SHIPIBO-KONIBO. Portraits of my blood – Photos by David Díaz

The Shipibo-Konibo. Portraits of my blood – Photos by David Díaz temporary exhibition, which opened at the Museum of Ethnography, Budapest on 9 May 2024, features captivating black and white photographs by David Díaz Gonzáles, a photographer from the indigenous Shipibo-Konibo community of Peru. The artist presents his people and their culture from an insider's perspective, and his work is a tribute to the Shipibo-Konibo ancestors, as well as the pioneers of Peruvian photography, Martín Chambi and the Vargas brothers. The exhibition was organized with the collaboration of the Embassy of Peru in Hungary.  

David Díaz Gonzáles was born in 1992 in the native community of Nueva Saposoa, Ucayali, and is a proud member of the Shipibo-Konibo indigenous community. He is one of the most prominent and talented young photographers of Peru. He has won the “Luces” prize in Visual Arts for “Best Photography Exhibition, 2022” granted by the Peruvian newspaper “El Comercio”. Additionally, he won the First Prize “Maravillarte 2022”, in the category of photography, organized by the Association for the Promotion and Support of Peruvian Art. 

He is a trained digital graphic designer and currently lives in Lima where he continues to study photography and digital imaging. His photographic research on deforestation caused by the Mennonite colony in the communities of Masisea in Ucayali earned him a scholarship from the Amazon Rainforest Journalism Foundation of the Pulitzer Center in 2021. The indigenous organization Alianza Arkana published his photographs in the book “Kené Coloring Book” (in digital version) with the support of the Amazon Watch nonprofit organization in 2020. 

In his series Shipibo-Konibo. Portraits of my blood, both in outdoor and studio settings, he captures the people from the surrounding villages as well as the town of Pucallpa, where he grew up. Díaz consciously departs from the stereotypical portrayal of Amazonian indigenous peoples and endeavors to recreate their image and culture from within, as a member of the community. His work also pays homage to the Shipibo-Konibo ancestors and pioneers of Peruvian photography: Martín Chambi and the Vargas brothers.