Gabriela Passos is a first-generation Brazilian-American photographer and multimedia journalist whose work centers on the lived experiences of Latin American immigrants in the United States. Rooted in documentary photography and visual storytelling, her practice is guided by a commitment to bilingual journalism—not just about immigrant communities, but for them.
Born in Minas Gerais, Brazil, and raised in Florida, Gabriela’s passion for storytelling and global affairs was shaped early by the cultural intersections around her. She earned her undergraduate degree in International Development and Latin American Studies from George Washington University before joining the U.S. Peace Corps as a public health educator in Cameroon. There, in a rural community in the Adamawa region, she began using photography as a way to document resilience amid conflict and to connect across language and cultural barriers.
Following her time abroad, Gabriela spent two and a half years living nomadically in a van, freelancing across the U.S. during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. These solitary travels deepened her sensitivity to themes of isolation, labor, and belonging—concepts that now shape her artistic approach.
Her most recent work, Building in America, is a multimedia installation that explores how undocumented immigrants sustain the U.S. housing industry while being denied the chance to build stable lives of their own. The project blends photography, video, and sculptural elements to examine labor, visibility, and belonging within the broader housing crisis.
She is currently based in Washington, D.C., where she completed a master’s degree in New Media Photojournalism at the George Washington University.