Tamara Merino Bloch

Tamara Merino, based in Chile, is a National Geographic Explorer, documentary photographer and visual storyteller who focuses on human and sociocultural issues, identity, and subterranean communities. Merino’s work has appeared in numerous publications globally, including National Geographic, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time Magazine, Der Spiegel and Die Zeit, among others. One of her photographs was the cover of National Geographic magazine’s 2021 and was included in the 2021 “The Year in Pictures'' special issue. 

Merino was named to National Geographic’s 2020 class of Emerging Explorers and was honored with the Magnum Foundation’s Inge Morath Award that year. Merino was included among “PDN’s 30: New and Emerging Photographers to Watch,” and participated in the World Press Photo Joop Swart Latin America Masterclass and the New York Times Portfolio Review and is a fellow at the International Women’s Media Foundation. Her photographs have been exhibited at Photoville - US, the Bronx Documentary Center - US, Lumix Photo Festival - Germany, Athens Photo Festival - Greece, Yangon Photo Festival – Myanmar, Foto Prensa - Chile, Maciel Foto Festival – Argentina, Salón del Sur - Antartica, La Maison de L' Amérique Latine - France and Indian Photo Festival - India.

Merino is the co-founder of Ayün Fotógrafas and is part of Women Photograph.