisherman cutting a fishing line with his teeth, Borneo, Malaysia.
Maiko dressed with traditional attires posing to the camera in a small alley on her way to work.
Group of priest celebrating Orthodox Easter, Lalibela, Ethiopia, Africa
Rolly Bautista Pantoja being crucified on Good Friday, San Fernando, Pampanga, Philippines
Man walking on the streets of a market transporting four cocks hanging from his walking stick.
Portrait of an old bushmen woman looking strait to the camera, Aroab, Namibia, Africa
Portrait of a Herero woman with typical hat and dress.
Portrait of an orthodox monk with a cross in the mountains of Gheralta, Ethiopia
Old monk reading the Bible during the celebration of Orthodox Easter, Tigray, Ethiopia, Africa
A girl looking to the camera among the many children with colourful hats in a celebration.
Group of people that gathers every weekend in Yoyogi park, Tokyo. They dress and dance rockabilly.
Children from a rural area leaning to read in front of their teacher in a small school.
Portrait of a young mursi man holding a kalashnikov, Omo valley, Ethiopia
Group of women dressed in a very old fashion way with the traditional “mantilla” and “peineta”. In Seville, during what is known as “Jueves Santo” or Holy Thursday is very typical for women to dress in black with the traditional attire.
People watch in awe as the image of Christ and the virgin Mary passes in front of them.
Costalero looking out from underneath the image he is carrying during a break in the procession.”Costaleros” are the people in charge of carrying the heavy pasos or images used during the Easter processions. They wear a piece of sackloth to protect their backs and heads.
Eagle Hunters at the Bayan Olgii eagle hunting festival, Western Mongolia.
Portrait of an Afar man with his camels carrying salt from the desert, Berhale, Ethiopia, Africa
Old women planting rice with their hands in a flooded field in the mountains.
