Cristóbal Olivares (Santiago, Chile 1988) is a documentary photographer with special interest in social affairs. He is the Co-founder of Buen Lugar Ediciones From 2014 to mid 2016 Cristóbal was part of the VII Mentor Program. He has been awarded with several prizes, residences and grants from different organizations such as POY Latam (Best Book of the Year), MAST Foundation for Photography Grant(Italy), Open Society Foundations(USA), Photographic Museum of Humanity, FotoVisura(USA), PhotoEspaña, ENS(Colombia), National Council for the Culture and Arts(Chile), Images Singulières Festival(France), Querétaro Photofest(Mexico), FIFV(Chile), Rodrigo Rojas Denegri Award(Chile) and 12 times winner at the National Press Photo Awards (FotoPrensa) in Chile including the Photo of the Year.
In Karen’s name” is a documentary project that portrays the life of Karen, a 35-year-old single woman’s who lives in one of the most populated town of Santiago, Chile. this town has a high rate of drug addicts and crime. Karen barely finished secondary school, and as a consequence, she can only find temporary jobs. You will find Karen at 3pm on a Wednesday still in bed, not wanting to get up. "For what?" she says. "I' don't have anything to do" A couple years ago, Karen moved from her old house to her girldfriend’s house who helped her through severals depressions, after Karen's grandmother passed away. Despite her new relationship with Mariel—a mother of a 12-year-old girl named Yara—and a new home, Karen and her family are often involved in a world of addictions. It becomes very hard to be there for the ones that she loves, while at the same time, she tries to rebuild her life facing economical struggles.
It is estimated that up to date, more than 30,000 Dominicans have left their country in order to seek better opportunities in Chile. More than 15.000 have entered illegally. Dominicans are required to have a special visa to enter as tourists, which has made them an easy target for smugglers.They are deceived, robbed and psychologically and sexually abused. Most are intercepted in their own countries where they receive travel offers which include counterfeit visas and long walks through the desert on the borders between Perú, Bolivia and Chile where the biggest threats are minefields, heights of more than 3,800 meters above sea level and extreme temperatures during the day and night. The work focuses on the experience of these people and their relationship with this landscape which is the cornerstone of a whole industry of migration and bureaucracy. Bolivia, Perú & Chile. 2017