Graciela Iturbide(born May 16, 1942)[1]is a Mexican photographer. Her work has been exhibited internationally, and is included in many major museum collections such as theSan Francisco Museum of Modern ArtandThe J. Paul Getty Museum.[2]
Graciela Iturbide | |
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![]() Graciela Iturbide 2007. | |
Born | Graciela Iturbide May 16, 1942 |
Education | Centro Universitario de Estudios Cinematográficos,Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México |
Known for | Photography |
Awards | Hasselblad Award2008. |
Website | gracielaiturbide |
Biography
editIturbide was born inMexico City,Mexico in 1942,[3]to traditional Catholic parents. The eldest of thirteen children,[4]she attended Catholic school and was exposed to photography early on in life. Her father took pictures of her and her siblings, and she got her first camera when she was 11 years old. When she was a child, her father put all the photographs in a box; Iturbide later said: "it was a great treat to go to the box and look at these photos, these memories."[5]
She married the architectManuel Rocha Díazin 1962 and had three children over the next eight years: sons Manuel and Mauricio, and a daughter, Claudia, who died at the age of six in 1970. Manuel is now a composer and sound artist and has lectured atCalifornia College of the Arts.[6]Mauricio took after his father and became an architect.[7]
Photography career
editIn 1970 Iturbide turned to photography after the death of her six-year-old daughter Claudia. She studied at theCentro Universitario de Estudios Cinematográficosat theUniversidad Nacional Autónoma de Méxicowith the intention of becoming a film director. She realized how drawn she was to photography, which wasManuel Álvarez Bravo's area of expertise. He was a teacher at the university as well as a cinematographer, photographer, and subsequently became her mentor.[4]She traveled with Bravo between 1970 and 1971 and learned that "there is always time for the pictures you want."[8]In 1971 she was awarded theW. Eugene Smith Grant,and a scholarship at the Guggenheim College.[9]
Style and influence
editIturbide photographs everyday life, almost entirely in black-and-white, following her curiosity and photographing when she sees what she likes.[10]She was inspired by the photography ofJosef Koudelka,Henri Cartier-Bresson,Sebastiao Salgadoand Manuel Álvarez Bravo.[11]Her self-portraits especially reflect and showcase Bravo's influence and play with innovation and attention to detail.[12]Iturbide eschews labels and calls herself complicit with her subjects.[10]With her way of relating to those she is photographing, she is said to allow her subjects to come to life, producing poetic portraits.[13]She became interested in the daily life of Mexico's indigenous cultures and people (the Zapotec,Mixtec,and Seri[12]) and has photographed life in Mexico City,Juchitán,Oaxacaand on the Mexican/American border (La Frontera). With focus on identity, sexuality, festivals, rituals, daily life, death, and roles of women, Iturbide's photographs share visual stories of cultures in constant transitional periods. There's also juxtaposition within her images between urban vs rural life, and indigenous vs modern life.[14]Iturbide's main concern has been the exploration and investigation of her own cultural environment.[12]She uses photography as a way of understanding Mexico; combining indigenous practices, assimilated Catholic practices and foreign economic trade under one scope.[15]Art critic, Oscar C. Nates, has described Iturbide's work as "anthropoetic."[13]
"Angelitos"
editSome of Iturbide's earliest works involved the documenting of angelitos, young or infant children that had died, and their burial. Iturbide became practically obsessed with death, most of her images from this time period is that of cemeteries or families heading to a cemetery. Despite this, art critic Oscar C. Nates notes that death in Iturbide's photographs is not gloomy, but poetic.[13]Iturbide's obsession with death only ceased when she encountered a corpse of a man when following a family to bury anangelito.This was seen as Iturbide's sign to move on from only documenting death.
