Fernell Franco’s first major series Prostitutas (1970-72), comprised of 16 photographs of sex workers in brothels in Buenaventura, was first exhibited in March 1972 in his home town of Cali at Casa Cultural Ciudad Solar. Inspired by cinema, Franco was interested in expressing a narrative in his photographs, which he often achieved through experimentation as seen in the present work. This photomontage was created by exposing and mirroring the negative in the enlarger multiple times while moving the sheet of photographic paper.

Fernell Franco, one of Latin America’s preeminent photographers, was a leading figure of the Cali Group (named after the city where he lived most 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 the field of journalism then advertising before turning to his first series Prostitutas in 1970. Franco’s other projects include Interiores (1970s), Demoliciones (1970s-90s), Amarrados (1980-95), Billares (1985) and Retratos de ciudad (1990s). In 2016, a major retrospective of his work was shown at Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain in Paris and Centro de la Imagen in Mexico City.