Marc Hors
“I do understand photography as a medium capable of illuminating the deepest corners of human experience and providing a mirror for society to examine itself.”
Marc is a documentary photographer who explores the intersections of identity, culture, and social justice through intimate portraits and visual narratives. His work seeks to give voice to marginalized communities and generate reflection on issues such as human rights, inequality, and social change. Born in Barcelona in 1972 and a U.S. citizen since 2018, he has gained a global perspective on the realities that shape people’s lives through his experience living and working in various countries. His training at the Institute of Photographic Studies of Catalonia and his experience as director of the Atelier Güell gallery have strengthened his commitment to photography as a tool for social change. Projects such as his work on the Brady Campaign for the Prevention of Gun Violence and his project The Gaze from the Bicycle led him to travel by bicycle for five years through fourteen countries of the Americas, from Alaska to the Chilean Antarctic. This project became a life-changing journey, allowing him to empathize deeply with the subjects of his visual stories.
He exhibited stories and photographs and narrated them on more than 300 occasions at schools, institutes, and universities across the Americas.
“Photographic stories that converge in a media present of adulterated reality, from which I explore through documentary photography the transformation of individual stories into universal narratives, reminding viewers of our shared humanity and the urgent need for compassion in an increasingly interconnected world. My work is a call to action, a reminder that visual storytelling can inspire social change and cultivate a deeper sense of solidarity and respect when addressing global challenges such as social justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
In 2007, Marc embarked on a 5-year photographic project to document the natural, social, and cultural values that characterize the countries of the American continent. As a means of transportation and as a multicultural passport, he chooses the bicycle. Starting in Alaska, he ended in Puerto Williams, the Chilean Antarctic, after 5 years, 20.000 miles, and 14 countries.
Indira Urrutia, Marc’s wife, from La Calera, Chile, joined the project in San Francisco, CA. Together displayed the project over 400 times along the journey, from schools, cultural centers, and universities to the present, to promote solidarity, equity, participation, and respect among cultures by linking what they learned about human behaviors, beliefs, and traditions with environmental and human rights issues.
If you feel interested in organizing a presentation for your community, classmates, or your company, please find detailed information in the following LINK: STORYTELLING
Upon returning to the SF Bay Area, Marc and Indira became deeply troubled by the images of refugees floating on overcrowded boats trying to escape the war in the Middle East. As with their experiences among refugees and forced migrants in Latin America, they continued on their path to link humanity through direct participation and photography, engaging people from different continents and raising awareness of each other’s realities.
They decided to volunteer in Athens, Greece, and help the refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq in any way that they could. Marc also hoped that, by visually capturing the experiences of people in the grip of this crisis, he would bring to light the common humanity of those seeking a world of peace.
If you feel interested in organizing a presentation for your community, classmates, or your company, please find detailed information in the following LINK: STORYTELLING
“I realized that images, as well as being able to tell the story of each person, are crucial in helping others see ourselves in each other. I called the project ‘We Are All Refugees’ because we are all, to varying degrees, responsible for what is happening in this world. Refugees, like us, have the same basic human needs, like living in a safe home, access to public health, open education, and access to decent employment, in short, to live with dignity. Since the beginning of time, our common ancestors walked through mountains, prairies, and crossed raging rivers seeking a better life. It seems today’s humanity has forgotten this”.