PHOTOGRAPHER | VISUAL STORYTELLER | EDUCATOR
Yadira Hernández-Picó
As a photographer, I carry a profound responsibility to honor the trust and access I am granted into people’s lives — capturing their stories with empathy, integrity, and a sincere heart.
About Puerto Rico Photographer Yadira Hernández Picó
Self-Portrait, 2020
Photography holds a unique power to drive social change, ignite action, and deepen our shared understanding of the world. Each photograph I make is an opportunity to amplify unheard voices and reveal essential truths. Being portrayed with dignity and respect is an empowering step forward — for each person, and for our collective story.
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Yadira Hernández-Picó is a Boricua (Puerto Rican) photographer, visual storyteller, and educator. Her work addresses social justice and the human impact of climate change, focusing on underrepresented and vulnerable communities in her homeland of Puerto Rico.
Her long-term project, Volver a casa (Returning Home), chronicling the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, is the recipient of the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC) Fund for the Arts Grant and the National Endowment for the Humanities Grant, in partnership with the Puerto Rican Endowment for the Humanities.
Yadira’s work has been featured in major publications, including NPR’s The Picture Show, Musée Magazine, Lens Magazine, Woman Magazine Austria, and The World of Photography (FotoNostrum, 2023). She has received international recognition from the Lucie Foundation, the Julia Margaret Cameron Award, the BarTur Photo Award, and others.
A VII Foundation alumna, her work has been exhibited worldwide, most recently at the Festival Fotográfico de Medellín in Colombia, the BarTur Photo Award exhibitions in Germany and Poland, and the Biennial of Fine Art and Documentary Photography in Barcelona.
Yadira holds a Master's in Arts and Cultural Management from the University of Puerto Rico, where she is currently a Professor of Photography. She is a member of Women Photograph, Diversify Photo, and Authority Collective.
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2026 – Product of Immigrants (immigratus), ERA Studio, Los Angeles, California, United States
2025 – Good Impactful Photography, Float Photo Magazine (Online Exhibition & Zine)
2025 – II Festival Fotográfico de Medellín, Biblioteca Pública Piloto de Medellín, Colombia
2024 – The World of Photography, FotoNostrum, Barcelona, Spain (Book & Exhibition)
2023 – BarTur Photo Award Winners Exhibition, The Fort Institute of Photography, Warsaw, Poland
2023 – BarTur Photo Award Winners Exhibition, F³- Space for Photography, Berlin, Germany
2022 – The world seen by Latin American women, Fotógrafas Latinoamericanas, 59 Rivoli Gallery, Paris, France
2022 – Visions of Motherhood, The Luupe (Online Exhibition)
2022 – 6th Biennial of Fine Art and Documentary Photography, FotoNostrum, Barcelona, Spain
2021 – Four Degrees: Eco-Anxiety and Climate Change, Humble Arts Foundation & Strange Fire Collective (Online Exhibition)
2021 – Exposición Internacional del II Encuentro de Mujeres Artistas Visuales (Online Exhibition)
2020 – Convergencia en Medio de la Pandemia, Asociación de Artistas Plásticos de Puerto Rico (Online Exhibition)
2019 – New York Latin American Art Triennial: Progressive Transition, Taller Boricua Gallery, New York, United States
2019 – Volver a casa: Dos años después del Huracán María (Solo Exhibition), Sala de Arte Fotográfico Galería de los Gigantes, Carolina, Puerto Rico
2019 – Nor Wind, Nor Water, Da Vinci Art Alliance, Philadelphia, United States
2019 – Perspectivas Temporales: Exploraciones del contexto histórico-social contemporáneo, Museo de Arte Francisco Oller, Bayamón, Puerto Rico
2018 – Volver a casa: crónica visual del Huracán María en las Indieras (Solo Exhibition), Fundación Banco Popular, San Juan, Puerto Rico
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2025 – The VII Foundation: Visual Journalism Program for Native American Storytellers(Mentored by Maggie Steber, Danny Wilcox Frazier, and Josué Rivas)
2025 – Laboratorio Latinoamericano de Fotografía Documental, Biblioteca Pública Piloto, Medellín, Colombia
2024 – Diversify Photo, Photos of the Year
2024 – Women Photograph, Year in Pictures
2024 – World Water Day Photo Contest, Jury Member VIII Edition
2023 –Diversify Photo, Photos of the Year
2022 – The VII Foundation: Foundry Photojournalism Workshop (Mentored by Nichole Sobecki)
2022 – Ann-Lesley BarTur Photo Award, Highly Commended
2022 – Women Photograph, Year in Pictures
2021 – Julia Margaret Cameron Award: Women Seen by Women, Honorable Mention
2021 – The Lucie Foundation: The Guardian Project, Finalist
2021 – BarTur Photo Award: Climate Change Main Award, Shortlisted
2019 – National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC) Fund for the Arts Grant
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![NPR Logo]()
Meet 5 women documenting the effects of climate change around the world
Yadira Hernández-Picó kept reporting on the unprecedented catastrophe caused by the storm…
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![NBC Logo]()
Fierce Female Friday
NBC 6's Sheli Muñiz introduces us to the Puerto Rican photographer Yadira Hernández-Picó, one fierce female making the most out of the bad…
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![Covering Climate Now Logo]()
Talking Shop: Visualizing Climate Change
“You are there to dignify their experience and honor their trust.” Her coverage of post-Hurricane Maria…
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![Musée Magazine Logo]()
Woman Crush Wednesday
Volver a casa [Returning Home]: Revisiting stories of resilience examines important transformations and developments in the stories…
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![Humble Arts Foundation Logo Four Degrees]()
Four Degrees. Essay by Roula Seikaly
Images by Yadira Hernández-Picó convey intimate accounts of extreme weather, emphasizing a personal toll…
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![Ann Lesley BarTur Award Logo]()
Ann Lesley BarTur Award
In Volver a casa, I return to my childhood home. As we were doing our best to recover as many possessions as were feasible under layers of…
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![Broad Street Review Logo]()
Respond, heal, remind.
When Hurricane Maria passed, Yadira Hernández-Picó traveled the island with her camera to record people in their new normal. She encountered…
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![Revista Visión Doble Logo]()
La poesía del desapego en el Volver a casa
Volver a casa es una reflexión justa y necesaria para aquellos, en la diáspora y en la propia isla, que todavía…
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In 2017, I founded El duende que habita en tu alma, a photography-based nonprofit dedicated to using visual storytelling to advance social justice in underrepresented communities in my homeland, Puerto Rico.
The organization’s name — an homage to my father — comes from a letter he wrote after my first solo exhibition: “¡Qué fotos preciosas, eh! Pero ninguna se asemeja a las que pinta el duende que habita en tu alma” [Beautiful photos, eh! But none resemble those painted by the duende that inhabits your soul.]
