meet the family
Meet Federico
Federico Cabrera left his career in Foreign Trade (15+ years) to follow his passion for photography (as a kid he wanted to explore remote locations for National Geographic). So far Fede had been on the road for 6 years with his little personal project called "Their Only Portrait", riding more than 30.000 kilometers, donating 500+ printed portraits, and 350 solar lamps & water filters through South America (Bolivia, Peru, Venezuela, Brazil, Chile and Argentina).
A decade ago, while he was exploring Peru & Bolivia, Federico was heartbroken by many tourists taking photos of local people as if they’re in a "human safari" (without showing any respect to their subjects) but it was even worse when he found out several of those local people didn’t have a single family photo; so he decided to carry a portable photography studio on his bike to make, print, and give away portraits to families who otherwise won’t ever have a family portrait.
Later when he was riding at Northern Argentina (2015), he realized many families didn't have access to clean drinkable water (unfortunately 1,000,000 people die due to water contamination every year) or electricity (1.3 billion don’t have access to electricity), so nowadays Fede is giving away water filters & solar lamps, too.
Early 2020 he arrived back home coming from Venezuela, the place in South America where assisstance is needed the most at the moment. Even during the pandemic Fede donated solar lamps, printed portraits and water turbines to generate electricity - and he’s planning to return with more donations.
For beeing able to continue his great work, Fede needs external support. If you want to support him and his mission as we do, please feel free to get in touch with him directly at federico@theironlyportrait.com as every single coin is more helpful than you might ever assume.
Don't hesitate if you spontaneously think this is a good thing. We know Fede for more than 5 years and can confirm: it definitly is.
Fede’s “Their Only Portrait”
Federico Cabrera
YEAR OF BIRTH: 1975
WHERE DO YOU LIVE: Buenos Aires, Argentina
SPONSORS: Bombtrack Bicycle Co., Big Agnes, Mpowerd Inc., Hunt Wheels, WTB, Voilé Straps, Craft & Vision
JOB: Photographer & beekeeper. But even when I spend most of my time as a photographer with this Project, I end up filling “Beekeeper”, as it’s what helps me to keep the lights on.
WHAT GOT YOU INTO CYCLING: I started riding bikes as kid and I did my first long trip (2+ months) to Patagonia in the mid-90s when I finished High School. Later, I started working in order to afford a private University and with only 2 weeks of holidays a year, I replaced the bike by a car and later a 4x4. By the time I was 30, I was burned-out and I realized I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life in a small office in front of a screen, no matter how much money I made… so I escaped from the “hamster wheel” in order to follow a dream and I ended up riding constantly!
WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO RIDE MOST: Long distance bikepacking trips to remote locations
GOALS IN LIFE: My goal these days is just to be happy, so at 44 I don’t have any plan to settle and I’ll keep riding as long as I can… after all I hadn’t been able to explore Africa, yet
Favourite place/moment
My favorite place is Peninsula Mitre (Tierra del Fuego’s easternmost point), one of Patagonia’s most remote & wild area. Supposedly it’s only accessible by horse & ATV, as there’re no trails and in order to get there, you’ve to ride through the beach (at low tide) or push your bike through the wetlands for several days, and also wade through several rivers with frozen waters.
There only used to be 9 Estancias (ranches) in Peninsula Mitre’ s 3200 square kilometers (bigger than Luxemburg), but they’re abandoned several decades ago (now re-purposed as free Refugios/Shelters) and you can ride immerse in nature for days/weeks without another Human in sight.
Patagonia is also famous for fly-fishing and one the frozen rivers you’ve to wade through (Rio Irigoyen), is a world-class destination for sea run brown trout with unbelievable sizes (over 10 kilos). I recently put together a 100km bike-fishing overnighter route (Land of Fire’s overnighter) starting at the renowned “Casa de Ciclistas Tolhuin” (Panaderia La Union).
