Mexican photographer Graciela Iturbide receives 2025 Princess of Asturias Award for the Arts

The Mexican photographer was honored this Friday with the prestigious Princess of Asturias Award for the Arts 2025, consolidating her position as one of the most influential figures in contemporary Latin American photography.

Born in Mexico City in 1942, Graciela Iturbide has developed a photographic work for more than five decades that transcends the limits of conventional art. His work is characterized by a deep sensitivity to ancestral cultures and an exceptional ability to capture the essence of communities in transition.
tor By Jacobo Caso - Trabajo propio, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=147709379
By Jesus Maturana
Published on 05/25/2025 - 13:16 GMT+2
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The Mexican photographer was honored this Friday with the prestigious Princess of Asturias Award for the Arts 2025, consolidating her position as one of the most influential figures in contemporary Latin American photography.

Born in Mexico City in 1942, Graciela Iturbide has developed a photographic work for more than five decades that transcends the limits of conventional art. His work is characterized by a deep sensitivity to ancestral cultures and an exceptional ability to capture the essence of communities in transition.
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The artist conceives photography as a tool for knowledge, exploration and cultural investigation, creating images that reveal both the fragility and resilience of centuries-old traditions.

His distinctive style, predominantly in black and white, manages to convey the complex interaction between nature and culture, while exploring the symbolic dimension of landscapes and everyday objects transformed by his artistic gaze. This approach made Iturbide an indispensable visual chronicler for understanding the sociocultural evolution of Mexico and Latin America.
Iconic work and international recognition

Among Graciela Iturbide's most celebrated works is her extraordinary 1979 photographic record of the Seri Indians of the Sonoran Desert, a series that exemplifies her ability to document endangered cultures with respect and artistic depth. Equally famous is his series on Frida Kahlo's bathroom in Coyoacán, where he captures the intimacy and symbolism of the iconic Mexican painter's personal space.
His work transcended geographic boundaries, portraying not only the indigenous peoples of Mexico, but also communities in Panama, Madagascar, and Cuba. This geographic breadth demonstrates their universal commitment to the visual preservation of diverse cultures and their ability to find common ground in the human experience.
The international recognition of his work is reflected in prestigious exhibitions at institutions such as the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, the Barbican Art Gallery in London, the Hokkaido Museum of Photography in Japan and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. These exhibitions have positioned his work in the canon of fine art photography worldwide.
Princess of Asturias for the Arts: tradition and prestige

Iturbide's election represents a significant recognition of photography as an artistic discipline and, specifically, of the work of social and cultural documentation that characterizes his work. His award highlights the growing importance of Latin American photography on the global art scene.

The Iturbide award is the fourth of the 45th edition of the Princess of Asturias Awards. Previously, the Communication and Humanities Prize was awarded to South Korean-born German philosopher Byung-Chul Han, the Literature Prize to Barcelona-born writer Eduardo Mendoza and the Social Sciences Prize to American sociologist and demographer Douglas Massey.

The awards ceremony continues with the following categories: Sport, on May 28, Concord, on June 4, Scientific and Technical Research, on June 12, and International Cooperation, on June 18.

Graciela Iturbide’s recognition transcends individual merit; The Mexican artist demonstrated that photography can be at the same time art and historical document, aesthetic beauty and social commitment.
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