Paris Photo Exhibits Iconic Collection of Latin American Artists for the First Time

The international photography fair hosts the exhibition “The Last Photo,” which explores the influence of the image on society and politics through the collection of Estrellita Brodsky, bringing together works from the 1940s to the present day.
The philanthropist, academic, and collector Estrellita Brodsky, a leading figure in the promotion of Latin American art in the United States, arrives in Europe for the first time with her exhibition 'The Last Photo,' presented at the Paris Photo fair, which celebrates its 28th edition from November 13 to 16 at the Grand Palais (Photo: EFE / Isabel Rodríguez Ramiro).

The philanthropist, academic, and collector Estrellita Brodsky, a leading figure in the promotion of Latin American art in the United States, arrives in Europe for the first time with her exhibition The Last Photo, presented at the Paris Photo fair, which celebrates its 28th edition from November 13 to 16 at the Grand Palais.

Under the patronage of French President Emmanuel Macron, and bringing together 220 exhibitors from 33 countries, Paris Photo confirms its role as the international epicenter of contemporary photography. Among the most anticipated offerings at the fair is the exhibition "The Last Photo," a selection from the Estrellita Brodsky collection.

This is the first time her collection has been presented in Europe, featuring more than sixty works spanning from the 1940s to the present day, by artists such as Paz Errázuriz, Leo Matiz, Ana Mendieta, Beatriz González, and Vik Muniz. Brodsky explained that her exhibition "explores how images shape our perception of beauty, politics, and identity." "I am not just a collector of photographs, but of ideas. Latin American artists have broken the mold and transformed the image beyond mere documentary record," Brodsky added.

The curator and patron, of Venezuelan and Uruguayan descent and based in New York, has dedicated much of her career to studying and promoting modern and contemporary Latin American art.

“I grew up in an environment where there was limited appreciation for this art,” she recalled. “I thought it was essential to give visibility and recognition to artists who had been creating works of enormous cultural and political relevance for decades.”

Latin American Artists

Brodsky noted that her academic interest focused on Latin American artists in postwar Paris, with a transnational perspective. “The artists work without borders,” she stated, “and it is important to highlight the themes they share: society, culture, gender, and politics.”

Regarding the exhibition, she explained that The Last Photo is structured in three sections: landscape, the body, and politics, all interwoven with the idea of how the photographic image has been manipulated or reinterpreted by artists. “I was invited by Paris Photo and I accepted because, although I'm not a specific photography collector, many of my works engage with the photographic image and the way it influences our daily lives,” she noted.

The title comes from a series by Brazilian artist Rosângela Rennó, which marks the conceptual transition between analog and digital photography. “That shift from physical to immaterial media seems emblematic of the moment we are living in,” Brodsky emphasized.

Among the most representative pieces, the collector highlighted the work of Beatriz González, who transformed a journalistic image of a Colombian president celebrating while the country was experiencing a crisis and turned it into a domestic curtain sold “by the meter,” thus questioning the role of the media and the consumption of images.

“For me, it is an honor to present this collection in Europe, in such an iconic space as the Grand Palais,” Brodsky affirmed. “France has always been a welcoming place for Latin American artists, and this exhibition precisely reflects the international dialogue that I try to promote.”

In addition to its Latin American presence, Paris Photo 2025 broadens its global perspective with prominent scenes from India, the Middle East, Japan, and Eastern Europe, and with greater female representation thanks to the Elles x Paris Photo program, which has doubled the participation of women artists since 2018.

In parallel, the fair hosts talks with artists and theorists, the PhotoBook Awards, experimental installations, and a new educational space dedicated to the analog darkroom, in collaboration with the Sorbonne and the International College of Photography. With an attendance exceeding 80,000 visitors in 2024, Paris Photo is consolidating its position this year as a laboratory of ideas about the present and future of the image.

Source