Fundación Carolina – Ficciones de lo Real exhibition - Souls of a Movement project (Madrid) /  by CARLOS VON DER HEYDE

In November 2025, a selection of images from Carlos’s Souls of a Movement project was featured in Fictions of the Real: New Visual Narratives from Ibero-America, a group exhibition at the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Madrid, organized as part of the 25th Anniversary of Fundación Carolina.

Some excerpts from the curatorial text by the curatorial team Ballate-Armas:

This exhibition offers a collective approach to diverse representations of Ibero-American realities through photography, understood as a field of multiple languages that moves between document and fiction, testimony and poetry, memory and the present. The exhibition brings together the work of visual artists […] who, from different geographies, activate new forms of visual representation of the social in their work, challenging narratives, questioning hegemonic imaginaries, and redefining the intimate and the collective […]

Carlos von der Heyde’s view of reality is defined by his ability to merge documentary record with narrative composition. His photographs do not simply document events; they capture emotional intensity, movement, and the interaction of bodies in public space. Gestures, banners, faces, and crowds become signs of the strength of collective action, while the repetition of certain scenes and the careful attention to framing allow each image to function as a visual meditation on contemporary social drama.

His series Souls of a Movement demonstrates how photographic art can act as a mediator between the local and the global, between the specificity of each protest and the universality of demands […] From historical conflicts in Latin America to movements in Europe and the United States, von der Heyde constructs a narrative that connects different geographies through the energy of political action, revealing civic mobilization as a common thread that unites diverse struggles within a globalized context. Each photograph becomes a profound reflection on the dynamics of social movements and civic struggles that cut across the contemporary world […] Every demonstration he witnesses becomes a stage where social drama unfolds not only as conflict but also as resistance, personal sovereignty, reconciliation, and collective strength. In this sense, his work […] transcends ideological divisions to create new common spaces capable of transforming reality.

Interview

Curator’s interview

Hispanic Heritage Month - Cleary Gottlieb - Souls of a Movement project /  by CARLOS VON DER HEYDE

In September 2025, in the context of Hispanic Heritage Month, Carlos’s career and his project, “Souls of a Movement,” were featured at Cleary Gottlieb, where Carlos is an alum.

Cleary Gottlieb is one of the largest law firms in the world, with 16 offices and around 1,100 lawyers from more than 50 countries. The firm has a renowned art collection and an ongoing commitment to cultural engagement.

Passion for Freedom festival - Souls of a Movement project /  by CARLOS VON DER HEYDE

In May 2024, a diptych from Carlos’s “Souls of a Movement” project was featured at the 15th edition of the Passion for Freedom itinerant art festival, which took place in Brooklyn, NY. Creators such as Ai Weiwei, Atena Farghadani, Mimsy, Lubomir Arsov, Kristian von Hornsleth, and Huchia—many of whom focus on issues of freedom and have been censored in their own countries—have been showcased over the years at the festival’s London, Copenhagen, and Warsaw editions.

The Kennedy Beacon - Article - Souls of a Movement project /  by CARLOS VON DER HEYDE

A November 2023 article titled "A Homecoming for Health Freedom" by Debra Sheldon for The Kennedy Beacon featured a collection of images from Carlos’ ongoing project, Souls of a Movement.”

The Kennedy Beacon was a media platform operated by American Values 2024, a Super PAC supporting Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s 2024 presidential campaign. It served as a daily news outlet covering Kennedy-related media, aiming to counter censorship and misinformation while promoting his political vision. The platform featured podcasts, opinion pieces, and news roundups, with contributions from journalists and commentators. It emphasized open dialogue, welcoming diverse viewpoints even when they differed from the candidate’s positions, particularly on contentious issues such as the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

Bookforum - Review /  by CARLOS VON DER HEYDE

The December 2022 final winter issue of Bookforum featured an image from Carlos’ “Souls of a Movement” ongoing project in Omari Weekes’ review of “Didn't Nobody Give a Shit What Happened to Carlotta,” James Hannaham’s most recent novel.

Bookforum, the New York-based sister magazine of art-world glossy Artforum, launched in 1994 and has served as a haven for literary criticism and commentary. In addition to publishing book reviews and essays, the magazine regularly featured interviews with authors and artists, including Umberto Eco, Bernard-Henri Lévy, Haruki Murakami, Salman Rushdie, Susan Sontag, Nan Goldin, Louise Bourgeois and Barbara Kruger.

Artforum is an international monthly magazine specializing in contemporary art, which features in-depth articles and reviews, as well as book reviews, columns on cinema and popular culture, personal essays, and commissioned artworks and essays.

James Hannaham (born 1968) is a writer, performer, and visual artist. His novel Delicious Foods (2015), which deals with human trafficking, won the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award and was named one of Publishers Weekly's top ten books of the year. The New York Times called it an “ambitious, sweeping novel of American captivity and exploitation.”

Aperture - "Revolution is Love" - Photo book launch /  by CARLOS VON DER HEYDE

In the context of the launch of “Revolution Is Love: A Year of Black Trans Liberation,” a photo book on the Black trans activist movement in New York City, Aperture featured a portrait from Carlos’ “Souls of a Movement” project and a related quote in its social media platforms.

Revolution Is Love gathers twenty-four photographers (including Carlos) who participated in these actions to share images and words on the demonstrations and their community at large, preserving this legacy as it unfolded. Through photographs, interviews, and text, it celebrates the power of shared joy and struggle in trans community and liberation.

“Souls of a Movement” is an ongoing photo-documentary project on the protagonists of various social protests that have intermittently erupted in New York, London, Buenos Aires and other cities, around racial justice, bodily autonomy and medical freedom, gender identity, freedom of speech, war/peace, mass surveillance, and other human rights issues. Link to post

Souls of a Movement photography installation - Chinatown Soup (NYC) /  by CARLOS VON DER HEYDE

In June 2022, Carlos debuted his photography installation “Souls of a Movement” at Chinatown Soup, a community art center advancing art, justice, historic preservation, and civic engagement in downtown New York City.

