Gabriel Piñero, LABASAD alumni, exhibits in Washington D.C. with his Master’s final project
Emerging photography arrives in the United States through El Proyector 2024, with Gabriel Piñero representing LABASAD in this important international exhibition.
On April 7, 2025, the first exhibition in the United States showcasing the finalist projects of El Proyector, the annual programme by the Foto Colectania Foundation dedicated to young talent in photography, was inaugurated in Washington D.C. Among the eight selected artists, Gabriel Piñero, alumni of LABASAD’s Online Master’s in New Documentary Photography, stands out with his work “Emosido Engañado”.
The exhibition will be displayed for a year on the outdoor billboards of the Cultural Centre at the Spanish Embassy in Washington, as part of The Spotlight by Foto Colectania Foundation, an exhibition aimed at promoting contemporary Spanish photography, strengthening cultural ties between the United States and Spain, and giving visibility to a new generation of visual creators. This outdoor exhibition will be available until April 7, 2026, becoming an open window to the world that highlights the creative pulse of a generation marked by aesthetic sensitivity and the need to tell their own stories.
“It’s incredible that a project that started in a Master’s subject, the portrait module, and that I completed for my final project, can now be seen hanging on a banner at none other than the Spanish Embassy in Washington,” Piñero says, still excited.
“Emosido Engañado” is a deeply intimate and visually immersive exploration of domestic spaces and the symbolic burdens they carry. It was born from conversations with friends and from the recognition of a “musty smell”, a shared feeling of persistent decay in the homes of his generation. An aesthetic that, regardless of decorative style, conveys a common, almost ghostly atmosphere.
“I aim to create a generational portrait of the life paradigm for young people between the ages of 23 and 35, marked by job insecurity and housing instability,” Gabriel explains. Through his images, the viewer is invited to inhabit these seemingly familiar spaces, which reveal, without words, an emotional and social burden that goes beyond what is visible.
Gabriel Piñero is an actor and filmmaker, but it was at LABASAD where he decided to take the step towards a more professional, conscious, and structured approach to photography by enrolling in the Online Master’s in New Documentary Photography.
“The Master’s helped me bring coherence and more meaning to my photographs. It provided me with tools to generate an efficient and versatile way of working. I’ve learned to work with everything that photography entails beyond the image. And that’s wonderful,” he points out.
The relationship with the school didn’t end when he presented his final project. Quite the opposite, LABASAD has continued to support the visibility of his work: “Since I finished the Master’s, they’ve been committed to promoting this project. It continues to bring me a lot of joy, although I wish it would no longer be relevant, given what it represents,” says Gabriel, referring to the generational insecurity he powerfully and poetically captures.
The exhibition in Washington D.C. is not only a geographical leap, but a symbolic one: for the first time, emerging Spanish photographic talent is showcased in the public space of the U.S. capital, offering a unique opportunity for new visual voices to be heard internationally.
Washington D.C. now hosts the work of a young photographer who, with a sharp eye and aesthetic sensitivity, transforms the everyday into generational memory. And LABASAD will be there, hanging from a banner, as a witness and driver of that journey.
If you would like to learn more about LABASAD and our Master’s programmes in design and creativity, do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected].