Hi, I'm Fefo 👋
I'm an astronomy enthusiast turned NASA-recognised landscape astrophotographer and Sony Alpha Friend. I live in Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay.
My intention is to inspire as many people as possible to contemplate and fall in love with the night sky. I'm convinced that spending a night under the stars can be an incredibly therapeutic experience, and that understanding what we observe in the sky can encourage us to keep the natural night, free of light pollution.
I strive to produce content that is inspirational, but also educational so that my viewers gain something from giving me their valuable screen time.
I bring the stars into your homes through my print shop.
I offer exclusive astronomy and astrophotography resources, such as private mentorship, capture and post-processing courses and more, to my community on Patreon.
And I write the monthly digest El cielo del mes (which I send out free to my mailing list—for now just in Spanish, sorry) so that other astronomy enthusiasts and photographers can prepare for the events that will grace the skies in the coming weeks.
My story
My interest in the sky has been present since childhood. Like any child, I marvelled at the solar system and the stars. But my family environment led me to pay more attention to astronomy, as stories of the sky were recurrent at home.
My maternal grandfather was an optician and that led him to buy and collect telescopes, spotting scopes and binoculars. He eventually became an amateur astronomer.
He died very young and while I never got to meet him in person, he somehow managed to bond with me through my mother's stories of how he would take her and my aunt up to the roof to watch a meteor shower, or how they spent days watching Halley's comet through the telescope back in 1986.
When I was eighteen, walking through the historic quarter of my beloved Colonia del Sacramento, on one of those little cobbled streets, I came across a man with an impressive telescope pointed at the sky. I approached him and he showed me Saturn.
It was at that moment, seeing it surrounded by its rings with impressive clarity, that I physically felt—with the most intense shivers I have ever felt—how my passion for astronomy was born.
That summer night in 2009 I didn't go back home, but straight to my grandmother's. I asked her if those instruments were still there, she said yes and told me where to look for. So I went up to the attic and started to open dusty boxes—yes, like in the movies—and to discover those telescopes and spotting scopes. Suddenly I felt a deep connection with my grandfather and his passion that was now coming alive again through me.
I took a couple of pieces of equipment home and... that's when it all started.
Achievements & press
Awards and publications
- NASA Astronomy Picture Of The Day (June 20, 2023)
- NASA Astronomy Picture Of The Day (February 25, 2023)
- Cielos de noche, photo report in Lento (La Diaria) – Issue #119 (2023)
- Photos published in Herdes – Vol. XIII, The Moon Issue (2022-2023)
- NASA Astronomy Picture Of The Day (May 30, 2022)
- NASA Astronomy Picture Of The Day (December 16, 2021)
- Photo published in Acne Paper – Issue #16, Age of Aquarius (2021)
- Rutas Unesco Uruguay Award for the best photo on the theme Reserva de biosfera Bioma Pampa-Quebradas del Norte (2021)
- Mirá las estrellas, awarded by the Ministry of Education and Culture of Uruguay (2020)
- Photo published in Le ciel à l’oeil nu en 2019 (2019)
- NASA Astronomy Picture Of The Day (February 20, 2018)
- NASA Astronomy Picture Of The Day (September 19, 2013)
Exhibits
- Solo Exhibition «Mirá las estrellas», Espacio Bianki, Colonia del Sacramento, UY (November-December, 2023)
- Solo Exhibition «Mirá las estrellas», Centro Cultural Bastión del Carmen, Colonia del Sacramento, UY (February, 2023)
- Solo Exhibition «Mirá las estrellas», Planetario de Montevideo, UY (October-December, 2022)
- Collective Exhibition «Eclipses solares en Argentina», in various locations in Argentina (2019-2020)
In the media
- 02/06/23 ¿Qué veían en el cielo los pobladores originarios de Uruguay? Un astrofotógrafo, una científica y un ilustrador intentan mostrarlo, El Observador
- 25/02/23 La Nasa volvió a elegir una fotografía del uruguayo Fefo Bouvier como “la foto astronómica del día”, El País.
- 25/02/23 La NASA volvió a reconocer al astrofotógrafo uruguayo Fefo Bouvier: ahora capturó un atardecer con Venus y Júpiter, El Observador.
- 03/11/22 Vía Láctea y galaxias: la muestra del astrofotógrafo uruguayo distinguido por la NASA, Montevideo Portal.
- 16/10/22 Un recorrido por los paisajes nocturnos del cielo uruguayo, El País.
- 12/10/22 Entrevista televisiva en Mirá Montevideo, TV Ciudad.
- 05/10/22 “Mirá las estrellas”: una muestra de astrofotografía para redescubrir el cielo uruguayo, Telemundo.
- 07/08/22 Entrevista televisiva en Ideas Cruzadas, junto a Esmeralda Mallada, TV Ciudad.
- 04/08/22 Mirá las estrellas: proyecto de fotografía y astronomía uruguayo, Teledoce.
- 04/08/22 Cómo sacar una foto astronómica que sea destacada por la NASA, El Observador.
- 28/07/22 Fefo Bouvier, el astrofotógrafo uruguayo que encanta a la NASA, El Observador.
- 30/05/22 Un fenómeno atmosférico/astronómico en Colonia: la foto del día para la NASA, El País.
- 11/02/22 Bouvier, astrofotografía uruguaya, Revista Paula.
- 28/12/21 Apuntar a las estrellas: la pasión del fotógrafo uruguayo reconocido por NASA, EFE.
- 28/12/21 Las impactantes imágenes estelares tomadas por un fotógrafo uruguayo y reconocidas por la NASA, Infobae.
- 28/12/21 Entrevista televisiva en La Mañana en Casa, Canal 10.
- 22/12/21 Trabajo de Fefo Bouvier fue reconocido por la NASA, La Diaria.
- 20/12/21 Entrevista en Justos y Pecadores, Radio Uruguay.
- 16/12/21 Un uruguayo capturó la lluvia de meteoros y es foto del día para la NASA, El País.
- 16/12/21 Un fotógrafo uruguayo capturó una lluvia de meteoros y la NASA lo destacó, El Observador.
- 28/07/21 Entrevista televisiva en SobreCiencia, TV Ciudad.
- 18/04/21 Fefo Bouvier responde al Cuestionario Proust, El País.
- 29/01/21 The night sky: Best places to stargaze in Uruguay, Guru’Guay.
- 09/09/20 Un astrónomo —aficionado— que colabora con la NASA propone los mejores lugares de Uruguay para ver las estrellas, Clarín.
- 11/08/20 entrevista televisiva en La Mañana en Casa, Canal 10.
- 05/08/20 entrevista televisiva en Desayunos Informales, Teledoce.
- 05/08/20 entrevista en El Tungue Lé, Radio Uruguay.
- 04/08/20 El paso del cometa NEOWISE en Uruguay, captado por el lente de Fefo Bouvier, Montevideo Portal.
- 27/07/20 ¿Cuáles son los mejores lugares en Uruguay para ver las estrellas?, El País.
- 24/07/20 Artista uruguayo colaborador de la nasa impulsa proyecto astrofotográfico, Montevideo Portal.
- 23/05/20 Los mejores cielos de Uruguay, según dos fotógrafos fans de la astronomía, La Nación.