Alessandro Cinque

Alessandro Cinque (born 1988) is a photojournalist based in Lima, Peru, whose work explores environmental and socio-political issues across Latin America, with a particular focus on the devastating impact of mining on indigenous Quechua communities and their lands.

Through his work, Cinque documents environmental contamination and public health concerns among indigenous communities living along Peru's mining corridor, committing himself to photographing the effects of pollution that permeates the crops, livestock, and homes of people residing near mining sites.

Cinque's photographs have been published by international media outlets including the New York Times, National Geographic, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the Guardian, Al Jazeera, 6Mois, GEO, Stern, Liberation, and others.

His work has been exhibited in Italy, France, Spain, Germany, the United States, Russia, England, and Peru, and has been recognized as a finalist or winner of prestigious international awards, including World Press Photo, Eugene Smith Grant, POYi, Leica Oskar Barnack, Alexia Grant, Luis Valtueña, Sony World Photography Awards, Stenin Contest, and Terre Solidere.

In 2019, after studying at ICP in New York, he decided to relocate from Italy to Peru specifically to deepen his long-term project and gain a closer understanding of Peruvian culture and society.

That same year, he began working as a stringer for Reuters, with a primary focus on the Andean country.

He has received the National Geographic Society Emergency Fund for Journalists (2021) and the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting Fund (2021).

In 2022, his work was published on the cover of National Geographic, and he became a National Geographic Explorer.

In January 2023, he published his first fanzine, bringing together six years of work on indigenous Quechua communities. That same year, he won the World Press Photo in the South America, Stories category, the Prix Photo Terre Solidaire, and the Sustainability Award at the Sony World Photography Awards.