Esbra, Ida

Born in the Netherlands, she settled in Barranquilla in 1959, where she engaged with the literary and intellectual avant-garde. In the 1960s, she collaborated in the research of anthropologist Nina S. de Friedemann on Afro-Colombian communities. She particularly photographed the district of Robolo, south of Barranquilla, and carnival festivities. In 2000, a portion of the photographer's archives would merge with those of the anthropologist at the Luis Ángel Arango Library in Barranquilla. Alongside her documentary work, Esbra has produced more conceptual work, especially with Grupo 44. Her series "Puertas y calados," dedicated to the vernacular architecture of Barranquilla and carried out in the late 1970s, stands out for its economy of means and formal radicalism.