Graciela Iturbide - When the light speaks (cuando habla la luz)
We return (and will continue to return) to the Casa de México de España (Madrid), this time to visit one of those exhibitions that are advertised as unmissable. The protagonist of the exhibition is a highly awarded creator, which, for me personally, not only arouses my interest but also puts me on guard.
I think it's no secret that major awards (and I would dare to say minor ones too) are more the result of good public relations and good contacts than of the quality of the award-winning work, which is why I tend to be very demanding of the most renowned or award-winning authors.
So I showed up at Graciela Iturbide's exhibition with my backpack overflowing with skepticism. My mistrust disintegrated in a matter of seconds, turning into fine dust until it disappeared.
Graciela Iturbide, winner of the Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts (2025), is a photographer who has been captivating audiences for more than 40 years. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that this exhibition left me spellbound from start to finish.
Na´ Marcelina. Oxaca, México. 1984
In the last two years, since I rediscovered my love of exhibitions, two events have had a profound impact on me. One of these exhibitions was Boris Savelev, and the second was/is the one I am presenting today, featuring the enchanting photographer Graciela Iturbide.
Advertisement for the exhibition. Image: Nuestra Señora de las Iguanas (1979)
If I already mentioned at the time that Boris Savelev's photographs spoke to me of his inner world and melancholy, in the case of Iturbide, her gaze is projected outward, with serenity, inviting complicity with the subjects portrayed.
In fragments of life where some would seek sensationalism, sordidness, or the most shocking photo, the Mexican photographer, with respect and free of prejudice, walks toward dignity.
La tienda. Quito, Ecuador. 1982
The photographs on display show that photography, in addition to being a technical procedure with the ability to accurately recreate reality, as seen in its use in the world of science, is also a medium capable of creating worlds.
Iturbide has been recreating landscapes full of magic for more than four decades; of this there is no doubt.
Sin título. Oxaca, México. 1986
¿Ojos para volar? [Eyes to fly?] (1989) This question is answered as visitors and viewers walk through the exhibition. Without a doubt, Iturbide's gaze flies high, seeing what only she is capable of seeing and then showing.
Radiografía de un pájaro. Oxaca, México. 1999
This exhibition features some truly striking photographs. Among my favorites are:
Mujer ángel. desierto de Sonora, México. 1979
Cristina. Este de los Ángeles, Estados Unidos .1986
Magnolia. Juchitán, México. 1986
Mujer ángel. desierto de Sonora, México. 1979
And among them all, there is one that is very special:
Nuestra Señora de las Iguanas (1979).
The image used in Madrid to promote the exhibition is also the image that earned the most extensive explanatory commentary of all the creations exhibited at the Casa de México.
This photograph is an example of how the author shows archetypes and symbols as points of support for the community.
According to the exhibition notes, this image represents the goddess of creation. She is the founding totem of a society (clan) and at the same time “Medusa Juchiteca”: a warrior goddess who breaks away from male authority. We are faced with the founding myth of an entire community.
Sín título. Jardín Botánico de Oxaca, México. 1999
I felt very close to the author's clear, non-judgmental gaze on these realities in which rituals are explicit, blood is blood and not an analogy. A journey into a world in which identity, being among others, sacrifice, and death are fully present.
An approach to reality that I also encountered years ago in anthropology:
Man finds meaning in the events in which he lives through cultural patterns, ordered clusters of meaningful symbols. The study of culture... is therefore the study of the mechanism that individuals and groups of individuals use to orient themselves in a world that would otherwise be obscure.
Clifford Geertz. The Interpretation of Cultures. 1973
Sin título. Vevey, Suiza. 2010.
Sin título. Texas, Estados Unidos. 2000
Sin título. Chalma, México. 2008
Sin título. Kioto, Japón. 2008
Suonare. Sin fecha.
Sin título. Puebla, México. 2013
Después de la matanza. Oxaca, México. 1992
Sin título. Desierto de Sonora, México. 1979
Bollywood,Bombay, Maharashtra, India. 1999
Sin título. Benarés, India. 1999
Pájaros con árbol. México. sin fecha.
Sin título. Jaipur, India. 1998
Tepito. Ciudad de México. 1972
Sin título. Madagascar. 1991
Torito. Ciudad de México. 1981-1983
Serafina. Juchitán, Oxaca, México. 1985
Serafina. Juchitán, Oxaca, México. 1985
Sin título. Benarés, India. 1999
To conclude, I will say that if the photographer constructs reality, the reality presented in this publication is my construction of an exhibition in which magical landscapes accompany universal desires.
It is also possible that this text is not a construction, but an invention born of necessity. To put words where there are none, or to give explanations to the inexplicable. To a mystery that pierced my soul during two afternoons in June in Madrid.
Sin título. Desierto de Sonora, México. 1979
Sin título. Desierto de Sonora, México. 2017
Sin título. Desierto de Sonora, México. 1980
El metro. Tokio, Japón. 1990
Aky. Guanajuato, México. 1974
El maestro geómetra. Atananarivo, Madagascar. 1991
Sín título. Coyoacán, Ciudad de México. Sin fecha.
