Sandra Eleta: Portraits of Defiance
La Galerie Rouge in Paris presents “Regards au Cœur du Panama”, the first solo exhibition in France of Panamanian photographer Sandra Eleta, who has spent over five decades documenting the people and places of her country.
By Gaia Squarci. Photographs by Sandra Eleta.
The exhibition unfolds across four sections. One of them features “La Servidumbre” (1975–1989), a series that exposes the hierarchies of domestic labor in Spain and Panama during years of dictatorship. By portraying two generations of household workers, Eleta redirects the viewer’s focus from their duties to their individuality, capturing proud and defiant gazes that challenge the structures of subordination.
The series takes on a sharper political edge with the 1989 U.S. invasion of Panama. In the final image, Romy, a domestic worker, takes up the only weapon in the house, with a fierce and steadfast expression. During these encounters, Eleta uses the camera as a tool for human connection and an ongoing inquiry into power and empathy.
Another focus of the exhibition is Portobelo, the Caribbean village where Eleta has lived since the 1970s. Her photographs honor the culture and resilience of the Congo community, descendants of enslaved Africans, portraying a spiritually rich world far removed from reductive stereotypes.
“The purpose of any creative adventure is to communicate and to share…My work is the result of my life experiences; it has nothing to do with a study of society or any form of complacency. There may well be a sociological approach to it, yet my emotional commitment to Portobelo is so strong that all I can say is that only my heart lays down the law…”
The exhibition “Regards au Cœur du Panama” is on view at La Galerie Rouge in Paris until December 6.
