Colombian photographer Gabriel Eisenband speaks about Colombia La Bella, his exhibition of extraordinary natural park landscapes.
From the Andes to the Pacific to the Caribbean, Colombia’s natural beauty is anything but scarce. Colombian photographer, Gabriel Eisenband, showcases the most beautiful, pristine and obscure natural landscapes of Colombia’s national parks in Colombia La Bella, Colombia the Beautiful, an exhibition at El Retiro’s Galería Hopulus.
Eisenband travelled for 14 months to visit and take photos in 47 of Colombia’s 68 national parks. The result was Parques Nacionales Naturales de Colombia, a photography publication in collaboration with Villegas Editores. “I wanted to travel the country and focus on photographing the most pristine areas of Colombia,” Eisenband told me at the launch event.
“My tribute to our land”
“This is a project of passion, something that was born deep in my heart for my love of the wilderness. So I wanted to travel a country and focus on photographing the pristine areas of Colombia. I thought and I felt that it hadn’t been done yet. This is my tribute to our land.”
Thanks to the help of curator, Jim Cook, 14 of Eisenband’s hundreds of photographs are now on display in the exhibition, Colombia La Bella. “For me, photography and painting are probably the most interesting items in contemporary art. I think they’re accessible,” said Cook.
Galería Hopulus, which is the only gallery in the world with its own microbrewery, showcases four to five exhibitions annually. Felipe Santander, the gallery’s co-founder and owner is proud to have Eisenband’s landscapes on display in his gallery: “Gabriel is one of the best landscape photographers of Colombia. In our gallery, his work represents windows into the national parks.”
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Steven Brandwayn, a Bogotá native and art aficionado, attended the opening to support Eisenband’s work. Brandwayn expressed his gratitude for the way in which Colombia La Bella gives visitors access to beautiful parts of the country that they would likely otherwise never get to see. “The way he captures the moment, the precise moment in the perfect place makes it seem easy. It takes you there in an instant,” said Brandwayn.
Colombia La Bella will be on display at Galería Hopulus through mid-December. Address: Calle 81 #8-60, Bogotá
