Villa Contó

Villa Conto is a small settlement deep in the Chocó region of Colombia. Gold mining here has been part of life for generations, mostly carried out by women who stand as guardians of memory and tradition. Armed groups and cartels control the territory and the extraction at every scale, forcing miners to navigate a fine line between tradition and illegality.
Before dawn, women travel by river and jungle paths to La Lejura—“somewhere far away.” With no more than their hands, a small generator and hoses, they reshape the river course in search of gold.
Many become mothers in adolescence and grandmothers before forty. Some have left in pursuit of luck, carrying it into new uncertainties.
This photographic series is a pre-production fragment of a long-term project documenting the community of Villa Conto: those who remain in this remote settlement searching for gold, as well as those who have left for larger cities in search of a different fortune. Their often unseen reality reflects a long history of strength and resilience in a region shaped by conflict and exploitation.
The raw, earthy textures of life in a secluded place, alongside the fragmented realities of urban displacement, bear witness to a community largely forgotten by the state, yet crucial to the nation’s cultural identity.