One of Latin America’s pre-eminent photographers, Fernell Franco was a leading figure of the Cali Group (named after the city where he lived most of his life). He first encountered the urban underbelly of Colombia as a teenager while working for a photographic studio as a bike messenger. He later pursued photography in journalism and in advertising before turning to his first series Prostitutas in 1970. In 2016, a major retrospective of his work was presented at Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris and Centro de la Imagen, Mexico City.