Dennis Santa Cruz in black and white, in profile with round glasses, lit from a bright window on the left.

Dennis Santa Cruz

Photographer

Dennis Santa Cruz is a fashion photographer based in Lima. He photographs Colombia and Peru for WhereNext DMC.

Gregg Bleakney met him on his first scouting trip to Lima, in Crafting Moments in Lima, and it was a match: Dennis’s curiosity for the world and his sense as a fashion photographer.

In his words

Dennis Santa Cruz, from WhereNext’s interview with him
Why photographyI decided to dedicate myself to photography because I find it a deeply creative discipline, a platform where you learn so much from other artists and where you develop your own vision.
Fashion meets documentaryFashion and advertising are structured worlds where everything is usually mapped out with clear guidelines on what to achieve and how it should look. Combining a bit of that with a more documentary approach, which travel or experience logging demands, results in photos that have a spontaneous naturalness, yet have been deeply thought out.
BaricharaIt is literally a fairytale town. We visited Finca San Pedro, and I fondly remember photographing Katja. She struck me as someone very sensitive, warm, and attentive, one of those people who, while speaking little, says a lot. Photographing her felt as if she had opened the doors to her most intimate space: a kitchen where everything has its place, nothing is by chance, and colors, textures, and aromas coexist in perfect harmony.
The Sacred ValleyThe most powerful part of photographing the Sacred Valley was capturing portraits of so many Cusqueñan people. As a photographer, I always aim to approach portraiture with deep respect, understanding that I am the one stepping into their space. I think it’s a fundamental principle: recognizing that I am the stranger, not a discoverer, and that taking a piece of them in a photo carries an immense responsibility.
A favorite portraitDuring our visit to Centro Textiles Cusco, I was able to portray the artisans who work there with so much talent and dedication. I especially remember the portrait of Yenny Cusihuamán Huallpayunca; we both loved the result, and it became my favorite photo of the trip.

At a glance

Expertise

  • Fashion Photography
  • Portraits
  • Travel and Documentary Photography

Based in

Lima

His photographs

The host in a straw hat and a blue-corded necklace picks through roasted ants from a large plastic jar.
Katja Soechting, in a headscarf and apron, ladles orange soup from a steel pot into blue bowls on a wooden counter.
A palenquera with a bowl of fruit on her head and a hand on her hip, smiling against a red wall.
A wooden spatula resting on a dark stone surface holds a few cooked ants.
A guest in a straw hat and white shirt, seen from behind, stands on a terrace and looks out over a wooded valley.
A bedroom with a carved wooden headboard, a striped throw and open balcony doors onto palm leaves.
Close profile of a woman in a green headwrap and a ruffled dress, with a metal bowl of fruit on her head.
Three weavers in wide hats and embroidered jackets sit and stand together under a roofed courtyard.
Manuel Choqque tilts a glass of Oxalis to his lips in tall grass and flowers, against a pale sky.
A smiling palenquera in a green, red and yellow dress against a red wall, a blurred shoulder in the foreground.
A woman in a beige top rests with her hands behind her head, looking up, on the deck with choppy water behind her.
Two men in straw hats stand side by side among coffee plants, one with a blue bucket and one with a yellow bucket.
Halved purple, pink and yellow potatoes and an orange tuber among leaves on a long wooden dish, held in two hands.
A palenquera in a yellow, red and blue dress with a bowl of fruit on her head smiles over her shoulder against an ochre wall.
Lucia Lambarri sits on a stool before shelves of brushes and paper in her studio, smiling at the camera.
A small group walks along a dirt path through green hills beneath a sky of big white clouds.
A guest in a straw hat sits on a rooftop terrace lounge chair below a yellow and red bell tower.
A weaver in a wide hat and embroidered red cape laughs, looking down, in a dark doorway.
Francis Gillis, a man with dark wavy hair, a beard and aviator sunglasses, holds a cigar to his mouth.
A weaver sits at her loom in a workshop where bundles of dried plants hang from the wall.
Manuel Choqque walks across a field of yellow flowers, with snow-streaked peaks behind him.
Manuel Choqque, in a cap and beige shirt, holds tubers against a rough adobe wall.
Two guests at breakfast in the courtyard, with a white figure sculpture and an ivy-covered wall, seen through a grille.
Three guests walk down a cobbled street between white walls and tile roofs, seen from above.
Two men in caps walk down a spiral staircase, seen from above, with plants in the stairwell below.
Katja Soechting smiles at the camera in her kitchen, in a headscarf and beige apron, with bowls on the counter.

Contact

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