America

PHOTOGRAPHY

May 19

Photographer Magdalena Correa presents ‘America’ – a powerful selection of photographs at Tönnheim Gallery in Carabanchel, Spain. The exhibition revisits her most emblematic projects in Latin America, portraying remote communities through an immersive and poetic lens that captures both the rawness and surreal beauty of life on the margins.

Photography Magdalena Correa

Tönnheim Gallery in Carabanchel, Madrid, is currently hosting an exhibition of works by acclaimed visual artist Magdalena Correa, on view until July 1. The show features a curated selection of photographs and videos that revisit several of her most significant projects in Latin America, including work produced in Peru, Colombia, Mexico, and her native Chile.

Rather than approaching these communities as a detached observer, Correa immerses herself in the environments she documents. Her process involves living alongside the people she photographs, sharing in their daily lives and learning their customs—resulting in images that are intimate, layered, and profoundly human.

“When I revisited these projects,” Correa explains, “I realised that a kind of surreal or semi-surreal atmosphere unifies them all.” From the dizzying altitudes of La Rinconada, the highest mine in the world in the Peruvian Andes, to the matriarchal strength of women in Mexico’s Mezquital Valley, through the spiritual vastness of the Atacama Desert and the vibrant resilience of the Wayúu people in northern Colombia, Correa’s work captures a delicate balance between harsh realities and the quiet strength of those who endure them.

Her photographs and videos are filled with paradoxes—fantasy and harshness, stillness and movement, solitude and community.

“I remember the air always felt charged with improbable situations, surprising characters, ingenuity, gratitude, humor… It made me feel happy to be part of that way of understanding life.”

This exhibition also functions as a personal tribute to Latin America, the continent where Correa was born and which has inspired much of her creative journey. It's a visual homage to places that exist far from the centers of power, yet pulse with meaning, mystery, and a beauty that defies convention.

Tönnheim Gallery, known for its commitment to exploring the idea of the pictorial across mediums such as photography, sculpture, installation, video, and drawing, offers a thoughtful platform for Correa’s work. Her practice, while rooted in the documentary, transcends it—bridging visual anthropology and contemporary art with lyrical, unflinching clarity.

“When I revisited these projects, I realised that a kind of surreal or semi-surreal atmosphere unifies them all.”

’AMERICA’ will be on display at Tönheim Gallery until 1st July.

Address: Calle Alejandro Sánchez, 94, Carabanchel, Madrid
Opening hours: Tuesday to Friday, 11:00–14:00 and 16:30–19:30; Saturday 11:00–14:00 or by appointment
Contact: Mattias Tönnheim — +34 625 955 007 / mattias@wadstromtonnheim.se
www.tonnheimgallery.com
Instagram: @tonnheimgallery

About Magdalena

Magdalena Correa, born in 1968 in Santiago de Chile, is an artist living in Madrid who mainly works in photography and video installation.

She has specialised in photographic and video research projects about isolated and extreme territories, where man lives. Research areas: “Austral” (2006) about XI Region of Aysén in the south of Chile; “La desaparición” (2008) about Chilean village “Villa Las Estrellas” located in Antarctic; “La Rinconada” (2013) about the tallest gold mine in the world at 5.600 meters high in Ananea District (Perú); “Luxury has a new Address” (2014) about the wealth and ostentation of Kuwaití society; “Wayúu” (2015) about the Wayúú ethnicity located in Alta Guajira desert (Colombia); “Suiti” (2018) about Suiti culture (Intangible Cultural Heritage that requires urgent safeguard measures by UNESCO) located in Alsunga, Latvia.

To see more of Magdalena’s work, visit her website or follow her on Instagram

Enjoyed this article?
Like ZERO.NINE on Facebook or follow us on Twitter and Instagram

Chrysalis is a visual series by Georgiana Feidi, a Cluj-Napoca–based artist whose work bridges digital and analogue techniques. Exploring Earth as a living organism in transformation, Feidi blends surreal imagery, post-processing and ethereal tones to reflect on nature’s cycles, human interconnectedness, and the quiet power of planetary renewal.

What truly defines us?

Elzbieta Zdunek’s digital collages explore themes of identity, perception, and the pressure of external judgment. Her work questions how many versions of the self exist, shaped by context and subjective interpretation. Through repeated visual elements, she highlights the cyclical nature of human behaviour, the illusion of choice, and the constant tension between how we see ourselves and how we are seen by others.

Lipsticks

Objects hold stories. Not just in their use, but in their wear, their shape, and the silent they witness. In the intimate space where beauty meets routine, something deeper is revealed. This project by Stacy Greene began with a glance, but quickly unfolded into a quiet investigation of identity, memory, and form.