"Mujer Ángel"
editIn 1978, Iturbide was commissioned by the ethnographic archive of theNational Indigenous Institute of Mexicoto work on a series about Mexico'sSeri Indians– a group of fishermen living in theSonora desertalong the Arizona/Mexico border. She was inPunta Chuecafor a month and a half working on the series. There were about 500 people within the community. It was while working for this series that her photograph called "Mujer Ángel" was taken.[16]The image depicts a Seri woman while on an expedition to a cave with indigenous paintings. The woman “looked as if she could fly off into the desert” and was carrying a tape recorder which she had exchanged for handicrafts with Americans.[16]"Mujer Ángel" was used by the politically charged metal groupRage Against the Machinefor their single "Vietnow"in 1997." Mujer Ángel "and the Seri People series is part of the Museum of Fine Arts 2019 photography exhibition" Graciela Iturbide's Mexico ".[17]
In 1979, Iturbide was asked by painterFrancisco Toledoto photograph theJuchitánpeople who form part of theZapotecculture native to Oaxaca, Mexico. It is traditionally a matriarchal society in which the women are economically, politically, and sexually independent. The women run the market, and men are not allowed to enter with the exception of gay men, whom they call "muxes" in theZapotec language.[2]This experience as a photographer shaped Iturbide's views on life, and even though Iturbide did take a focus on the role of woman throughout Mexico when taking photos, she was still not afeminist,as evidenced by her quote: “My photographs are not political or feminist but I am when I need to be.” Iturbide worked on this series for almost 10 years, ending in 1988. This collection resulted in the bookJuchitán de las Mujeres.[18]
"Nuestra Señora de Las Iguanas" and "Magnolia"
editSome of the inspiration for her next work came from her support of feminist causes. Her well-known photograph,[19]"Nuestra Señora de Las Iguanas" (Our Lady of the Iguanas) came from her photo essay "Juchitán of the Women (1979–86)" which was also shot inJuchitán de Zaragoza.[20]This icon became so popular that there is a statue of this woman made in Juchitán as well as murals and graffiti.[2]Filmmakers Susan Streitfeld andJulie Hébertused this photo as an icon in their filmFemale Perversions(1996).[8]: 4 "Nuestra Señora de Las Iguanas" is also part of the 2019 series exhibition at theMuseum of Fine Arts in Boston:Graciela Iturbide's Mexico.[17]Comparisons have been made between Iturbide's "Nuestra Señora de las Iguanas" andLa Virgen de Guadalupe,showing an indigenous woman from Juchitan as a rendition of La Virgen of Guadalupe, the image serves as a reminder of the hardships and injustices that indigenous communities in Mexico have suffered.[21]However, her work in Juchitán was not only about women, as she also photographed "Magnolia", a photo of a nonbinary person wearing a dress and looking at themselves in a mirror.
"Juchitan de Las Mujeres"
Iturbide created this series between the years of 1979 to 1989 when she became entranced with the women-centered community of the Zapotec Indians, located in the Southern Mexican state of Oaxaca; the most purely indigenous community in Mexico.[22]Iturbide found these women's political, sexual, and economic freedom deeply inspiring.[23]
Iturbide's method of documentation was not like the common distanced photographer. Instead, Iturbide took the time to get to know the women on a personal level. By doing so, Iturbide gained their trust and permission to photograph them. With their trust, Iturbide was invited to film many of their private celebrations and she became exposed to the Zapotec people through the eyes of the indigenous women.[22]Iturbide's work in Juchitan helped bring a newfound enthusiasm by the Mexican people for its indigenous communities and helped bring forth a new wave of feminism to the country.[21]
Viewers can explore images of Iturbide's "Juchitan de Las Mujeres" series at herwebsite.
Other works
editIturbide has also photographed Mexican-Americans in theWhite Fence(street gang) barrio ofEastside Los Angelesas part of the documentary bookA Day in the Life of America(1987). She has worked inArgentina(in 1996),India(where she made her well-known photo, "Perros Perdidos" (Lost Dogs)), and theUnited States(an untitled collection of photos shot inTexas).
One of the major concerns in her work has been "to explore and articulate the ways in which a vocable such as 'Mexico' is meaningful only when understood as an intricate combination of histories and practices."[24]
She is a founding member of the Mexican Council of Photography. She continues to live and work inCoyoacán, Mexico.
