Colombian photojournalist and Pulitzer finalist Federico Rios Escobar joins Eyeshot 50mm to discuss documentary photography, the war on drugs, and his new monograph “White Line”. In this Eyeshot 50mm interview, Colombian photojournalist Federico Rios Escobar refuses the aura of the unique photographer. Best known for his five-year coverage of the Darien Gap for the New York Times, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, Rios calls himself “one more photographer”. He thinks of photography as a pizza, his work as one slice of a wider conversation that takes shape only when many voices look at the same situation. We talk about documenting three sides of the same Colombian conflict, the army’s, the farmer’s, the rebel group’s, on three consecutive days. From coca-growing regions to the Darién Gap, Ríos Escobar discusses photography as visual memory, the ethics of witnessing, and the responsibility of staying close to people whose lives are shaped by conflict, migration, poverty, and political failure. He discusses Leica primes, manual focus as slow practice, and documentary photography as a jam session.
ABOUT EYESHOT 50MM
An Eyeshot conversation series
Eyeshot 50mm is a long-form conversation series with photographers working across street and documentary photography. Each episode is recorded in dialogue with a guest, expanding on the questions that move their practice. The series is part of the editorial work of the Eyeshot team in Italy.
Eyeshot 50mm #67 | Gary Knight: Nobody Wins a War
Forty years inside conflict, a rule he still repeats about not trusting what you see too much, and the reason he no longer thinks he should be the one telling those stories.
Eyeshot 50mm #66 | Max Sturgeon: How Flash Changed His Street Photography
American photographer Max Sturgeon, winner of the Eyeshot Open Call in the series category, on breaking the rule that says nobody should look at the camera, on the flash he swore he would never use, and on why a book is not made only of its strongest images.
Eyeshot 50mm #65 | Shin Noguchi: The Shutter as a Greeting
Japanese street photographer Shin Noguchi, juror of the Eyeshot Open Call 2026, on why pressing the shutter is closer to a greeting than to a capture, why he never photographs from hiding, and why coming closer sometimes means having the courage to step back.
Eyeshot 50mm #64 | Lorenzo Catena: Treat Your Photos Like Gold
Roman street photographer and former architect Lorenzo Catena on reading the street in thresholds, the making of Mareterno along the sea of Rome, and why authenticity will outlive the algorithm.
Eyeshot 50mm #63 | Bill Shapiro: On the Other Side of the Submission
Former Editor-in-Chief of LIFE and juror of the Eyeshot Open Call 2026, Bill Shapiro on what a juror actually sees, why a photograph should never need four paragraphs to explain itself, and what has mattered more than talent.
Eyeshot 50mm #62 | Ian Teh: Photographing the Price of China’s Progress
British Malaysian photographer Ian Teh on two decades documenting China’s transformation, the workers behind its staggering scale, and Undercurrents – Reframed, his new limited edition with Eyeshot.
Eyeshot 50mm #61 | Richard Bram: The Restless Eye of the Street
Street photographer Richard Bram on four decades of catching the small gestures of public life, the uncertainty that makes a picture live, and Restless Eye, his new limited edition with Eyeshot.
Eyeshot 50mm #60 | Ximena Echagüe: The Decisive Moment Is a Cliché
Belgian-Argentinian photographer Ximena Echagüe on coming to photography through sculpture and dance, why the decisive moment has become a cliché, and the single idea behind her new Eyeshot limited edition, Adjacencies: proximity without fusion.