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Sandra Eleta (born September 4, 1942) is a Panamanian photographer, renowned for providing an artistic lens showcasing the daily lives of of towns and villages of afrocolonial and indigenous origins in the Atlantic regions of Panama.

Career
Her father was the well-known Panamanian composer and businessman Carlos Eleta Almarán (the author of classic songs like "Historia de un amor" and "La aparición").

She studied art history at Finch College and during her studies she became interested in photography, hence she matriculated in the International Center of Photography. While there, she worked together with photographers Ken Heyman and George Tice. She also pursued courses in the New School for Social Research.

She received her first jobs in photography in the 1960s working in a cooperative of photographers of diverse national origins que se encargaban de realizar reportajes sobre diversos temas en sus respectivos países. In 1972 and 1973, she taught photography classes at the University of Costa Rica. In 1974, she relocated to Panama, moving between the capital, Panama City, and the Caribbean city of Portobelo. Eventually, she decided to work as an independent photographer. Un trabajo destacado sobre Ernesto Cardenal titulado Solentiname lo publicó con Gloria Guardia.

Her works can be found in a variety of different collections around the world including the Biblioteque Nationale in Paris, the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires, and the Museo de Arte Moderno in Mexico City.

Main Works

 * Portobelo (1980) is considered her most well-known work. This diaporama was compiled between 1977 and 1980 and consists of a photographic and anthropological essays about life in the city of Portobelo. Under the same title, Eleta published a book of photos of the city, with writings from the Guatemalan photographer María Cristina Orive and the Panamanian writers Edgar Soberón Torchia and Edison Simons.


 * Sirenata en B (1985) is a diaporama presentado con 9 proyectores de diapositivas sincronizados relata los sueños de un conductor de autobús en la ciudad de Panamá. La veloz proyección secuencial de las fotografías en color va creando un lienzo animado cuadro a cuadro, que da fe de la variedad de aspectos que conformaron la subcultura creada alrededor de los 'diablos rojos', nombre con el que se conocían a los autobuses escolares que se usan aún como medio de transporte público. "Sirenata en B" was co-written and co-directed with Soberón Torchia y contó con la asesoría técnica del japonés Toshi Sakai. The work was the winner of the Crystal Appel prize and the MILK (Moment of Intimacy, Laughter and Kinship) Prize in 2001.


 * El imperio nos visita nuevamente (1990) is a docudrama que se adscribe a la categoría de cine de autor y constituye la confirmación de Sandra Eleta como directora y realizadora audiovisual. El argumento de "El imperio nos visita nuevamente" tiene su base en la similitud entre las crónicas de la invasión española del siglo XVI y los testimonios de la población sobreviviente a la invasión norteamericana de 1989. It was the first work of this kind created by a Panamanian filmmaker.


 * Abya Yala (1992) is her third diaporama, presented at EXPO Sevilla 92 in collaboration with Sakai, during the celebrations of the Quincentenary of the arrival of Spanish ships in North America.

Junto a su casa en Portobelo, Eleta founded the Taller Portobelo, which became a meeting place for artistas plásticos, designers, musicians, dancers, and those involved in theater, que tienen ocasión de compartir experiencias, exponer trabajos y realizar presentaciones.

The book Sandra Eleta, El entorno invisible de Mónica E. Kupfer y editado por Editorial RM y la Fundación Casa Santa Ana, presenta a través de 78 fotografías la trayectoria de un trabajo de más de 40 años de la fotógrafa panameña. The books includes a series of unedited photos on the indigenous communities of Guna Yala on the islands of San Blas.