Iturbide, Graciela

Graciela Iturbide is famous for her pictures of Mexico, particularly its Indigenous population, though later projects have taken her to India and the American South in her exploration of modern culture. In particular she is known for her master work Juchitán of Women, a decade long project that began in 1979 when artist Francisco Toledo invited a group including Iturbide to visit Juchitán, a small town in southern Mexico’s Tehuantepec Isthmus, and contribute to an exhibition for the town’s Casa de Cultura. This Zapotec Indian town had a distinct culture and way of life, notable for the dominance of women in commercial and political spheres.

Graciela Iturbide was born on May 16, 1942 in Mexico City. She studied filmmaking with a special interest in scriptwriting and later still photography at the Centro Universitario de Estudios Cinematográficos, at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México from 1969-1972. It was there she met Manual Álvarez Bravo, and in 1970 and 1971 she apprenticed with him. The first exhibition of her work was in Tres Fotógrafas Mexicanes at the Galería José Clemente Orozco in Mexico City in 1975. Solo exhibitions of her work have been held around the world, including OMC Gallery for Contemporary Art, Duesseldorf, Germany; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Robert Miller Gallery, New York; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; and Casa del Lago, New Mexico. Major retrospectives of her work have been held at Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterey, Mexico (1996) and at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (1997-98). She is the recipient of a Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography (1987) and a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Felloswhip (1988).