Die Schlange (The Snake)

With her project Die Schlange, photographer Nancy Jesse presents a hauntingly intimate and cinematic portrayal of life within a surreal architectural organism. The vast Berlin housing complex has been built above a motorway and contains over 1,000 apartments. Her use of light and framing evokes a dreamlike, almost dystopian atmosphere—subtly echoing the building's strange, pulsating core.

Fists of Hope

Fists of Hope, a quietly powerful photo documentary by Olaoluwa Olowu, follows the life of Janet, a young female boxer fighting to rise in Ghana’s male-dominated boxing scene. Set against the raw backdrop of Jamestown, this project captures not only the physical intensity of her training but also the emotional endurance required to survive invisibility, poverty and systemic neglect.

Mi Faddi

Mi Faddi by photographer Aisha Hanan Buhari is a poignant series of conceptual portraits featuring her siblings. Exploring themes of protection, family and privacy, the work reflects the challenges of living in the public eye. Rare nautilus shells are physically placed on top of the images, symbolically shielding the subjects and emphasising their preciousness in both personal and universal contexts.

Liminal Spaces

In her series, Katherine Flynn explores the beauty of liminal space—those transitional states found in abandoned landscapes and within ourselves. Working from a desert junkyard turned creative lab, she repurposes found VW mirrors and doors to frame her images, transforming discarded objects into vessels of memory, stillness, and reflection.

People Watching: Pretzel Cage

With the launch of his new photo studio in Hackney Downs, portrait artist Matt Ford introduces People Watching—an ongoing series of short video portraits featuring the individuals he photographs in the space. We are proud to present the first film featuring performance artist Pretzel Cage.

At Work

Photographer Kip Harris brings At Work to Place M Gallery in Tokyo, showcasing four decades of environmental portraiture. From Morocco to Peru, his images celebrate the quiet dignity of labour, capturing craftsmen, street vendors, and everyday workers immersed in their element. The exhibition runs May 26 – June 1.

The Anthropocene Illusion

British photographer Zed Nelson has just been awarded ‘Photographer of the Year’ for his series ‘The Anthropocene Illusion’. His work focuses beyond the destructive human impact on the natural world, examining the sterile environments humans have built to satiate our craving for natural spaces. We spoke exclusively to Zed about what inspired him, his approach and how the project developed over the course of six years.

America

Photographer Magdalena Correa presents a powerful selection of photographs at Tönnheim Gallery in Carabanchel, Spain. The exhibition revisits her most emblematic projects in Latin America, portraying remote communities through an immersive and poetic lens that captures both the rawness and surreal beauty of life on the margins.

In the Quiet Heart

In the Quiet Heart is photographer Amaan Ali’s personal take on summer camp — not just the fun and games, but the quieter moments that often go unnoticed. His images are tender and observant, capturing kids on the edges: lost in thought, drifting away from the crowd. There’s a stillness to them that lingers — a quiet honesty that feels rare and real.

Paradise

Paradise by Gian Marco Sanna is a haunting visual reflection on humanity's estrangement from nature. Through stark imagery and silence, the project explores our descent from harmony to destruction, questioning freedom, consumerism, and the illusion of progress as we drift further from the origins that once defined our existence.

Why Am I Sad

Why Am I Sad, published by Kehrer Verlag, is Dana Stirling’s moving photographic meditation on depression, memory, and healing. Through quiet still lifes and deeply personal reflections, Stirling invites readers into an honest exploration of mental health, where photography becomes both a question and a lifeline.

Daydream

In this intimate exploration, Maria Harris-Sutton explores the delicate intersection of the material and spiritual worlds. Her photographic series, Daydream, captures the ethereal space between these realms, offering a personal reflection on memory, spirituality, and the elusive moments that shape our understanding of self and connection.

...but so many good things happened to you!

Through cutting, folding, and weaving old family photos, the artist explores how joy and trauma intertwine. This tactile reworking of images reveals how even our happiest memories are shaped—and sometimes undone—by what followed them.

Fencing Without Limits

In a quiet corner of North London, where tradition meets dedication, Salle Paul Fencing Club has been shaping champions and nurturing a love for the sport since the early 1930s. Stepping inside the club on a buzzing weeknight, the energy is palpable—fencers of all ages sparring across metallic pistes, blades clashing rhythmically in a blur of movement. At the centre of this hub is Pete Eames, the Club Secretary, who offered an insightful look into Salle Paul's unique philosophy, its deep history, and its inclusive approach to fencing.

Iron Curtain

In Iron Curtain, Polish photographer Natalia Kepesz travels from Estonia to Ukraine, tracing the emotional and psychological impact of war and proximity to Russia. Through powerful portraits and quiet observations, she captures a continent on edge—where young people adjust their dreams, elders recall past horrors, and borders quietly reshape everyday lives.

