'In front of the camera. Approaches to photographic portraiture'
Explore photographic portraiture through time, revealing how the image constructs identity, power, and new ways of looking at the subject
Image Center - Ministry of Culture of Mexico
Raquel Miguel Soto, Alfonso Navarrete, Alejandro Zepeda y Ana Victoria Pichardo Cruz
Juan Cárdenas painting, from the series Profession: Artist 1976 (0) by Jaime Ardilla Image Center - Ministry of Culture of Mexico
Approaches to photographic portraiture
Photographic portraiture has been a way of leaving a trace of our existence. It is a construction where memory, intention, and context intersect. The subject presents themselves and imagines themselves.
The Beginnings
With Talbot and his family portraits, the idea of capturing presence was born. The camera became a witness to the everyday and a tool to affirm that someone was there, in front of the lens.
A school of portraiture in Mexico
In Guanajuato, Romualdo García portrayed his community with precision and respect. His images established poses, gestures, and framing that defined a style of portraiture in Mexico at the beginning of the 20th century.
In studios, albums, or on keychains, portraits were a symbol of affection. Colored photographs or stereoscopic viewers preserved life in miniature.
Museum room register (2025) by Elic Herrera Image Center - Ministry of Culture of Mexico
Power and Identity
Porfirio Díaz and the presidents of the 20th century used portraiture to project authority. Photography inherited symbols of power from painting: the pose, the light, the gaze toward the future.
Alberto Korda's photograph of the 'Heroic Guerrilla' became one of the most reproduced portraits of the 20th century. An image that transformed a face into a universal symbol.
Museum room register (2025) by Elic Herrera Image Center - Ministry of Culture of Mexico
Fame and Representation
Film and television solidified new forms of portraiture. Figures like Silvia Pinal and Guilda demonstrated how image could create celebrities.
Another way of looking
Francisco Toledo redefined the gaze. In his portraiture there is observation and experimentation, a direct relationship with the subject that transforms the way of representing it.
Portraiture became a space for experimentation and transformation. Artists like Kati Orme and Inés Roque played with color, texture, and fragmentation to expand the possibilities of representing the subject.
Memory and loss
Mariela Sancari and Bill Jacobson used photography to confront absence, recreating what is no longer there. Their images do not seek to document, but rather to reflect on loss, memory, and that which can no longer be seen.
Portrait and Artificial Intelligence
Today, artists like Rogelio Séptimo are exploring new identities through artificial intelligence.
Book (2025) by Centro de la Imagen Image Center - Ministry of Culture of Mexico
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