“One day I went out to sea to explore towns of amphibian culture, and two years later I found myself high up in the Cordillera Central –between eucalyptus trees and wax palms.”
Leonardo Aguirre.

Between 2019 and 2022 Leonardo Aguirre embarked on three photographic projects that resulted in the Series Palafitos and Pijao, completed during his travels to the Palafito communities of the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta (Colombia) in 2019 and to the town of Pijao in the department of Quindío (Colombia) in 2022.

This journey begins in the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta, where fishermen greet one another from their canoes as they pick up their nets, navigating through calm waters.

Suddenly, from the foggy mountainside, emerge thousands of Canadian ducks, following their migration routes to this marvelous place where the sea and the sky become one. Spectacular take-offs, rocky landings; flocks awaiting, circling above others. A multitude of ducks observing, aiming their beaks towards the sky.

After this incredible display, they follow their route to the fishing towns of Nueva Venecia and Buena Vista. There, amphibian culture has lived for years, with people moving between houses in small boats and building bridges to connect them. The vernacular architecture found in these towns has sustained buildings that have been lightly corroded by the sea and have been painted over with layers of bright colors –creating a mystical contrast against clear blue skies.

Two years later, this journey takes us to the mountains of Pijao in the department of Quindío. “These mountains you conquer with patience and a sort of complacency,” firmly states Leonardo. The pace cannot be hurried, to avoid trampling over so much beauty, or slipping through the steep mountainsides of this great mountain range –one that looks simultaneously powerful and delicate as it opens, amid a foggy forest, to reveal its best kept secret: tall and skinny wax palms tucked away between the slopes of the mountains.

These experiences live and breathe through Leonardo’s work in his Visual Trilogy (Trilogía Visual). These photographs, besides having an aesthetic and emotional value, seek to contribute and support local sustainable tourism initiatives. A portion of the sales of these works will contribute to the work that the Asogitur Foundation has been doing to protect and promote the sustainable tourism of Nueva Venecia and Buena Vista, fishing towns pictured in this series.