Bodyguards in the Land of Shadows is a coming out story. Before Lake Verea, there were two individual women with dreams and projects. Carla Verea was focused on portraiture and Francisca Rivero-Lake was producing Sound Art. Verea had been working on a series that would change the course of her life. Since the turn of the millennium she had been focusing on portraying individuals that were not supposed to be seen, making the invisible visible. She had mastered medium format cameras, was brave, young and full of energy. Between 2001 and 2004 she travelled extensively to Guatemala, where bodyguards were common for people that paid for protection in a country that had been under civil war for more than 30 years. She carried with her a white backdrop, tripod, stand and packs of polaroid film to exchange for the portraits. For her, it was fascinating to see that, most of the time, the bodyguards stood and waited for unforeseen circumstances. They were paid to protect the rich, the powerful, the lands, the businesses, the houses. Most of the time, they did exactly that, waited for the unexpected action, the danger, the enemy. They exchanged the value of their own life for a salary. They were behind-the-scenes and supposed to be invisible. Verea felt an affinity with her own circumstance while struggling with how to accept her homosexuality. Her true self was supposed to be invisible and it felt as if she was in the shadow of what society was assuming her to be: a straight woman that would become a wife, a mother. Her quest to portray the courageous armed men fed her own courage. She asked them to pose for her and do what they do while they waited. Some pointed their guns, pistols, rifles, and shotguns at her. Some posed proudly holding the weapons with confidence. Others imitated the movie stars that feed their visual culture. The common denominator is Verea's unique perspective and ability to portray these bodyguards as people with the right to be seen, as individuals with dignity and tender faces, as employees whose significance is eclipsed by their employer who pays and arms them. Verea shot over 153 bodyguards. As the series progressed, she gained confidence and was inspired by the fearlessness needed to accept and come out as her true self. The moment when Verea and Lake fell in love, the story took a turn. Verea’s individual quest became a shared dream with Lake. Together they set out to find the identity and sturdiness needed to evolve into their then new reality of being a lesbian couple. Lake’s previous experience as curator, art dealer and art producer came in handy to edit and shape this powerful series of portraits. Both of them fed on the strength, courage and power of the portraits and transformed the series into installations, a video and many exhibitions. It also signals the transition from the individual photographer to the artist duo, Lake Verea.