Medellín: Resurrection…

I have just published my first photographs from Colombia—specifically from Medellín—taken in 2022. More will follow from my other trips to the country. But I wanted to start with Medellín, the site of my “resurrection” and, above all, the city that welcomed the new man I had just become: a man living on borrowed time, who had finally fully embraced the fact that he could die at any moment—and soon…

A few days earlier, I had landed in Bogotá—almost by chance—in the wake of COVID-19, which had stolen two years of my life as a traveler. I was supposed to be in Malaysia! On top of this abrupt change of destination (an explanation that would take too long and is off-topic here), major problems arose. Air France lost my luggage! What’s more, I could sense that I was sick—that something wasn’t right—and I was in “survival mode” at a hotel run by some extraordinary women to whom I owe a great deal…

On my fifth day in Bogotá, while I was at the airport trying to get in touch with Air France—who were no longer answering the phone—I simply collapsed right there in the middle of the terminal… The paramedics and doctors were amazing, the hotel staff were incredible, and I survived… But I realized then that my days were numbered… and that I had to live them with “mindfullness” and enjoy them to the fullest.

When I arrived in Medellín several days after that adventure—still physically and emotionally fragile—I realized the city was perfect for the “new me.”

It is an extraordinary city that defies the usual rules of social interaction, urban living, and resilience; a city unlike any other (even within Colombia). After years of unimaginable violence, it has reinvented itself through a younger generation that took my breath away. I met remarkable people—from wealthy, educated members of the upper class to rough, unvarnished street guys. These encounters only served to illuminate my new mindset (in 2026, I am still living on borrowed time and savoring every day)—encounters that were sometimes complicated or dangerous, and friendships that were unfiltered and offered no safety net.

But I was a man “brought back to life”; I no longer feared anything, and I embraced everything and everyone… And the welcome I received was unlike any other. My new relationship with death—contrasted with the ever-present reality of it in this country and city—undoubtedly played a part in what unfolded.

Medellín is now forever a part of my story. I deeply love this city and its people.