HÀ NỘI — An exhibition featuring nearly 40 photos on a famed mountain area of Colombia by photographer Jorge Coque Gamboa will open in downtown Hà Nội on July 24.

The photos will be displayed at Quyết Tử Monument opposite Ngọc Sơn Temple on Đinh Tiên Hoàng Street by Hoàn Kiếm Lake.

A photo at the exhibition

Titled The Black Line: The Sacred Landscapes of La Sierra Nevada of Santa Marta, Colombia, the exhibition features landscapes and people in Sierra, an isolated mountain range in northern Colombia, which separates the Andes range that runs through the centre of the country.

Reaching an altitude of 5,700m just 42km from the Caribbean coast, the Sierra Nevada is one of the world's highest coastal ranges, being 250m shorter than the Saint Elias Mountains in Canada.

Local ethnic groups including  Arhuacos, Koguis, Wiwas and Kankuamos, reside in the area.

The event, which is hosted by the Colombian embassy, aims to promote the image and people of Colombia and local tourism to Vietnamese people.

The exhibition will last till July 26 at the site.

Jorge Gamboa is a professional photographer, currently living in Colombia.

He is an Architect of the Javeriana University (Colombia) and was trained in photography at Washeda University in Tokyo, Japan, and in photographic techniques at the School of Javier Sandoval in Bogotá, Colombia.

With over 25 years of experience in this field, Jorge “Coque” Gamboa has worked on editorial projects for commercial companies and advertising agencies widely recognised throughout the country and abroad.

He has received several awards including the Grand Prix Gramado, the Cannes prize and the FIAP prize. He has been a University professor for over 15 years at the University of the Andes, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano and ASAP.

He has an extensive personal production of material, both in collaboration with renowned artists and by himself. He participated in exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Theatre Park and the Planetarium, among others.

His work has thought-provoking messages of the human, the natural and the divine forces, and to bring them all together in a single moment.

The black and white option he has chosen has allowed him over the years to deeply inquire into these interactions, so as to create atmospheres that do not talk about lack of colour, but rather an abundance of intriguing and bewildering lights and shadows. — VNS