The first time I stood behind a camera in Colombia was in 2008. I was here shooting a spec piece for National Geographic Adventure and profiling Colombia’s next-gen cycling talent for VeloNews. Back then, the country was just beginning to rewrite its story, and I knew I wanted to be part of it.
In 2018, WhereNext, Inc., our in-house creative agency, won the public tender for ProColombia’s The Birders, a global campaign for the country’s DMO to position Colombia as the world’s leading birding destination. From there, we built out a national audiovisual library that showcased Andean cycling routes, Amazonian biodiversity, and the pulse of Colombia’s music and art scenes. We were proud of the work. It won awards. It brought visitors. Technically, it hit the mark.
But recently, we hit a wall.
Colombia’s luxury product has evolved, but the imagery in the DMO archive hasn’t kept up. It doesn’t reflect the kinds of itineraries we’re crafting at WhereNext DMC: sophisticated, soulful, and brimming with upscale, one-of-a-kind experiences.
There’s a mismatch between the subjects portrayed and the travelers actually booking premium experiences. Between the featured locations…and what our guests are seeking.
Latin America also still suffers from an outdated narrative, and Colombia most of all. If we want the world to see the region as world-class luxury, I knew it was time to start telling our own stories with our own original media.
My New Lens
So I made a decision: I’d become my own client.
This October, we launched WhereNext DMC’s first proprietary content shoot in Colombia, not just to promote the country, but to continue to shift the global lens through which it’s seen. It’s the beginning of Latin America’s first true luxury content library, and it starts in Colombia: created by us, owned by us, and fully aligned with the tailor-made experiences we design for our guests.
Where We Went
This first production took us across Colombia, from the capital to the Caribbean Sea to the Andes.
We filmed in Cartagena, both on land and aboard a private vessel off the coast, which became The Drift. We also traveled through Santander and Cundinamarca, capturing the charm of Barichara, where the photography went into Alfanía Coffee Farm, Fancy Ant Tasting and Tobacco Road, and the cultural vibes of Bogotá, where we documented boutique stays, gastronomy experiences, and design-forward hospitality.
Creative Direction Without Compromise
Our creative direction leans cinematic. But not in the hyper-polished, commercial sense. We design visual stories the same way we design travel, with a focus on serendipitous, human-to-human experiences.
For this first shoot, we used real people as subjects: real travelers, real guides, real chefs, real community leaders, suppliers, and entrepreneurs. No actors. Actual voices, not voice-overs.
The visual direction prioritized texture over polish. Photojournalism over commercial style. Natural light with unconventional composition and depth of field.
Our international crew included editors from Paris, photographers from Peru, U.S. writers, and our Bogotá-based creative team. Together, we produced still photography, short films, social videos, and editorial content that exceeds global luxury brand standards, while staying true to the story we want to tell: one that feels human.
Why This Matters
Travel storytelling has shifted. As Abubakar Finiin, Founder, Kids of the Colony, recently affirmed at the SKIFT Global Forum, today’s travelers aren’t looking for glossy catalog perfection. They want stories told by people who live them. Not by outsiders looking in.
The guides we feature are the same people who will welcome our guests on the ground. The landscapes aren’t props. They are the places where guests find quiet, take on new challenges, and share time with friends old and new. The gastronomy? What you see on screen is what’s actually served. Real plates, enjoyed by real people. And the experiences? They were delivered by people we’ve spent decades building trust with: local suppliers, cultural insiders, emerging chefs, and regional tastemakers.
What This Means for You
As a client, this is your toolkit.
This content is your storytelling engine. It drives bookings, elevates our travel advisor partners, and gives B2C brands the high-conversion assets they’ve been missing.
The library is built into WhereNext OS. When a Trip Designer builds a Lookbook, a Quote or a Trip Guide, the photography comes straight from it, matched to the places, stays and experiences in your guest’s trip. Your Lookbooks and proposals carry photography you will not find anywhere else.
Talk to your WhereNext DMC contact to access our curated content library for high-end travelers. No licensing hurdles. No recycled footage. Just original, world-class storytelling built to inspire, engage, and convert.
Where Next?
Colombia is where we begin. Peru is next.
My vision is to build a pan-Latin American content library that reshapes how the world sees this region.
#FeelSomething