“Souls of a Movement” is an ongoing photo-documentary project on the protagonists of various social protests that have intermittently erupted in New York, Washington DC, London and other cities, around racial justice, bodily autonomy and medical freedom, gender identity, freedom of speech, war/peace, mass surveillance, and other human rights issues.

The series explores the way in which protestors can embody a core set of values and principles such as humaneness, personal sovereignty, reconciliation, and truth-seeking in evolving contexts, times and spaces, and transcend ideological divides to forge new hybrid paths. The brief texts that accompany each image create a common thread that delves into realms as diverse as cultural commentary, social critique, consciousness and metaphysics, and invite the viewer to use self-knowledge, critical thinking and trained discernment as a platform to create new realities. Link to installation's website here

Kreëmart - Pardon Me series /  by CARLOS VON DER HEYDE

In March 2021, Carlos was invited by Raphael Castoriano, from Kreëmart, to discuss Revealed Scenes, his upcoming portraiture photo book on the psychospiritual impact of lockdown measures across the globe, and his Souls of a Movement project on the social protests in NYC, DC, London and other cities

Seminario de Cultura Mexicana - El Universal newspaper (Mexico) /  by CARLOS VON DER HEYDE

In October 2020, Carlos took part in a discussion panel that was part of a series of dialogues organized by the Mexican Culture Seminar and the newspaper El Universal of Mexico. The forum was moderated by journalist and columnist Adriana Malvido, who encouraged a conversation about how the pandemic affected artistic creation among writer and playwright Hugo Hiriart, visual artist Sofía Probert Pérez, stage director and head of the University Theatre Center at UNAM, Mario Espinosa, and Carlos. On that occasion, Carlos presented his projects Revealed Scenes and Souls of a Movement.

Fundación Pequeños Pasos - Auction - Souls of a Movement project (NYC) /  by CARLOS VON DER HEYDE

On June 17, 2021, Carlos participated in an auction organized by Pequeños Pasos at the Argentine Consulate in NYC, with this photo from his Souls of a Movement series. The funds raised were used to build a daycare center for 150 underprivileged kids in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego.

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ICP - Exhibition: ICP Concerned, Global Images for Global Crisis - Souls of a Movement project (NYC) /  by CARLOS VON DER HEYDE

The ICP (International Center of Photography) of NYC, the world’s leading institution dedicated to photography and visual culture, selected a photo from Carlos’ “Souls of a Movement” series for its “Global Images for Global Crisis” exhibition, which opened on October 1, 2020.

The selected images were chosen from over 45,000 open call submissions collected under the #ICPConcerned Instagram hashtag initiated in March 2020. The collection reflects a wide range of responses to world events, from the COVID-19 pandemic to racial justice protests and beyond. Link to exhibition’s website

“Souls of a Movement” is an ongoing photo-documentary project on the protagonists of various social protests that have intermittently erupted in New York, Washington DC, London and other cities, around racial justice, bodily autonomy and medical freedom, gender identity, freedom of speech, war/peace, mass surveillance, and other human rights issues.

For Freedoms - Wide Awakes National Billboard Campaign - Souls of a Movement project (Norfolk, VA) /  by CARLOS VON DER HEYDE


A portrait from Carlos´ Souls of a Movement project was used by artist Ebony Brown for her “Who’s in Control of Your Narrative?” billboard installed in Norfolk, VA, as part of the 2020 Awakening campaign organized by For Freedoms.

For Freedoms is an artist-run non-partisan platform for civic engagement, discourse, and direct action for artists in the US. Co-founded by Hank Willis Thomas and Eric Gottesman in 2016, it has partnered with US-based institutions and artists for activations including town halls, exhibitions and installations, public programs, billboard campaigns, and artist residencies. In June 2018, For Freedoms launched the 50 State Initiative, a campaign to bring 52 artist-designed billboards bearing thought-provoking messages to all 50 states, plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, which described as the “largest-ever public art project in the US.”

The 2020 Awakening campaign centered around four new freedoms: awakening, listening, healing, and justice and was inspired by the 1860s youth-led organization who championed the election of Abraham Lincoln, the Wide Awakes. Artists who have participated include Ai Weiwei, Christine Sun Kim, the Guerrilla Girls, Marilyn Minter, Carlos Motta and Prabal Gurung. Link to post.

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Still I Rise - Transtopia project - Video Montage by Qween Jean /  by CARLOS VON DER HEYDE

Link to video montage

Immensely personal and moving video montage put together by @qween_jean for her “Matriarch Series,” which includes several of the portraits Carlos took of her for his Transtopia project. Qween is one of the leaders of the Stonewall Protests (@thestonewallprotests) movement in NYC. For months, she has been marching to foster Black trans liberation and to bring awareness to the ongoing epidemic of violence committed against transgender and gender non-conforming people, particularly Black, in the U.S. and around the globe. Queen’s voice brings Maya Angelou’s “Still I rise” poem to life, with power and love: “Leaving behind nights of terror and fear, I rise. Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear, I rise. Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise, I rise, I rise.”

“Messages from our Matriarchs Series-Part 1”. Poem by Maya Angelou. Narration by Qween. Sound Engineer by Matthew Becker. Art Direction by Stacey Derosier. Project Management by Lily Prentice. Video Editing by Rodrigo Munoz.

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NYC Times Square - Souls of a Movement project /  by CARLOS VON DER HEYDE

A portrait from Carlos´ Souls of a Movement project was featured in NYC´s Time Square official feed in the context of Black Lives Matter protests. Link to post.

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