Alessandro Cinque

Alessandro Cinque, Pulitzer Center/National Geographic

Alina Surquislla Gomez, a third-generation alpaquera (alpaca-farmer), cradles a baby alpaca on the way to her family’s summer pastures, in Oropesa, Peru, on 3 May 2021. The climate crisis is forcing herders, many of whom are women, to search for new pastures, often in difficult terrain.

Alessandro Cinque (b. 1988) is an Italian photojournalist based between Colombia and Peru, focusing on the environmental and socio-political impacts of neoliberal policies and the mining industry in Latin America. His work investigates contamination and health consequences for Andean communities, revealing how pollution affects crops, livestock, and homes near extraction sites.

Cinque’s photographs have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, National Geographic, Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Reuters, and Al Jazeera, among others, including a National Geographic cover in 2022. His work has been exhibited in 27 countries and recognized by World Press Photo (2023), Sony World Photography Awards (2023), POYi (2019–2024), and the Terre Solidaire Photo Award (2023).

He has published Perú, un Estado Tóxico (2021), now in MoMA Library’s permanent collection, and his first book, El Precio de la Tierra, will be released in 2026. Since 2022, Cinque has been a National Geographic Explorer.