Sandra Sebastian
Pedro

"One has to be the eyes, the ears, and the voice of a people, serving those who expect to see the news as well as those who create it. Most of all I continue my role as a witness to the expressions of society, so I can leave my pictures as a testimony of the times I lived in."

A self-taught photographer, Sandra Sebastian Pedro's major influences have been the people who allow her to document the small moments of their lives. A Maya descendant of the Guatemalan Qianjob'al ethnicity, Sandra's work often depicts her nation's struggle with gang-related brutality in unforgiving detail. With vibrant and often jarring images of daily life in conflict-ridden Guatemala City, Sandra strives to illustrate the lives of those impacted by gang violence.

Throughout her fifteen years as a photographer and nine years as one of the few female newspaper photojournalists in Guatemala, Sandra describes her work as "One of the most important things that has happened in my life as a professional, indigenous individual, and as a woman." She currently works as a freelance photographer for the newspaper El Periodico of Guatemala as well as for the Associated Press.

Sandra was a 2006 National Geographic All Roads Photography program awardee.