CHAMBA: Venezuelan Resistance Through a Photographic Lens - Venezuelanalysis
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Rome Arrieche described his photography as a form of activism and a tribute to the Venezuelan working-class and its resistance.

Caracas, January 17, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan photographer Rome Arrieche saw an exhibit of his photographic project “CHAMBA: Portraits of the Venezuelan People” inaugurated in New York City on January 10.

Arrieche, who joined the event via conference call, told Venezuelanalysis that the project was borne out of a desire to “make the Venezuelan working class visible.”

“There is a preconceived idea of Venezuela centered on whiteness and beauty queens, but we are a very diverse country,” he said. “The poor and the working class have historically been made invisible in the mainstream media.”

Arrieche explained that the photographic project has three main fronts: a book, the public exhibition at The People’s Forum in New York, and the printing of selected works and merchandise.

According to Arrieche, the title “chamba,” a Venezuelan slang word for work, or labor, was chosen to pay tribute to the Venezuelan people who have resisted and organized under US economic sanctions. The photos were taken in different regions of Venezuela, some of them as part of the “Communal Resistance Against the Imperialist Blockade” magazine series by the Venezuelan Anti-Blockade Observatory.

“I have always made clear that I dedicate the pictures I take to the working people. It’s an homage to the working class,” Arrieche went on to add. “I go out to photograph my people, the people who refuse to surrender.”

Arrieche further said that he sees himself as part of the reality that he documents, and that this kind of perspective is hard to find in Venezuela. “Photography is my form of activism, of fighting against capital, against oppression, against imperialism.”

The New York City exhibit inauguration, which featured Venezuela’s UN Ambassador Samuel Moncada, came days after the US bombed Venezuela and kidnapped President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores.

Arrieche argued that the exhibit and his work are “more relevant than ever” to counter mainstream narratives demonizing Venezuela.

“We have seen a fascist discourse stigmatizing Venezuelans as criminals or drug traffickers, especially in the US,” he affirmed. “In this key moment in history, it is important to show the Venezuelan people for what they truly are: humble, hard-working and resilient.”

CHAMBA: Portraits of the Venezuelan People will remain open to the public until February 13 at The People’s Forum in NYC (320 W 37th St). Rome Arrieche can be followed on Instagram.

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