Natalio Puras Penzo (Apeco)

Jesús Natalio Puras Penzo, best known by his pseudonym Apeco, was born in Santiago, Dominican Republic, in 1934, and died on January 16, 2010.

Apeco studied civil engineering at the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo. At the end of the 1950s, he became known for his photographs, in which he applied nontraditional methods in black and white and also for his stints as an actor.

In 1961, he opened the photo studio Foto APECO in Santiago. In 1962, he presented his first solo exhibition at the opening of the campus of the Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra (UCMM) of Santiago, and was director of the Photography Department Dominican Broadcasting for 10 years (1968-1978).

He collaborated with the photography froups Jueves 68 and FotoGrupo, with whom Apeco exhibited at numerous times. In 1976 he presented his second solo exhibition at the Dominican-American Institute, and in 1979 he was part of the group exhibition held at the inauguration of the Cultural Center of Santiago.

Today, Apeco is remembered as one of the greatest and most important Dominican photographers.