Big Picture: Long journey across the Llanos Orientales

Photographer Carlos Pineda has devoted a significant portion of the past two years to the documentation of Colombia’s Eastern plains horsemen. The outcome of his efforts is a remarkable collection, recently presented in the form of a coffee table book titled ‘Faena de Llano.’

Within the book’s 230 pages, this photographer, based in Manizales, skillfully captures the daily lives of these solitary cowboys as they navigate the expansive Eastern plains that span four Colombian departments: Meta, Casanare, Vichada, and Arauca.

Much like the gauchos of Argentina’s vast Pampa who fought alongside General San Martín, the Llaneros of the 19th century stood shoulder to shoulder with Simón Bolívar’s Independence campaign, aiding the Liberator in crossing the flatlands of the Orinoco to reach the foothills of the Andes. Today, the LLaneros maintain their adventurous spirit, herding cattle across great distances to grazing areas. During scorching summer months, the rivers transform into vital liquid highways for thirsty cattle.

Pineda’s “Faena de Llano” serves as a visual testament to these men with an unwavering survival instinct, immortalized through a blend of color and black-and-white photography.

From the break of dawn until nightfall, the photographer accompanied these horsemen as they forged paths through grasslands and the tropical rainforest characteristic of this frontier region. Here, amidst extreme temperatures, rivers teem with electric eels, caimans, and piranhas.