María García is a Mexican photographer and

photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (suc ...

, whose work has been recognized with membership in the

Salón de la Plástica Mexicana Salón de la Plástica Mexicana (SPM; Hall of Mexican Fine Art) is an institution dedicated to the promotion of Mexican contemporary art. It was established in 1949 to expand the Mexican art market. Its first location was in historic center of t ...

, and the Coatlicue Prize from the ComuArte, Mujeres en el Arte (Women in Art) organization. She was born María del Carmen Sánchez Castañeda in

Irapuato Irapuato is a Mexican city and municipalities of Mexico, municipality located at the foot of the Arandas Hill (in Spanish Language, Spanish: ''Cerro de Arandas''), in the central region of the Mexican state, state of Guanajuato. It lies between the ...

Guanajuato Guanajuato, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato, is one of the 32 states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Guanajuato, 46 municipalities and its cap ...

in 1936, but when she was six months old, her family moved to

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

where she grew up. As a child, she won a drawing contest with the

Excélsior ''Excélsior'' is a daily newspaper in Mexico City. It is the second-oldest paper in the city after ''El Universal (Mexico City), El Universal'', printing its first issue on March 18, 1917. The newspaper's headquarters are located at Avenida Buc ...

newspaper, and received a camera as a prize. This was the beginning of her work as a photographer, documenting aspects of her life. Her parents separated when she was still young, and she had to work as well as study to help her family's finances. Her aunt owned a photography business, where one day she met photographer Héctor García Cobo. She married him not long after, when she was only eighteen years old. After five years of marriage, she began working with her husband as a darkroom assistant, developing rolls that Héctor had shot. This prompted María to take her photography more seriously, balancing the raising of her children, the work with her husband and her own photography projects, starting in 1965. María began working freelance with a number of newspapers and magazines in Mexico and also became known for her photographic portraits of women such as

Mother Teresa Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu (born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, ; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), better known as Mother Teresa or Saint Mother Teresa, was an Albanian-Indian Catholic Church, Roman Catholic nun, founder of the Missionaries of ...

Valentina Tereshkova Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova (born 6 March 1937) is a Russian engineer, member of the State Duma, and former Soviet cosmonaut. She was the first Women in space, woman in space, having flown a solo mission on Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963. S ...

and

Nancy Cárdenas Nancy Cárdenas (29 May 1934 – 23 March 1994) was a Mexican actress, poet, writer and feminist. Education Born in Parras de la Fuente, Coahuila, Cárdenas earned a doctorate in Philosophy and Letters at the National Autonomous University of Me ...

. In 1968, she collaborated with writer

Elena Poniatowska Hélène Elizabeth Louise Amélie Paula Dolores Poniatowska Amor (born May 19, 1932), known professionally as Elena Poniatowska (), is a French-born Mexican journalist and author, specializing in works on social and political issues focused on ...

, taking photos of the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

and students protests of that year. María's first exhibition of her work was at the Casa del Lago (

UNAM The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countries. It also has 34 ...

), and has since been featured in numerous individual and collective exhibitions in venues such as the

Palacio de Bellas Artes The Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts) is a prominent cultural center in Mexico City. It hosts performing arts events, literature events and plastic arts galleries and exhibitions (including important permanent Mexican murals). "Bella ...

, the

Museo de Arte Moderno The Museo de Arte Moderno (MAM) is a museum dedicated to modern Mexican art located in Chapultepec Park in Mexico City. The museum is part of the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura and provides exhibitions of national and internat ...

and the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana. Her most noted artistic photos combine photography with graphic design, using light and the positioning of objects over others. Along with her husband, María founded the María y Héctor García Foundation, located in Mexico City. The location conserved a collection of over 1.5 million images taken by the two.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Maria Mexican photographers Mexican photojournalists People from Irapuato Artists from Guanajuato 1936 births Living people Women photojournalists 20th-century Mexican women photographers