diego zapatero
Diego Zapatero (Zaragoza, 1982) is a Spanish photographer and visual anthropologist whose work focuses on documenting and preserving the ancestral cultures of Southeast Asia. Nominated for the prestigious Anugerah Kebudayaan Indonesia (AKI), his deep connection with Indonesia was established in 2010.
While in the country on a scholarship, he witnessed firsthand the devastating effects of the Mount Merapi eruption in Java, launching his photojournalism career by documenting the catastrophe.
Zapatero lived in Indonesia for a total of seven years, mastering both the national language and Javanese. His passion for exploration led him to co-lead an expedition to Borneo with photographer Narve Rio. Following in the footsteps of ethnographer Carl Lumholtz a century later, they traveled over two thousand kilometers into the island’s interior in search of the Dayak tribes.
visual anthropologist
He specializes in visual anthropology, focusing on capturing the intangible aspects of cultures and the «deep, genuine stories» of traditions at risk of extinction. His methodology is defined by a humanistic approach, characterized by close interaction and integration within the communities he documents.
In line with this mission, Zapatero published his first book on the Panji romance—a tradition on the brink of extinction. Through this work, he succeeded in immortalizing the last existing communities, two of which have since disappeared.
In 2017, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Spain invited him to Indonesia to present an exhibition at the National Gallery of Indonesia, commemorating 60 years of diplomatic relations between the two nations. This first book has been exhibited internationally at the prestigious Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany, as well as in Indonesia, Spain, and India.
Currently, Zapatero is working on a pentalogy dedicated to these cultures. The book MALANGAN is the second installment of this ambitious documentary and artistic series, focusing on the mask dance traditions of Java and Bali.