Cuatro pescaditos. Juchitán, Oxaca, México. 1986
Carmen, la matanza. La Mixteca, Oxaca, México. 1992
Sacrificio. 1982
Después del rapto. Juchitán, Oxaca, México. Sin fecha
Sin título. Juchitán, Oxaca, México. 1986
Cristina. Este de los Ángeles, Estados Unidos .1986
Sin título. Oxaca, México. Sin fecha
Héroes de la patria. Cuetzaian, Puebla, México. 1993
Aparición en el km. 84. Chalma, México. 1983
Marcha política. Juchitán, México. 1984
Magnolia. Juchitán, México. 1986
Sin título. Chalma, Estado de México, México. 1984
Sin título. Khajuraho, India. 1998
Autorretrato. 1996
El baño de Frida. Coyoacán, Ciudad de México. 2006
¿Ojos para volar? 1989
Nuestra señora de las iguanas. Juchitán, Oxaca,México. 1979
Manos poderosas. Juchitán, Oxaca,México. 1986
Cholos harpys. Este de Los Ángeles, Estados Unidos. 1984
Chiapas.
Sin título. Etla, Oxaca, México. 2007
Antes de la Matanza. El baile del cabrito. La mixteca, Oxaca, México. 1992
Los pollos. Juchitán, Oxaca, México. 1979
Autorretrato con serpientes. Sin fecha.
El gallo. Juchitán, Oxaca, México. 1986
Jano. Ocumicho, Michoacán, México. 1981
Primera comunión. Chalma, México. 1984
Novia muerte. Chalma, México. 1990
Primera comunión. Chalma, México. 1984
Sin título. Ciudad de México. 1969
Sin título. Cerdeña. 2010
Comisaría de policía. Italia.
I hope you liked this post.
Thank you for joining me here.
Banner edited with Canva pro and cropped with ezgif.com.
Avatar created with IA Ideogram.
Translated into English from my native language Spanish with Google Translator.
All photographs are my own. All images taken with my Xiamoi14 cell phone camera.
🕷️
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La de Cristina la del gallo y la del aborigen de sombrero me parecieron imágenes interesantes un saludo mi estimado
Me alegra de que que te haya parecido interesnate alguna imagen. Muchas gracias por la visita mi estimado @encuentro.
Un abrazo!!
It doesn’t surprise me that she sees and feels in black and white (monochrome, speaking broadly). She’s a great artist. And thank you for this gift you’re sharing with all of us.
Reading your notes is also deeply inspiring.
;)
Hi @nanixxx, I was reading your blog when you called. Regarding your comment about the monochrome, why do you say it doesn't surprise you? As for the artist... I'm completely illiterate, I didn't know her, and as you say, she's a great artist. When I started delving into the exhibition, at some point, I felt like I was in a temple.
And, of course, thanks for the comments... I'll come back to your post.
Because she says it in the video: 'to me, black and white is like an abstraction,' and then she humbly adds that maybe she doesn’t know how to photograph in color… She’s one of those artists who distills and thinks abstractly in the presence of reality, and that’s what gently strikes us in her photos, even when rawness sometimes takes center stage. 😅 Un abrazote.
Yes, he says so in the video, and that abstract thought is reflected very well in the landscapes... But I thought you might be referring to something else...🤔
🫂
😁 puede ser...
Si 😄
Muy interesante. El nombre me pareció conocido, pero no. Desconocía su trabajo, pero me pareció interesante el enfoque de lo cotidiano, incluso lo escabroso visto en el contraste del blanco y negro.
Viva Mexico.
Bienas trdes mi estimado @felixmarranz, tampoco coonocía el trabajo de esta fotógrafa. Si llega alguna muestra de su trabajo por allá no dudes en ir a verla. Estas fotografías deslucen bastante la calidad de la obra.
Un abrazo muy grande. Viva Mexico.
Esta imagen me dejó impresionada, de todas fue mi favorita, no sé por qué, tal vez la nostalgia que se percibe y la iluminación. Tremenda artista la que has compartido por acá, cada fotografía es una joya. Saludos, @enraizar 🤗, espero que todo esté bien, tenía años sin aparecer por aquí.
Hooola!! Qué alegría leerte, gracias por tus palabras @vezo, cómo estás?
Gracias a ti por siempre traer posts tan buenos 🤗, por acá muriéndome de calor jajaja, estos días está fuerte. Y tú, qué tal todo?
Bien, en unos 15: días me tomo unos días de vacaciones. He tenido un verano muy entretenido, anidaron unas palomas en casa... Y de eso habrá publicación. Por lo demás bien. En Hive a mí ritmo y disfrutando.
Ay qué ternura lo de las palomas, ya esperaré la publicación con ansias para verlas 🤗. Me alegra que esté todo bien, unas vacaciones bien merecidas 😁.
