At Human Pictures, we document the people, places, and issues rarely seen. Our boutique team is driven by our commitment to pushing boundaries to challenge injustice.
We are dedicated to creating dynamic subject-informed media that disputes dominant narratives and emboldens social movements. Unwavering and compelling, our work embraces complexity above objectivity.
Through justice-oriented documentaries and narrative films, Human Pictures exists outside the confines of a traditional production company, establishing itself as a multimedia movement for social transformation.
Team
JUAN CASTANEDA, Creative Director
Caster’s creativity and quality camera work is informed by decades of experience filming in unusual places with unbelievable people. He shoots, ideates, and edits. Caster founded Human Pictures with the intention of creating a production company that balances quality content with meaningful messages.
JUAN MEJIA, Social Documentary Director
Juan is an activist, researcher, and documentary director. For over 25 years his documentary filmmaking has been guided by his belief that political commitment and artistic pursuit can converge, and complement each other.
JUAN YEPES, Producer
Juancho has an engineering background, his organization and fascination with ‘how things work’ helps balance Human Picture. Juancho is efficient and thoughtful, making many of our projects possible. As a producer, Juancho has worked on projects in Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Maldives, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Colombia, Peru, Mexico, and several locations in the United States.
OLIVIA HEFFERNAN, Content Producer
Olivia is a writer, researcher, and filmmaker. Her work focuses on the intersection of race, labor, and incarceration. She worked on a New Press book about organizing the oppressed, her first short film won multiple awards, and her writing has been featured in The Nation, Jacobin, The Marshall Project, The Baffler, and many others.
SONIA SERNA, Field Producer
Sonia is a Colombian feminist and anthropologist. Her research and activism is rooted in community and focuses on racial dispossession, the environment, and sexual and reproductive justice. She has been a crucial part of our Colombia-based team working on IGUALADA.
GÓMEZ, Cinematographer
Karen is a Colombian content creator, cinematographer, and director of photography. Her documentary filmmaking has focused on the environment, arts, youth, sports, and human rights.
MAILEE OSTEN-TAN, Field Producer/Photographer
Mailee is a photographer, filmmaker, and multimedia journalist based in Bangkok, Thailand. Her work focuses on gender and minorities and has been commissioned by Longreads, Al Jazeera, and VICE, and more. She directed multimedia projects for UN Agencies and NGOs in Southeast Asia, covering gender inequality, women in peacebuilding, and conflict prevention.
RICARDO ANGULO, Field Producer/ Camera Department
For many years Ricardo has been producing and field reporting for documentaries, during this time he has grown to view the world in new ways. He has documented issues and communities in particularly remote areas to showcase the complexity and diversity of humanity.