Santi Palacios

"Never become a photojournalist," says Santi Palacios, with a rueful laugh. "It's not a good idea, because it's a non-stop thing. Everything happens at the same time, and you can't be everywhere at once."

He's joking, of course. With a hugely varied body of photojournalistic work in his portfolio, Santi is clearly a great believer in the power of imagery to convey stories of global importance. Born in Madrid in 1985, his work since becoming a freelance photographer in 2004 has seen him focus on issues relating to conflict, migration and the environment. He has covered, to name a few, refugees crossing the Aegean Sea, the ongoing water crisis in Jakarta and, more recently, the invasion of Ukraine.

This focus on taking the long view of the story is reflective of Santi's route into photojournalism, via sociology. "I'm really interested in trying to learn as much as I can about a topic," he says. "I think you only start really knowing about something when you are aware of what you don't know, and for that, you need to work on long-term projects. You must go deep."

Since the age of 10, Santi recalls, he had always loved taking pictures. "Back then, if you took pictures, it meant that you had a camera, that you knew how to use it and that you were interested in it," he says. "And I really, really liked it." However, it wasn't until Santi started studying sociology at the Complutense University of Madrid that he realised photography might be something he could do professionally. His sociological studies required him to take pictures while gathering data, and it quickly became the aspect of his studies he found most captivating.

"I tried to improve what I was shooting, and the way I was shooting," he says. "I tried to learn how to work professionally. And then I realised that my work could have a bigger impact through photography and photojournalism and documentary, rather than just doing investigations that would usually remain in libraries and very few people would read."

Santi's commitment to taking the long view shines clearly in one of the projects of which he's most proud – On the Edge, an ongoing work focusing on international borders and migration that he has been undertaking for more than a decade.

In 2022, you photographed the massacre in Bucha, a city north-west of Kyiv, Ukraine. Can you tell us about that experience?

"The soldiers had only just left when I got in. More than 500 people had been killed during the occupation. We found corpses on the streets, inside cars, in gardens, houses. It was difficult, and it was a challenge to cover."


That must be hard for someone with a sociology background – to want to be able to digest things, in a situation where events are moving extremely rapidly and there just isn't time?

"Yes, there's a contradiction. People care most about things when they've just happened – breaking news is what gets attention. You need time to know and understand the details, and by then that attention is partially lost."


You are also Editor-in-Chief at Sonda Internacional, a non-profit media organisation focusing on climate. Is part of your mission to keep the climate crisis in the global conversation?

"That's one of the goals – but the main aim is to produce visual journalism on the climate crisis. We decided to create Sonda because we considered that in visual terms, we aren't seeing the consequences of the crisis. We read the investigations by scientists, we get a lot of information every day, but it's difficult to see the consequences because it's a gradual problem. That's our challenge – to create powerful visuals of the climate crisis."


So much of what you photograph is extremely hard-hitting, it must take a toll. How do you look after yourself mentally?

"It helps to believe that what you're doing is worth it. That the story you're working on is worth something. I would suffer a lot more if I were just a passive viewer, watching the situation and unable to do anything about it. It helps to feel that what I'm doing is worth the process."


What piece of Canon kit can you not live without, and why?

"The 35mm has always been my favourite focal length, which is why the Canon RF 35mm F1.4L VCM has become such an important lens for me. I love its wide aperture and the freedom it gives me to work with the kind of available light I’m drawn to. Of course, I work with other lenses, especially the Canon RF 24-70mm F2.8L IS USM – much of my work takes place in complex environments, where things happen very quickly, movement can be limited or there is a lot of chaos around me and its versatility gives me the flexibility I need to react in those situations. But whenever I have the freedom to choose, I always find myself coming back to the 35mm. For me, it's the essence of photography."


What else could we discover in your kitbag that helps you elevate your work?
"My passport is probably the most important thing in my kitbag after my cameras. Most of my work begins with travelling somewhere. It has taken me to places and stories that have shaped both my work and the way I understand the world. Without it, my kitbag and I wouldn’t get very far."

"If you're working internationally, you need to speak languages. I speak English and Spanish, and I can deal with Catalan and French. I've felt stupid at times working in a place where I don't understand the language. If you're in a situation where you need your fixer [the person journalists hire when working in unfamiliar places] for everything, your work is nothing compared to what you can achieve in a place where you can deal with things by yourself. So, learn languages – as many as you can."

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