Javier Vanegas (Bogotá, 1984) studied Fine Arts at the Universidad de los Andes and obtained a master’s degree in Art, Creation, and Research at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) with full scholarship granted by the Fundación Carolina in 2017. In 2019 he started his Ph.D. dissertation in Fine Arts at UCM with photography as major area of research. He made his first individual exhibition at the Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá (MAMBO) with his Degree Project from the Universidad de los Andes, entitled “Portarretrato Postmoderno,” for which he received a honorable distinction. In 2009, the artist participated in the exhibit Fotográfica Bogotá III at the Centro Gabriel García Márquez. In 2014 he showcased his work AMPO at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome as part of the Photography Festival in Italy, and in 2018 presented an individual exhibition entitled “Echos” at PhotoEspaña, in Madrid. His last photography project, EXTINTO, was exhibited at the Galería El Museo in Bogotá in 2019. He also participated in the work “Tempus Fugit” at LA Galería as part of the Fotográfica Bogotá event in 2019. Currently, he works as a university professor, researcher, and conference speaker. He has collaborated in the publication of books such as Tarjeta De Memoria / Memory Card, Ensayos sobre fotografía contemporánea en Colombia, Los sueños de la razón, and Revela Colombia (Instagram: vitoanacoreta). 

               
The cover image belongs to the project wüin (“water” in Wayuunaiki), which sprouts from a number of trips to the Colombian Alta Guajira that have covered a large part of the region: Riohacha, Manaure, Uribia, Cabo de la Vela, Punta Gallinas, Taroa, Bahía Honda, Bahía Portete, Puerto Estrella, and Nazareth, to finally reach that paradise known as the Serranía de la Macuira. Some areas of the desertic Guajira peninsula have not had rain in more than five years, which is mainly due to El Niño phenomenon. Nevertheless, the problem increases if we consider the indiscriminate mining at the Serranía and the high level of corruption in the region. Due to the absence of paved roads, transport routes, health care centers, waste management facilities, sewage, aqueduct, primary and secondary education, and electricity (as well as to the scarce sources of renewable energy such as eolian and solar), the lack of drinkable water is only one more problem in a long list of difficulties and challenges that region endures. The Guajira, just as other regions in the country, has been gradually losing hope in the Colombian government after several administrations have continued to wear off the resources that are designated to these remote areas of the national territory.