Ruven Afanador

Bio

Ruven Afanador is an internationally celebrated photographer whose boundless imagination and incisive vision breathe life into every frame. Born in Colombia, Afanador draws deeply from his rich Latin American heritage, weaving a narrative that is intensely personal yet universally resonant. His work embodies a unique aesthetic language that masterfully balances bold emotion with delicate nuance. Afanador's artistic prowess is showcased across six critically acclaimed books: *Torero*, *Sombra*, *Mil Besos*, *Ángel Gitano*, *Yo seré tu espejo*, and *Hijas del Agua*. Through his striking portraiture and fashion editorials, he conjures extravagant, dreamlike sequences that seem to emerge fully formed from his vivid imagination—always splendid, often mischievous, and frequently decadent, yet grounded in a classic sense of formality. His work has graced the pages of prestigious publications such as *New York Magazine*, *Vanity Fair*, *Rolling Stone*, *The Hollywood Reporter*, *Billboard*, *The New York Times Magazine*, and multiple editions of *Vogue*, *Tatler*, *Elle*, and *The New Yorker*. Afanador's personal projects have been exhibited in renowned galleries and museums across Spain, Italy, Colombia, Argentina, Japan, and the United States. His most recent exhibition at the National Museum of Colombia in Bogotá showcased 60 large-format photographs from his *Hijas del Agua* project, honoring the indigenous cultures that have thrived in Colombia for millennia. Now residing in New York, Ruven Afanador continues to push the boundaries of contemporary photography, capturing the essence of iconic figures in fashion, music, and film, while boldly challenging conventional notions of gender and beauty through his ongoing personal projects.