The work of Mauricio Vélez, an artist truly connected with his time, has ventured into various modalities, including, of course, portraiture, a genre in which this Antioquian photographer has achieved his most significant accomplishments, drawing on the legacy of fellow countrymen as illustrious as Melitón Rodríguez or Benjamín de la Calle. As in all of Vélez's work, in Society Portraits — understood here as a group that holds a culture, traditions, and values — nothing is left to chance. His records, which combine reality and imagination, testimony and poetry, capture not only the individuality of the subjects but also reveal the photographer's sharpness, sense of humor, and convictions about art, the world, and life.