A KALTBLUT exclusive. Photography & Art Direction by Lucho Dávila. The model is Jennifer Lam. Styling & Production by Paulina Andrade & Manuela Cordoba. Makeup and Hair by Ely Azana. Fashion by Lia Padilla. Accessories & traditional elements by Jacchigua Ecuadorian Folkloric Ballet.
Lucho Dávila is a London-based photographer, visual artist, and entrepreneur. Working in the fashion industry as a fashion photographer for 7+ years, his work has appeared in international media including Forbes, Vogue, Rolling Stones, and The British Journal of Photography. In addition to his photography career, he started his entrepreneurial journey launching two successful, London-based brands.
Lucho’s body of work reflects on how foreign influences alter identity in Latin America nowadays. In this autoethnographic exploration, Dávila digs into his Spanish and Ecuadorian heritage.
This ongoing body of work named Fanesca, reflects on cultural identity within fashion, as well as the nostalgia of a society. It has been named Fanesca after a traditional dish prepared only during Easter that combines Spanish religious beliefs with Indigenous traditions in Ecuador. The body of work analyzes how styling the self affects identity in Ecuadorian society.
Fanesca’s first phase was shot in London with hand-made masks by Lucho Dávila. It represents traditional Ecuadorian characters that appeared after the colonial period in a fashion context, created by a mixed heritage mestizo, creating a series of mixed media self-portraits with syncretism as its concept. Portraying the syncretism between the Spanish colony and Latin American cultures.
Fanesca has been exhibited as part of the London Fashion Week S/S22 at the Victoria House Basement. Fanesca’s second phase has been named Diablada, Dávila has produced a series of images of interpretations from different devils in Ecuadorian folklore. This project was shot in collaboration with Ecuadorian designer Lia Padilla and the Jacchigua Ecuadorian folkloric ballet. Following the same concept, Dávila keeps digging into the self-exploration of cultural syncretism in Latin America.
Directed and shot by Dávila, we are presented with his vision of Ecuadorian demons working hand-by-hand with stylist Paulina Andrade to produce this photo shoot and achieve breathtaking images.
Diablada is intended to reach European and Latin American audiences, presenting images built on syncretism as a concept and as an outcome of Latin American history after the Spanish presence.
With this body of work, Dávila continues his self-exploration along with his previous projects starting a conversation on a minority that sometimes seems invisible to European societies, yet plays an important role in its history.
Photography & Art Direction by Lucho Dávila / iamtrece.com / @iamtrece
Photography Assistant – Daniel Queirolo / @danielqueirolo.photo
Styling & Production by Paulina Andrade & Manuela Cordoba / @paulina.andrade.m @manuelacordoba
Production Assistant – Karla Garzon / @krlgpp
Makeup and Hair by Ely Azana / @ely.azana
Fashion Designer – Lia Padilla / @liapadilla.art
Fashion Designer Assistant – Camila Almeida / @camilalmeidaal
Accessories & traditional elements – Jacchigua Ecuadorian Folkloric Ballet / @jacchigua
Model – Jennifer Lam / @lacoleeishon
Model Agency – DIS Management / @dismanagement
