Tamara Merino is a Chilean National Geographic Explorer and award-winning documentary photographer whose work explores the relationship between people, place, and survival through stories of subterranean communities, cultural heritage, identity, human rights, and climate adaptation. Through long-term documentary storytelling, she creates deeply researched visual narratives that reveal overlooked ways of life with intimacy, empathy, and journalistic rigor.
For more than eleven years, she has led UNDERLAND, an ambitious global documentary project documenting contemporary subterranean communities across seven countries and four continents. Combining photography, reporting, oral histories, and historical research, the project explores one of humanity's oldest and most enduring strategies for survival while creating the first global documentary archive of contemporary subterranean communities. UNDERLAND has resulted in a 26-page National Geographic cover story, international exhibitions, educational resources, and public lectures, and continues to expand into new regions of the world.
Her work has been recognized with four National Geographic covers, three selections for National Geographic's Year in Pictures and Best Photos of the Year, the National Geographic Wayfinder Award, a National Geographic Level II Grant, the National Geographic Emergency Fund, and the Magnum Foundation Inge Morath Award. She was also selected for PDN's 30, the World Press Photo 6×6 Global Talent Program, the World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass, and the International Women's Media Foundation.
Her photographs have been published in National Geographic Magazine, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, TIME, Bloomberg News, Le Monde, Der Spiegel, Die Zeit, Wired, Los Angeles Times, NPR, and numerous international publications. Her work has been exhibited across the United States, Germany, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Myanmar, and Antarctica.
Beyond editorial work, Merino is committed to making documentary storytelling accessible through exhibitions, public lectures, workshops, and education. She is a National Geographic Expeditions Expert, a contributor to National Geographic Learning, and regularly speaks at universities, museums, schools, and cultural institutions around the world.
Collaboration is central to her practice. In 2020, she co-founded Ayün Fotógrafas, a collective of women photographers and storytellers dedicated to diversifying visual narratives across Latin America. She frequently collaborates with writers, scientists, researchers, local communities, and trusted fixers to produce deeply researched, culturally grounded stories.
Based in Santiago, Chile, where she lives with her husband and their two children, Merino travels the world documenting how people adapt, survive, and create a sense of home in extraordinary places.
She is currently expanding the next chapter of UNDERLAND, with the long-term vision of creating the first comprehensive photo book and feature documentary on contemporary subterranean communities, ensuring this remarkable cultural heritage is preserved for future generations.
Signature Project
Underland is an eleven-year global documentary project documenting contemporary subterranean communities across seven countries on four continents. Through photography, writing, audio, and extensive field research, it explores one of humanity's oldest and most enduring strategies for survival while creating the first global documentary archive of contemporary subterranean communities.
National Geographic (Magazine, Online & Learning) • The New York Times • The Washington Post • The New Yorker • TIME • Bloomberg News • Der Spiegel • Los Angeles Times • Wired • NPR • Le Monde • Neue Zürcher Zeitung • Folha de S.Paulo • The Sydney Morning Herald • Roads & Kingdoms • Fish Eye Magazine • Joia Magazine
