ABOUT
Cris Toala Olivares is an Ecuadorian author, photographer and independent publisher based in the Netherlands.
His work is dedicated to preserving the relationship between people, landscape, memory and time.
Rather than documenting places from a distance, Cris develops long-term documentary works that grow through years of observation, trust and collaboration. His projects are created slowly, allowing stories to emerge naturally and revealing the invisible connections between culture, nature and human experience.
For Cris, photography is not the destination.
It is the language through which memory is preserved.
Entirely self-taught, Cris never attended a photography school or university.
His education came through years of working alongside some of the world's leading editorial organizations, including Reuters, Associated Press, Getty Images and National Geographic.
There he learned discipline, visual storytelling, precision and the responsibility of documenting reality with honesty. Those years became his school.
Over time, however, he realized that some stories could never be told within the rhythm of daily news.
The places that mattered most required patience.
They required returning.
They required trust.
Most of all, they required time.
That realization led him to leave the agency world and dedicate himself entirely to long-term documentary work.
CHASQUI Publishing
Founded by Cris Toala Olivares, CHASQUI Publishing is an independent publishing house dedicated to preserving cultural and natural heritage through books, photography and visual storytelling.
The name Chasqui refers to the messengers of the Inca Empire, who carried knowledge, messages and memory across vast territories long before modern infrastructure existed.
Inspired by this idea of transmission, every CHASQUI publication is conceived as more than a book.
Each work becomes a vessel.
A place where landscapes, cultures, traditions and human experiences are carefully preserved and carried forward.
Every publication is developed over many years through observation, collaboration and trust, becoming a lasting record for future generations.
We believe that some stories deserve more than to be remembered.
They deserve to be preserved.
Current Works
The Wadden Sea
A nine-year documentary work exploring one of the world's largest intertidal landscapes across the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark.
Created in collaboration with Wadden Sea World Heritage, the project reflects on time, transformation and the relationship between people and one of Europe's most extraordinary natural landscapes.
Amsterdam
A long-term visual portrait of Amsterdam developed over more than a decade.
Rather than documenting its landmarks, the work reveals the city through light, architecture, history and everyday life, offering a fresh perspective on one of Europe's most photographed places.
Living with Volcanoes
A global documentary work developed over more than a decade, exploring how communities build their lives alongside some of the world's most active volcanoes.
It is a reflection on resilience, transformation and humanity's enduring relationship with the forces of nature.
Echoes of the Amazon
An ongoing body of work developed through more than fifteen years of collaboration with Indigenous communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon.
The project explores ancestral knowledge, memory, identity and the importance of preserving cultural traditions that continue to shape the relationship between people and the forest.
Italy
A long-term documentary work exploring the memory of Italy through everyday life.
From grandmothers and family kitchens to artisans, local traditions and rural communities, the project reflects on how identity is preserved through ordinary gestures passed from one generation to the next.
Seen through the eyes of someone arriving from another culture, it offers a fresh perspective on an Italy whose greatest heritage often lives beyond monuments-in people, traditions and daily life.
Recognition
Cris' work has been exhibited, published and recognized internationally, including the Magnum Photography Awards, and through collaborations with leading editorial, cultural and heritage institutions around the world.
In 2026, his nine-year documentary work on the Wadden Sea became part of a collaboration with Wadden Sea World Heritage, contributing to the visual documentation and international interpretation of one of the world's most important intertidal ecosystems.
His long-term practice has also contributed to projects developed with Indigenous communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon and with institutions dedicated to preserving cultural memory, including the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam.
In 2026, the Government of Ecuador officially recognized his artistic and literary work for contributing to the visibility and preservation of Indigenous communities and their cultural heritage.
Today, Cris continues to develop long-term documentary works between Europe and South America.
He believes that photography can preserve a moment.
Books can preserve a generation.
But together, photography, archives and publishing can preserve memory itself.
PRESERVING STORIES THROUGH TIME
Every landscape changes.
Every city evolves.
Every generation leaves something behind.
CHASQUI exists to ensure those stories continue their journey.
AWARDS & HONOURS
2025 Lucie Foundation Grand Prize Winner
• 2019: Xposure Sharjah UAE
• 2016: Magnum Photography Award
• 2015: MIFA Honorable Mention Edotorial-Environmental
• 2014: Zilveren Camera: Third Price Nature and Environment
• 2013: Young photography talent, selected by National Geographic, presented in issue October 2013
• 2013: New, Dutch Photography Talent 2013
• 2012: CPN (Canon Professional Network) Overall Favourite Image, Editor’s Choice
• 2009: Zilveren Camera: First Price foreign news
• 2009: Zilveren Camera: Third Price Portrait
BOOKS
• 2024: Book Amsterdam
• 2022: Book Living With Volcanoes
• 2014: Book The Amsterdam Canals
• 2013: Museum van Loon, book Gardens of Amsterdam Canals
• 2010 - present: Anne Frank House, Several documentation and publications
EXHIBITS
• 2019: International Photography Festival - Xposure Sharjah UAE
• 2017: Art Miami whit Cranio
• 2016: International Photoreporter Festival Saint-Brieuc France
• 2015: Fotofestival Naarden
• 2013: Museum Het Grachtenhuis , Amsterdam, The Netherlands, solo exhibition ‘The Amsterdam Canals’, presented by
National Geographic
• 2012: Look For Art Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, duo exhibition ‘Fijne Hanen’ with Alice Wielinga
• 2012: Concordia, Enschede, The Netherlands, duo exhibition ‘Fijne Hanen’ with Alice Wielinga