LATINX PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE UNITED STATES: A VISUAL HISTORY WAS PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON PRESS IN JANUARY 2021. HTTPS://TINYURL.COM/Y6DRZK
Latinos have been active as photographers nearly from the inception of the medium but are essentially absent from standard histories of photography. Until my comprehensive study on the history of Latino photographers in the u.s. is complete, I will use this page to provide basic information on key photographers:
Some general texts:
Comments at a panel discussion organized by CIIS, San Francisco, Feb . 2013, at the opening of En Foco/In Focus, selected works from En Foco's permanent collection.
En Foco, the New York based photographers; organization. An interesting article about En Foco can be found here, and more information about En Foco's permanent collection here.
Early Chicano photography of the civil rights era can be found at http://www.reuther.wayne.edu/taxonomy/term/17. A fascinating site containing the photographs of numerous photographers can be found at http://www.farmworkermovement.us/gallery/index.php?cat=30.
Latinos Behind the Lens: Ramon Nuez conducted numerous interviews with Latino photographers and published them in his (defunct?) blog, Latinos Behind the Lens. Here is an archived version of the interview he conducted with me in Feb. 2013.
From the West, Chicano Photography from the Mexican Museum, is one of the few publications dedicated specifically to Chicano photography. By Jennifer Gonzalez and Chon Noriega, and available here.
Individual photographers:
Laura Aguilar: Southern California based photographer who has created provocative, powerful images of her own body in the 1980s and 1990s to explore marginalzed identities. Article by Patricia Valladolid. Wikipedia entry with numerous links. Artist's statement in Women Artists of the American West.
Mario Algaze, among the first Cuban-American photographers, based in Miami.
Don Gregorio Anton, Chicano photographer, based in northern California.
Louis Carlos Bernal is one of the most important figures in Chicano art history; unfortunately, little is available about this photographer on the Internet. A selection of images by Bernal can be found here.
Bernal's photographs are archived at the Center for Creative Photography Tucson; see information and slideshow of images here. The monograph Louis Carlos Bernal: Barrios is available here.
Charles Biasiny Rivera, co-founder of the photography organization En Foco, and photographer whose highly personal works combined street photographs, painting, and text. Scant information is available online; LightWorks catalogue entry contains some biographical information.
Robert Buitron, based in Chicago, Buitron is responsible for a central body of work in the corpus of Chicano photography, The Legend of Ixta and Popo. Based on the Mexican popular tradition of illustrated calendars. he staged photographs placing pre-Hispanic figures in modern-day settings. A good overview of this work is here. En Foco profile here.
Phil Dante was a Puerto Rican photographer active in NY in the 1970s.
Jack Delano, historic American photographer who worked in Puerto Rico. No individual website but several books have been published. See http://www.mocp.org/collections/permanent/delano_jack.php, http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/oralhistories/oralhistory/delano65.htm, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Delano
Frank Espada is a lesser-known Puerto Rican photographer who deserves much greater recognition; he was among the first Puerto Rican photographers at work in New York. Also see his 2007 book, Puerto Rican Diaspora: Themes in the Survival of a People.
Christina Fernandez is a southern-California based photographer especially known for the series, Maria's Great Adventure, a series of staged, narrative photographs that explore issues related to migration gender, and changing concepts of Mexican and Mexican American identity.
Harry Gamboa, Pioneering Chicano artist based in Los Angeles who has worked with a range of media; photography is an important component of his practice.
Rene Gelpi, pioneering but little-known chronicler of Puerto Rican barrios in New York in the 1970s.
Anthony Goicolea, Cuban-American, Brooklyn-based photographer known for his stunning, staged images relating to gender, youth, and the environment.
Ken Gonzalez Day: Considered to be a member of the post-Chicano generation of artists; uses photography as a powerful conceptual tool. Essay by Julia Carson on Day's seminal Lynching in the West series here.
Felix Gonzalez Torres: Pioneering Cuban American neo-conceptual artist; photography played a key role in the realization of his projects.
Gory: Cuban-born photographer, based in Miami, creates surrealistic images on varied themes. Good website; see www.fotogory.com. Also see http://www.artscenecal.com/ArticlesFile/Archive/Articles2003/Articles0303/GoryA.html
Anthony Hernandez: long-time photographer based in Los Angeles. No individual website but see http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artMakerDetails?maker=30592, and http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/collections/collection-online/show-full/piece/?search=Rome%20%2317&page=&f=Title&object=2000.125
Maria Martinez Canas: Cuban-American photographer with a now long career and distinguished body of work. Extensive bibliography and information on artist's website: www.mariamartinez-canas.com
Ana Mendieta: Pioneering Cuban American artist. who used photography to document her performance work. Information about her work is easily found on the Internet.
Delilah Montoya: Chicana photographer ased in Arizona and Texas. Website: http://www.delilahmontoya.com/. Artist statement from the mid 1990s in Women Artists of the American West.
Abelardo Morrell: Leading photographer in the U.S.; Cuban-American, now based in Boston and exhibits internationally. Extensive information and bibliography on artist's website.
Jaime Permuth: Guatemalan-born photographer based in New York, particularly known for his Yonkeros series, as he states, "a lyrical exploration of first world consumerism, waste, and obsolescence as they intersect with third world ingenuity and survivalist strategies in the no-man’s-land of Willets Point, Queens." http://jaimepermuth.net/
Juan Sanchez: Major and influential Puerto Rican artist but not well represented on the Internet. See http://www.unm.edu/~TAMARIND/bios/sanchezbio.html, http://www.unm.edu/~TAMARIND/bios/sanchezbio.html, and http://www.unm.edu/~TAMARIND/bios/sanchezbio.html
Kathy Vargas: No individual website but Wikipedia has a brief bibliography, including the catalogue published by the McNay Museum, San Antonio, that is the standard reference on her work: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_Vargas
Victor Vazquez: Influential contemporary Puerto Rican photographer, among the first to work with non-traditional approaches and staged imagery. See http://schneidergallerychicago.com/section/40326_Victor_V_zquez.html, as well as my essay, http://www.victorvazquezpr.com/pdf/Vazquez_VictorVazquez_Eng.pdf
Miguel Gandert: Born in 1956 and based in New Mexico, Gandert has long documented the persistence of Indo-Hispano rituals that date to the Spanish Colonization of the Americas and that are unique to this region. https://americanart.si.edu/artist/miguel-gandert-29142