DI55ECCIONS: The Gaze That Returns: Fashion, Territory, and Transformation, by Juan Brenner

IMPORTANT: The event will be held in English.

Next Monday, October 27 at 6:00 p.m., Juan Brenner will open the new season of our DI55ECCIONS series. The photographer will discuss the evolution of his career, tracing his path from commercial fashion production in New York to a research-driven photographic practice in Latin America.

Why you shouldn’t miss it

The lecture, which coincides with the launch of his new book Fervors, examines how questions of colonial history, masculinity, and class are inscribed in both the body and the landscape. Brenner’s powerful work unfolds as a visual archaeology of power and representation. He will reflect on how the discipline and structure of commercial production became, for him, the foundation of a more reflective and research-oriented visual practice. In his talk, Brenner explores the aesthetics, structure, and collaboration methods that sustain his long-term projects, including his series set in the Guatemalan highlands.

“The image is confined by the commitments it assumes—social, ethical, and territorial.”

About the lecturer

Self-taught photographer, lives and works in Guatemala City.

After working in New York as a fashion photographer for over a decade, Brenner returned to his native Guatemala, where he began creating work focused on the people and complex territories of the country’s Western Highlands.

Juan uses photography to reflect on the fluidity and abstract nature of identity and territory. His images capture the complexities of cultural hybridization and, more poignantly, the ways in which power, hierarchical structures, and inequality are perpetuated over time.

Brenner’s first monograph, Tonatiuh, was shortlisted for the 2019 Paris Photo Aperture Foundation First PhotoBook Award. For the same project, he was also a winner of LensCulture’s 2019 Emerging Talent Award.

His works have been featured in publications including Aperture, British Journal of Photography, Le Monde, VICE, C-41, Aint-Bad, Fisheye, Booooooom, California Sunday Magazine, Paper Journal, Collector Daily, I-D Magazine, Dazed and Confused, Pardo, Loupe, Palm Studios, Metal Magazine, Musee, JOIA, and Balam Magazine.

He is a founding member of Proyectos Ultravioleta in Guatemala City.

What is DI55ECCIONS?

DI55ECCIONS is LCI Barcelona’s talk series dedicated to design, visual arts, innovation, and creativity. Hosted at our inspiring campus in the 22@ district, the series invites leading professionals from across our disciplines to share their experiences, projects, and perspectives on today’s creative industries.

Want to attend?

Just sign up on this page and join us on Monday, October 27 at 6:00 p.m. at our campus (carrer d’Àlaba, 124). Don’t miss it!

Discover our Master’s in New Documentary Photography, where Juan is a faculty member, through this link .