Carlos S-L Rivera

His work focuses on the story behind, culture and the why of doing things. Gestures, landscapes, processes, silences, and ways of life that reveal a deeper relationship between identity, territory, purpose, and human experience.

His professional background includes strategic communications for international organizations, NGOs, corporations, and ventures across Latin America and North America. This experience has shaped the way he builds visual narratives with sensitivity, context, and empathy.

He is currently developing Sombrero Pintao: Las vueltas del tiempo, a documentary project about the communities and families who keep alive the Sombrero Pintao, a traditional Panamanian handwoven hat. Through documentary photography, conversations, and fieldwork, the project explores cultural transmission, artisanal labor, and the ways this knowledge sustains identity, memory, and livelihoods across generations.

He believes that photographing should be an act of empathy.

Awards

• 2024 Best photo - Club Union Panama - Annual Photography Contest

• 2025 Winner of Landscape Award - Banco Nacional de Panamá - XLI Carlos Endara Photography Contest - National Art Contest