When Mirella Frangella joined the Mentorship Program, she was already a deeply committed photographer with years of experience, a strong visual sensibility, and a clear thematic focus on the relationship between humans and nature. Raised between Uruguay and Germany, in a family of photographers, Mirella had spent years documenting resilient communities, cultural traditions, and ancestral knowledge across South America.
She had thousands of images, years of fieldwork, and a powerful intuition guiding her practice, but she struggled to bring those elements together into a cohesive narrative. The photographs existed, but the story felt fragmented. Like many photographers working at a serious level, she sensed that something essential was missing. Not more images, but clarity. Not more effort, but structure.
Through our sessions, we did not simply organize her photographs. We clarified her vision. We identified the story she wanted to tell and aligned every decision, from editing to sequencing, in service of that narrative. This shift marked a turning point in her practice. What had once felt like a collection of disconnected images began to take shape as a cohesive body of work rooted in meaning, intention, and authorship.
Mirella describes the mentorship as concrete, clear, and highly effective. The structured approach allowed us to make the most of each session, while leaving room for intuition, sensitivity, and experimentation.
When we began working together, Mirella was developing a photo book focused on rural life and cultural heritage in Uruguay. She felt she had all the pieces, but needed support in identifying the deeper connections between her images and shaping them into a coherent body of work with a clear narrative arc.
From the outset, our mentorship focused on slowing down the process and creating space for critical reflection. Rather than adding new material, we examined what was already there. Together, we worked through her archive, identified recurring themes, and clarified the emotional and conceptual threads running through her work. The goal was not to impose a structure, but to reveal the structure that was already present beneath the surface.
This clarity had a direct impact on her confidence and decision making. With a stronger sense of direction, Mirella began to see her work not only as a personal exploration, but as something that could exist in the world through books, exhibitions, and institutional support. The mentorship equipped her with the tools to move beyond doubt and hesitation, and to take concrete steps toward sharing her work publicly.
The results of this process became tangible with the publication of Raíces Vivas (Living Roots) by Editorial Planeta in Uruguay. The book blends photography and interviews to explore rural identity, memory, and cultural continuity, and stands as a testament to the power of sustained focus and narrative coherence. It marked a significant milestone in Mirella’s career and affirmed the importance of developing projects with depth and intention.
At the same time, Mirella was continuing to develop her long term project Sacred Is Her Name, a deeply collaborative photographic initiative created in close partnership with Indigenous women in the Colombian Amazon. The project explores the living relationship between women, land, and ancestral knowledge, and challenges Western narratives that frame Indigenous women as passive or voiceless.
Rather than documenting from a distance, Sacred Is Her Name is built on long term presence, consent, and reciprocity. The women involved are active participants in shaping how their stories are told, choosing what to share and how it is represented. Mirella’s role as a photographer is rooted in listening and co creation, allowing the work to emerge slowly through trust and sustained engagement.
The mentorship played a crucial role in helping Mirella articulate the vision and methodology behind this project. Together, we worked on refining the project statement, clarifying its ethical framework, and strengthening its narrative focus without compromising its sensitivity or integrity. This process allowed her to position the work more clearly for grants, institutions, and future exhibitions, while remaining faithful to the collaborative nature of the project.
Sacred Is Her Name has been in development since 2019 and is grounded in Mirella’s long standing relationships with Indigenous communities in the Amazon including Inga, Tikuna, and Magüta women. Her fluency in Spanish, experience living in rural South America, and background in intercultural communication allow her to navigate this work with respect and care. The project combines portraiture, audio recordings, and natural light photography to create an intimate visual language that invites the viewer to feel, rather than simply observe.
Through the mentorship, Mirella gained not only clarity around individual projects, but a deeper understanding of how to sustain a long term practice.
This confidence has enabled her to pursue ambitious goals for the coming years, including exhibitions in Colombia and Europe, a traveling exhibition, educational outreach, and the continued development of collaborative formats that return value to the communities involved. The work is not rushed. It is designed to grow organically, guided by presence, responsibility, and long term commitment.
Looking back, Mirella sees a clear transformation in her practice after the mentorship with me. She moved from feeling overwhelmed by her archive to working with intention and focus. From questioning the value of her work to trusting its relevance and depth. From isolated images to meaningful narratives.
Her journey is a powerful example of what can happen when a strong vision is paired with structure, critical thinking, and steady guidance. It reflects the essence of the Mentorship Program: creating the conditions for photographers to slow down, think deeply, and develop projects that honor both their subjects and their own creative voice.
Mirella’s work reminds us that photography is not only about what we see, but about how we listen. And that clarity, once found, has the power to transform not only a project, but an entire way of working.
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