In awarding her the 2008Hasselblad Award,theHasselblad Foundationsaid:
Graciela Iturbide is considered one of the most important and influential Latin American photographers of the past four decades. Her photography is of the highest visual strength and beauty. Graciela Iturbide has developed a photographic style based on her strong interest in culture, ritual and everyday life in her native Mexico and other countries. Iturbide has extended the concept of documentary photography, to explore the relationships between man and nature, the individual and the cultural, the real and the psychological. She continues to inspire a younger generation of photographers in Latin America and beyond.[25]
Some of Iturbide's recent work documents refugees and migrants. In her work "Refugiados" (2015), offers a stark contrast between love and family and danger and violence showing a smiling mother holding her child in front of a hand-painted mural of Mexico dotted with safety and danger zones.[26]
The largest institutional collection of Iturbide's photographs in the United States is preserved at theWittliff collections,Texas State University,San Marcos, TX.[27]
Publications
edit- Billeter, Erika,ed. (1994).Fiesta und Ritual: Graciela Iturbides Mexiko[Fiesta and Ritual: Graciela Iturbides Mexico] (in German). Graciela Iturbide (artist). Berne, Switzerland: Benteli.ISBN9783716509357.
- Images of the spirit.New York:Aperture Foundation,1996.ISBN0-89381-681-7.
- La Forma y la Memoria= "Form and Memory". Monterrey, Mexico:Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey,1996.ISBN978-9686623321.
- Eyes to fly with: portraits, self-portraits, and other photographs.Austin,University of Texas,2006.ISBN0-292-71462-9.
- Iturbide.Madrid: tf. editores, 2003.ISBN84-96209-48-2.
- Graciela Iturbide.London:Phaidon,2006. Edited and with an essay by Marta Gili.ISBN9780714845708.Phaidon, 2011.
- Torrijos: The Man and the Myth.Madrid: Umbrage, 2008.ISBN978-1-884167-68-3.
- Graciela Iturbide: Juchitán.Los Angeles:J. Paul Getty Museum,2007.ISBN9780892369058.Barcelona: RM, 2011.ISBN978-8492480531.
- Des Oiseaux.Paris:Xavier Barral,2019.ISBN978-2-36511-248-2.
- White Fence.Mexico: RM, 2024.ISBN978-8419233691.
Awards
edit- 1987: W. Eugene Smith Grant from theW. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund[28][29]
- 1988:Guggenheim Fellowshipfrom theJohn Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation[30]
- 1990: International Grand Prize, Hokkaido, Japan[31]
- 1991: Award Recontres Photographiques, Arles, France[28]
- 1998: First prize, Mois de la Photo, France[31]
- 2008:Hasselblad FoundationPhotography Award[32]
- 2021: Outstanding Contribution to Photography,Sony World Photography Awards[33]
- 2022: Induction into theInternational Photography Hall of Fame and Museum[34]
Exhibitions
edit- 1980:Graciela Iturbide,New Mexico[citation needed]
- 1990:External Encounters, Internal Imaginings: The Photographs of Graciela Iturbide,at theMuseum of Modern Artin San Francisco, CA[citation needed]
- 1991:Rencontres d'ArlesFestival, Arles, France[citation needed]
- 1997–1998:Images of Spiritat thePhiladelphia Museum of Art,Philadelphia, PA[citation needed]
- 2003:Pajaros et Paisajes(Birds and Sights), Robert Miller Gallery, New York City[citation needed]
- 2003:Pajaros et Paisajes,OMG Gallery for Contemporary Art, Düsseldorf, Germany[citation needed]
- 2007–2008:The Goat's Dance: Photographs by Graciela Iturbide,J. Paul Getty Museum,Los Angeles, LA[citation needed]
- 2008:Torrijos: The Man and the Myth,[35]Americas Society,New York
- 2011: Rencontres d'Arles Festival, Arles, France[citation needed]
- 2011:Retrospective,Pinacoteca, São Paulo, Brazil[36]
- 2015:Naturatta | Baño de Frida,Helinä Rautavaara Museum, Espoo, Finland[citation needed]
- 2016:Graciela Iturbide: A Lens to See,Ruiz-Healy Art, San Antonio, TX, for Fotoseptiembre USA
- 2017:Revolution and Ritual: The Photographs of Sara Castrejon, Graciela Iturbide, and Tatiana Parcero,Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery atScripps College,Claremont, CA[citation needed]
- 2019: "Graciela Iturbide's Mexico", Museum of Fine Arts, Boston MA[37]
- 2019: "Graciela Iturbide's Mexico", Minneapolis Museum of Art, Minneapolis MN[38]
- 2020: "Graciela Iturbide's Mexico", National Museum of Women in the Arts[39]
Collections
editIturbide's work is held in the following permanent collections:
- Academy Art Museum,Easton, MD[40]
- Brooklyn Museum,Brooklyn, NY[41]
- Museum of Modern Art,New York City[42]
- Centre Georges Pompidou,Paris[43]
- Los Angeles County Museum of Art,Los Angeles, CA[44]
- National Museum of Women in the Arts,Washington, D.C.[45]
- San Francisco Museum of Modern Art,San Francisco, CA[46]
- J. Paul Getty Museum,Los Angeles, CA[47]
- Wittliff collections,Texas State University,San Marcos, TX[27]
- Yale University Art Gallery,New Haven, CT[48]
Further reading
edit- Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (1980).7 portafolios Mexicanos: exposición por diversos países, Centro Cultural de México, abril-mayo de 1980.UNAMDifusión Cultural – in Spanish
- Quintero, Isabel and Peña, Zeke. "Photographic, The Life of Graciela Iturbide." J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 2018.
