Graciela Iturbide (1942-present) is a Mexican photographer who has portrayed Mexico’s challenges and surprises for more than 50 years with poetry and dedication. Her high-contrast, black and white photographs are iconic in Mexican pop culture.
Graciela Iturbide (1942-present) is a Mexican photographer who has portrayed Mexico’s challenges and surprises for more than 50 years with poetry and dedication. Her high-contrast, black and white photographs are iconic in Mexican pop culture.
History classes can get a bad wrap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.
Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.
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Hello! From Wonder Media Network, I’m Alesandra Tejeda and this is Womanica.
This month, we’re talking about visionaries -- women who made profound contributions to the fields of photography, film, sculpture, and the performing arts. Many of these women were radical artists who pushed conceptual boundaries within and beyond the art world.
Today’s visionary is close to my heart. She has portrayed Mexico’s challenges and surprises for over 50 years with poetry and dedication. Many of her images may depict a bygone Mexico, but they contain an unmistakable beauty that reminds me of my home. Many of her high-contrast, black and white photographs are iconic in Mexican pop culture. Please welcome Graciela Iturbide.
Graciela Iturbide was born in Mexico City in 1942. She grew up the eldest of 13 children in a wealthy, catholic family. Graciela was first exposed to photography through her father, who would take photos of her and her siblings. Graciela hoped to be a writer but her family’s conservatism made that unlikely.
She married at the age of 19 and had three children. Her second child, Claudia, passed away when she was just 6 years old. Graciela and her husband separated soon after.
In 1969, when she was 27, Graciela enrolled in film school at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, or, the UNAM. She wanted to be a film director. But working with the late Manuel Álvarez Bravo -- her mentor and one of Mexico’s most recognized photographers -- invigorated her interest in photography and travel. He also helped her to see the beauty in Mexico’s folk art. This art, or “arte popular” as it’s known in Spanish, refers to the artisan and craft art of the people of Mexico. It wasn’t considered high art at the time. Yet its influence stuck with Graciela, and it’s clear throughout her work. Beyond photographic technique, she credits Manuel with teaching her a greater appreciation for all the beauty Mexico has to offer.
In 1970, Graciela worked as Manuel’s photographic assistant for a year. Together, they travelled throughout Mexico. Graciela noticed the way in which Manuel photographed the poor and indigenous people of rural Mexico with respect, and this influenced her work as well. In 1978, she was commissioned by the Ethnographic Archive of the National Indigenous Institute of Mexico to photograph Mexico’s indigenous population. Graciela decided to focus on recording the way of life of the Seri people, who are from the Sonoran desert in northwest Mexico.
One of Graciela’s most famous photographs, Mújer Ángel, is from this period. In it, we see a Seri woman from behind. Her hair is long and she’s leaning forward, her shoulders hunched, as she overlooks an expansive desert valley. In her right hand she holds a boombox. This majestic and symbolic quality is present in many of Graciela's photographs. Whether the image be of a cloud of birds against a light sky or of a procession of people wearing skeletal masks as they walk arm in arm. Or, of a woman standing tall, looking ahead to a place above the viewer, while a crown of live iguanas adorns her head.
Graciela went on to photograph additional series focused on other indigenous groups in Mexico, including the Zapotec people of Oaxaca. She has even maintained relationships with her subjects over time. Graciela’s work has been internationally recognized, but she’s most known for the way she celebrates and documents Mexico’s rich and diverse landscapes, rituals, and people.
The empathy and lyricism in her photographs distinguishes Graciela’s work, regardless of the subject matter. While her images often reflect the hardship or strain of those who lead more difficult lives in Mexico, Graciela has said in multiple interviews that the point is not to capture poverty. She’s interested instead in capturing the beauty and the pain. To portray people with “a marvelous dignity.”
Currently, Graciela is 79 and resides in Mexico City. where she continues to live life with her camera.
All month, we’re honoring incredible, artistic visionaries.
For more information and pictures of some of the work we’re talking about, find us on Facebook and Instagram @womanicapodcast.
Thank you for having me as your guest host. I’m Alesandra Tejeda and I’m proud to have curated this month’s theme. I hope you’re enjoying learning about some of the women who’ve taught me how to see the world.
Talk to you tomorrow!