Faith in Transition

In a remote valley of Northwest Pakistan, Danish photographer Laura Riis documents a quiet transformation. Her project captures the personal and cultural complexities of religious conversion among the Kalash—a small indigenous community navigating the tension between ancestral traditions and Islam. Through tender, intimate portraits, Riis explores faith, identity, and the difficult choices faced by a new generation.

Elegos

Elias Yannas Tsigounis is the winner of the inaugural ZERO.NINE Award, selected at the Cluster Photography & Print Fair 2025. His series Elegos focuses on Elias’ understanding of death as a transformative experience, following his attempt to understand his father’s passing. Elias’ work is dreamlike and abstract, but there is a physicality to the construction of these images that set his work apart. We spoke to Elias about what his work means to him.

The Mark of a Terrible Sun

Photographer Ioanna Sakellaraki presents a poetic exploration of disaster and resilience in the Pacific Ring of Fire. Through haunting imagery of Melanesia, the project blurs the line between history and myth, destruction and survival. The Mark of a Terrible Sun will be on view at Hillvale Gallery, Melbourne, Australia, from April 10 to May 11.

Ghost Notes: Portrait of Punk in Derby

Ghost Notes: Portrait of Punk in Derby explores Derby’s enduring punk spirit through portraits and sound, capturing how this subculture shapes identity and community. Commissioned by FORMAT Festival, photographer Francis Augusto documents punk’s evolution—from radical roots to modern expressions—revealing a vibrant, intergenerational movement that continues to challenge norms and foster creativity in unexpected spaces.

In The Shadow We Bloom

‘In The Shadow We Bloom’ explores themes of isolation and anonymity within South Korea's urban landscapes. Capturing people, animals, and objects, the series juxtaposes curated social media personas with the impersonal nature of city life. Through this lens, photographer Aram Tanis examines the tension between self-representation and the reality of contemporary urban existence.

Augmented Unreality

Augmented Unreality is a photographic project exploring beauty in the age of artificial intelligence. It questions how technology shapes our aesthetic ideals, often distorting beauty into a superficial and homogenous concept. By blending AI-generated images with real models, photographer Norberto Pezzotta challenges the perception of beauty, advocating for inclusivity, authenticity, and the preservation of human diversity in a digital era.

People Things

Guided by childhood memories, family stories and literature, Henry Schulz embarks on a journey to reconnect with the past. With his camera, he searches for places that mirror his recollections of Germany—forgotten spaces between city and countryside where history lingers. His photographs capture the cycle of memory and change, revealing a world where the past is never truly lost, only waiting to be rediscovered.

Amtszeichen

Benjamin Sauer’s project Amtszeichen (Official Signs) explores the world of German bureaucracy—its rigid structures, endless corridors and paper-filled offices. Through his images, he captures both the necessity and absurdity of administration, revealing the people behind the system and the clichés that define it: flickering lights, official stamps and labyrinthine rules.

Shetland Pony Grand National

Joe Hart’s photography series immerses us in the world of the Shetland Pony Grand National, where young riders chase dreams with determination and grit. More than a competition, it’s a tradition built on passion, community, and ambition—showcasing the dedication of these athletes and the charitable spirit that drives the event forward.

Anemia

Photographer Valentina Luraghi explores the overlooked struggles of women battling this condition, often dismissed by medical professionals. Through intimate portraits, the series captures the exhaustion, anxiety, and resilience of those affected. Different women, united by their fragility and strength, reveal the silent weight of anemia and the fight to be heard.

In Between

What does it mean to be close to someone? In Between by Nora Obergeschwandner is a poignant exploration of intimacy, attachment and the invisible forces that shape our relationships. Through evocative analog portraits and raw personal narratives, this project unravels the delicate balance between longing and fear, inviting viewers to reflect on their own emotional landscapes and the spaces where connection truly unfolds.

River Where The Oak Trees Grow

Flowing through ancient woodlands and temperate rainforests, the River Dart is both a place of beauty and a fragile ecosystem under threat. Photographer Emma Stoner began documenting the river in 2022 as part of a commission. Since then, the project has evolved into a personal exploration of the Dart’s landscapes and communities, highlighting its natural beauty while raising awareness of the environmental challenges it faces.

JC Verona

America

“I remember the air always felt charged with improbable situations, surprising characters, ingenuity, gratitude, humor… It made me feel happy to be part of that way of understanding life.”

“When I revisited these projects, I realised that a kind of surreal or semi-surreal atmosphere unifies them all.”

READ NEXT

The Anthropocene Illusion

In the Quiet Heart