Bio

Rafael Fabrés (b.1982. Madrid.) is a photographer and filmmaker specializing in documentary storytelling. Rafael’s work explores the connections between identity, displacement and belonging in his projects. After having lived in Central and Latin America for more than a decade working as a photojournalist, he felt compelled to dig deeper into his past experience and expand his visual approach beyond his previous perspective. This led to his first book titled Cafuné (2020), focusing tangentially on the “pacification” of the favelas in Rio; the work was a personal perspective of the Marvelous City during the Pope’s visit and the massive protests in 2013, the World Cup of 2014 and the Olympic Games of 2016. The book “Cafuné” was launched at the 2020 Visa Pour L´Image festival and won awards at the 2020 Prix de la Photographie Paris, the 2021 Lucie Photobook Prize, the 2022 Rotterdam/Tiradentes Photo Festival, the 2023 Florida Museum of Photographic Arts International Photography Competition, the 2023 Les Nuits Photographiques de Pierrevert Festival and the Urban Book Awards at Trieste Photo Days Festival. A series of short films, photo projects and exhibitions followed, all part of an ongoing interactive Web Project founded by the Spanish Brazilian Studies Institute. Rafael is currently working on his two next long term projects between the City of Mexico and Madrid.