References
edit- ^"Iturbide, Graciela".Museum of Contemporary Photography.Retrieved2019-02-19.
- ^abc"Graciela Iturbide talks about going viral, L.A. cholos and shooting Frida Kahlo's bathroom".Los Angeles Times.ISSN0458-3035.Retrieved2017-11-12.
- ^Phaidon Editors (2019).Great women artists.Phaidon Press. p. 198.ISBN978-0714878775.
{{cite book}}
:|last1=
has generic name (help) - ^ab"Graciela Iturbide (Mexican, born 1942) (Getty Museum)".The J. Paul Getty in Los Angeles.Retrieved2017-11-12.
- ^Iturbide, Graciela; Bradu, Fabienne (2006).Eyes to Fly With: Portraits, Self-Portraits, and Other Photographs.Austin: University of Texas Press. p. 3.
- ^"Lecture by Manuel Rocha Iturbide | California College of the Arts".www.cca.edu.Retrieved2017-11-12.
- ^"Iturbide Studio in Mexico City by Taller Mauricio Rocha + Gabriela Carrillo".Architectural Review.Retrieved2017-11-12.
- ^abIturbide, Graciela; Keller, Judith (2007).Graciela Iturbide: Juchitán.Los Angeles: The J. Paul Getty Museum. p. 1.
- ^"1987 Graciela Iturbide".W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund.Retrieved2020-05-16.
- ^abNieves, Evelyn; Iturbide, Graciela (2019-01-08)."Graciela Iturbide's Photos of Mexico Make 'Visible What, to Many, Is Invisible'".New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved2020-05-16.
- ^Palka, Mateusz (31 December 2013)."Graciela Iturbide's" Asor "".www.fototapeta.art.pl.
- ^abc"Graciela Iturbide".Art21.
- ^abcNates, Óscar Colorado (2012-04-07)."Graciela Iturbide: Señora de los símbolos".Oscar en Fotos(in Spanish).Retrieved2020-05-16.
- ^"A Photo Teacher".4 July 2007.
- ^"ARTIST Graciela Iturbide".17 February 2019.
- ^ab"Graciela Iturbide's best photograph: a Mexican Seri woman".TheGuardian.com.19 September 2012.
- ^abPérez Villatoro, Maybelline."Graciela Iturbide's Mexico".Museum of Fine Arts Boston.Retrieved3 April2019.
- ^"Graciela Iturbide | Artist Profile".
- ^"Day of the Iguanas".Smithsonian (magazine),September 2008. Accessed 9 March 2017
- ^"Nuestra Señora de las Iguanas (Our Lady of the Iguanas), Juchitán, Oaxaca".Brooklyn Museum.Accessed 9 March 2017.
- ^abFoster, David (2004)."Genero y fotografia en Juchitan de las mujeres de Graciela Iturbide"(PDF).Ambitos: Revista de Estudios Sociales y Humanidades.11:63–69 – via Helvia.
