Natalia Zapata

Colombian photographer and journalist, born in Cali in 1993. Her work is driven by a deep connection to nature and a strong commitment to social justice. Raised by biologist parents, she grew up immersed in the natural world and experienced life abroad from an early age, living in countries such as South Africa and Brazil—an experience that sparked her enduring interest in languages and cultural diversity.

She discovered photography during high school through an analog photography course and has been developing her practice ever since. Largely self-taught, she later refined her technical and artistic skills at the Escuela de Fotografía del Valle in Cali in 2018.

Alongside her photographic work, she pursued academic studies in journalism, history, law, and foreign languages in France and Germany, where she also expanded her visual storytelling across Europe.

Through her photography, she tells stories that reflect both the pulse of society and the resilience of the natural world. One of her most significant projects was covering the 2021 Paro Nacional protests in Colombia, where she documented both the state violence and the resistance of protestors on the ground.

Now based in Berlin, she divides her time between Colombia and Europe, continuing to pursue long-form documentary projects and visual stories rooted in social and environmental realities.