Photographer, passionate seeker and visionary of creativity, Flor Garduño is an outstanding representative of the richness and diversity of Mexican photography.
She was born in Mexico City on March 21st, 1957, and studied visual arts at the Academy of San Carlos (UNAM), where she focused on the search for the structural aspects of form and space. She became especially interested in the work of Kati Horna, a Hungarian photographer, whose communicative dimen-sion of her photographs had a great impact on the development of Garduño’s aesthetic. She gave up her studies to work as a darkroom assistant for Manuel Álvarez Bravo, one of Mexico’s most prestigious photographers, with whom she strengthened her photographic skills. Since then, Garduño has received numerable prizes, and her work has been exposed and published around the world.
Garduño’s photos depict the landscapes of Central and South America, and the people whose ancestors were indigenous to the region. Her photos depict subjects that could have existed in a time long before the present moment, and through photographing them, brings the indigenous land of America to the present moment. She addresses time – past, present, and future – simultaneously in her photographs. Through her photos we witness the slow procession from life to death, interrupted by comic accidents, childish play, liturgical ceremonies, and erotic repose. Though many themes traverse Garduño’s body of work, her art ultimately leads the viewer into a mystical realm in the collective subconscious.