- ^ab"Graciela Iturbide Juchitan de Las Mujeres 1979–1989 Limited Edition book with print".ROSEGALLERY.Retrieved2020-03-10.
- ^Hazelton, Claire Kohda."Graciela Iturbide".Frieze.No. 180.ISSN0962-0672.Retrieved2020-03-10.
- ^Iturbide, Graciela; Tajeda, Roberto; López Austin, Alfredo (1996).Images of the Spirit.New York: Aperture Foundation. p. 12.
- ^The 2008 Hasselblad Award Winner – Graciela Iturbide,Hasselblad Foundation, 2008, archived fromthe originalon June 3, 2008,retrieved2008-06-17
- ^Taladrid, Stephania (30 May 2019)."Graciela Iturbide's Art of Seeing Mexico".The New Yorker.Retrieved2020-05-16.
- ^abGraciela Iturbide Photographs at The Wittliff Collections, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX.Archived2016-06-30 at theWayback MachineRetrieved 3 June 2016.
- ^ab"Graciela Iturbide » Awards and Grants".Retrieved2020-03-10.
- ^"1987 Graciela Iturbide".W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund.Retrieved2020-03-10.
- ^"Graciela Iturbide".John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.Retrieved26 December2014.
- ^ab"Graciela Iturbide » Awards and Grants".Retrieved2020-05-16.
- ^Graciela Iturbide Wins Hasselblad Foundation Photography Award,ARTINFO, March 20, 2008,retrieved2008-05-20
- ^Stevenson, Neil (15 April 2021)."Fourteen spectacular winning images from the Sony World Photography Awards 2021".The Telegraph.ISSN0307-1235.Retrieved2021-04-15.
- ^"Graciela Iturbide".International Photography Hall of Fame.Retrieved2022-07-25.
- ^Torrijos: The Man and the Myth.Retrieved 18 August 2014.
- ^"Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo".Archived fromthe originalon 2011-07-06.Retrieved2011-07-06.
- ^Pérez, Maybelline."Graciela Iturbide's Mexico".Museum of Fine Arts Boston.Retrieved31 March2019.
- ^"Graciela Iturbide's Mexico –– Minneapolis Institute of Art".new.artsmia.org.Retrieved2020-03-10.
- ^"Graciela Iturbide's Mexico | Exhibition".NMWA.Retrieved2020-08-01.
- ^"https://gallery.collectorsystems.com/public/AAM/2042?ArtistName_search=Iturbide%2C%20Graciela%20b.%201947%20-".Academy Art Museum.Accessed 10 June 2022
- ^"Graciela Iturbide – Mexican, born 1942".Brooklyn Museum.Accessed 9 March 2017
- ^"Graciela Iturbide: Mexican, born 1943".Museum of Modern Art.Retrieved2017-03-09.
- ^"Graciela Iturbide".Centre Georges Pompidou.Accessed 9 March 2017
- ^"Graciela Iturbide".Los Angeles County Museum of Art.Accessed 9 March 2017
- ^"Graciela Iturbide: Born 1942".National Museum of Women in the Arts.Accessed 9 March 2017
- ^"Graciela Iturbide: Mexican: 1942, Mexico City, Mexico".San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.Accessed 9 March 2017
- ^"Graciela Iturbide".J. Paul Getty Museum.Accessed 9 March 2017
- ^"Overview and Highlights".artgallery.yale.edu.Retrieved2017-03-08.
External links
edit- Graciela Iturbide, Visionary Ethnographer
- The Goat's Dance at the J. Paul Getty Museum
- The Wittliff Collections of Southwestern and Mexican Photography, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX
- Museum of Fine Arts, Boston exhibition
- New York Times, Graciela Iturbide Mexico Photos
- British Journal of Photography, Graciela Iturbide's Mexico
- Art Forum, Graciela Iturbide's Mexico
- Boston Globe, At the MFA, the pure profusion of Graciela Iturbide
- Washington Post, Discovering contemporary Mexico beyond Daily Headlines: Images by Graciela Iturbide
- The Guardian. Interview with Graciela Iturbide
- WBUR, MFA Graciela Iturbide black and white photographs
- The Economist. Seeing Life, Graciela Iturbide