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 and storyteller who examines the intersections of identity, culture, and social justice through intimate portraits and long-form visual narratives. His work centers on amplifying underrepresented voices and prompting reflection on human rights, inequality, and social transformation.
Born in Barcelona in 1972, and now based in the U.S., Marc Hors has developed a global perspective shaped by living and working in multiple countries. His studies at the Institute of Photographic Studies of Catalonia, along with his experience directing the Atelier Güell Art Gallery, reinforced his commitment to photography as a vehicle for civic engagement and social awareness.
Projects such as his collaboration with the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, his five-year photographic exploration WAAR (We Are All Refugees)—which traced five stories amid Europe’s 2015 refugee crisis as over a million crossed the Mediterranean seeking safety—and The Gaze from the Bicycle represent key chapters in his practice. WAAR and the Brady work honed his ability to engage marginalized voices, while the bicycle journey took him across fourteen countries in the Americas, from Alaska to Chilean Antarctica, over five years. That extended immersion became a defining moment, deepening his capacity to build trust and connect meaningfully with the people whose stories he documents.
He has presented his photographic stories more than 400 times at schools, institutes, and universities throughout the Americas and Europe.
“Through documentary photography, I explore how individual experiences can become shared narratives. In a media landscape often shaped by distortion and speed, my work invites viewers to pause, reconsider, and recognize our shared humanity. Visual storytelling, when grounded in responsibility and proximity, can contribute to social awareness and strengthen dialogue around 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”.