STILLS OF PEACE

s.l.m. 00 – zerozerosullivellodelmare / pescara

Forgotten People
Luz Elena Castro

Curated by Paolo Dell’Elce

Luz Elena Castro’s work as a photographer and journalist is a form of activism—an engagement from within, grounded in close contact with the struggles and realities of society. “From the very beginning of my career, I felt a special connection with the forgotten people of the world. They are a central part of my work. Through the images of their faces, their struggles, and daily lives, I have tried to draw public attention to them. Despite their condition—poverty, abandonment, and misery—there is a force that rises from their spirits. I strive to capture it.” Castro chooses, almost by molecular affinity, the “forgotten people” of the world. These are “minor” lives, pushed to the margins of society, often voiceless and placeless, yet bearing faces that reveal the full beauty of human dignity. Her lens casts them in a redemptive light—a manifestation of unbroken vitality and spirituality. Against all odds. A light of authenticity pervades Luz Elena Castro’s photography, where forgotten individuals are touched by her compassion and elevated by her respectful and empathetic gaze. Her work insists on recognition and dignity for each of them. Forgotten People is an invitation to look inward with different eyes—to confront the parts of ourselves that are often denied or ignored. It is in that vulnerable, painful, and deeply sensitive place—where fragility, purity, even poverty and other typically stigmatized traits dwell—that a new definition of humanity may begin to emerge.