Si, bien merecidas. El pichón, porque hay pichón se pasó ayer a saludar. Supongo que un día será el último que lo veré por aquí.
Vas a publicar? O se me ha escapado alguna publicación?
Qué belleza, ya los quiero ver en fotos 🤗, por aquí hay muchas palomas también, guacharacas y guacamayas, son unas sinvergüenzas 😂, escarban y lanzan de todo al suelo y a la gente 😂. Lo más probable es que publique mañana, he estado bastante inactiva, pero ya poniéndome las pilas 😁.
Por aquí hay muchas palomas de varias clases, pero no es normal que aniden en la terraza de un piso habitado .. y he soñado varias veces con el pichón...
Te voy a dejar que por acá es tarde. Me has dado una alegría muy grande con tu visita.
Mañana te leo, un abrazo muy grande, Vezo 🫂
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Thank you for sharing the work of this artist, it´s very interesting.
Thank you very much for visiting and commenting. I'm glad you liked it. I also think Iturbide is a great artist.
Best regards,
Hermosas fotografías caballero, me regalaste imágenes muy sugestivas, realistas, crudas y artísticas. El arte de fotografiar es maravilloso.
Ahhh y otra vez me atrajo la tierna primera fotografía.
🤣 Ya sabes, hay que elegir algo que llae la atención. Un abrazo!!
La curación manual del testigo de @hispapro valorando tu excelente trabajo 👍
Saludos
Gracias @hispapro.
!PAKX
Que esperas para unirte a nuestro trail de curación y formar parte del "proyecto CAPYBARA TRAIL"
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Gracias, gracias, gracias!!!
I think I'm here on time, right? I hope so!!!
You only started enjoying exhibitions two years ago? Well done! Was it because of Hive?
First of all, I want to tell you that it's a spectacular exhibition and, out of all the exhibitions I've seen, this is my favourite. In my opinion, it alludes to the shadows of reality but also to simplicity and beauty, light and darkness, positive and negative. It's beautiful.
But I also really liked the ones with nature, especially trees. And it's true, it manages to capture the realities of many people and situations and also create a new reality with your perception of the previous ones, just as you built one with this visit and your photographs. This publication has been excellent. Thank you very much!
Hello @avdesing, you always arrive on time, you always make very timely comments, and you will always be welcome (we miss you when you are late for your visit).
I haven't mentioned the landscapes much in the text, but I'm not surprised you liked them. Not only because you like nature, but because they create atmospheres that, for me, have something mysterious about them. I think he treats the elements of the landscape he portrays as if they were people posing, with those blurred backgrounds.
In answer to your question, I took up exhibitions again through Hive and then gave them up, just as I did with music concerts and cinema, because I got tired of them. There came a point when few things were capable of surprising me (I have a post prepared for mipiano in which you will understand what I mean, although it will be some time before it is published).
With Hive, I returned to exhibitions with the intention of publishing, and I was surprised to find that I enjoyed them again.
The photo you chose is very beautiful.
A big hug, a very big hug.
The enjoyment of those things never went away; you just had to find meaning in them. I had never been to art exhibitions before, and here I discovered how much I enjoy them. The same thing happened to me with nature. Thank you for this post, it's great!
Voy a ser pesado, Muchas gracias a ti también. Te visito en un rato. 😃👋
No importa, lo leo de a ratos, pero estaré!!! Abrazo!!
🤗
Gracias 😌
Vaya recorrido que nos has traído, no conocía la fotógrafa y el complemento de su entrevista maravilloso, nos da un mayor panorama. Cada fotografía es un lugar es un rincón es detenerse a mirar.
Los pies de Frida en su baño, mascaras, iguanas de verdad son detalles para mirar, es toda una vida tomando momentos.
Ese calendario donde la chica esta desnuda o baja de ropa se daban mucho en los talleres de mecánicos, los recuerdo. recuerdo en una ocasión que mi papá mando hacer unos para regalar en navidad y le vinieron unos de momentos familiares y otros de esos picantes, la verdad no se si los termino regalando o destruyendo.
La niña de la primera comunión lleva mascara y la novia muerte, la verdad es que los mexicanos conviven con su cultura tan especial.
Excelente aporte cultural que nos has recomendado para mirar.
Un abrazo de lunes.
!PIZZA
!LADY
!HUESO
!HUG
!PIZZA
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Una fotógrafa realmente especial, sus obras son misteriosas y tienen ese olor a tierra mojada, a humedad, a mexico y folklore.
De todas, me quedo con Na Marcelina
Congrega un halo místico, esotérico y captura lo señorial, y muestra esa otra dimensión, captura la esencia de su trabajo.
Hermosa publicación, ocupa un lugar especial en mi lista de favoritos de tu blog.
!PIZZA
Muchas gracias @manclar. No me resulta extraño que esta fotografía sea la elegida, ves cosas que otros no ven, aunque están ahí.
Un abrazo muy grande.
Que bacanas las fotos están cool
!ALIVE