Photographer #341: Gerardo Montiel Klint

Gerardo Montiel Klint, 1968, Mexico, received a BFA in Product Design and studied photography at the Escuela Activa de Fotografia and Centro de la Imagen in Mexico City. His main focus is staged photography. In recent years his work has revolved around the dark side of the human mind where, according to Gerardo, our true personality and primal instincts are hidden. His work revolves around the themes of good and evil, violence and desires. For the evil he refers to disaster, tragedy, ilness and despair. For the good he refers to the spiritual lighting, the miracle and heroism amongst others. He tries to make his images "hyperreal", more real than reality itself, making the viewer a witness of a scene he or she is visually attending. Gerardo's work has been exhibited and published internationally and is in various public collections. The following images come from the series Volutas de Humo, Primeros apuntes para una teoría del infierno and Desierto.

Website: www.gerardomontielklint.com

Photographer #337: Fernando Montiel Klint

Fernando Montiel Klint, 1978, Mexico, is an image maker who concentrates on staged photography often dealing with introspection. He studied photography at the Escuela Activa de Fotografia and Centro de la Imágen. In his series Acts of Faith (Actos de Fé) he has taken the meaning of the word faith in contemporary life without being bound by religion. In various scenes and actions he generates atmospheric and absurd realities. In Nirvana he created scenes within closed spaces, taking the subjects to a state of Nirvana, being the highest spiritual state that can possibly be achieved. The work has a hint of irony yet tries to evoke calmness and silence. Fernando works in a free way similar to a painter and often uses large format camera's. His work has been exhibited extensively and is part of numerous collections throughout the world. The following works come from the series Acts of Faith, Espacio Confinado and Nirvana.

Website: www.fernandomontielklint.com

Photographer #162: Alejandra Laviada

Alejandra Laviada, 1980, Mexico, studied painting at the Rhode Island School of Design and received a masters degree in photography from the School of Visual Arts. She goes into abandoned buildings for long-term periods to photograph the objects, often transformed to sculptures that she finds in these spaces. Alejandra therefore not only records these disappearing spaces, but also suggests stories about the people that have once inhabited these buildings. The following images come from the series Photo Sculptures, Juarez 56 and Typologies.

Website: www.alejandralaviada.com

Photographer #160: Alejandro Cartagena

Alejandro Cartagena, 1977, Dominican Republic, works and lives in monterrey, Mexico. His photographic works focuses on the urban, social and environmental issues of Latin America. In his series Between Borders he has photographed the people living between two borders, the one that devides USA and Mexico, the other of drug trafficking cartels in nearby ranchos. The three series below deal with the issue of urbanization and the effects on the environment, landscapes and it's inhabitants. The following images come from the series People of Suburbia, Fragmented Cities and Lost Rivers.

Website: www.alejandrocartagena.com
Video on Lost Rivers: www.podcast.tv

Photographer #144: Carlos Alvarez Montero

Carlos Alvarez Montero, 1974, Mexico, is a photographer that focuses on identity, indiviuality and appearances. After 12 years of working in Mexico City as a photographer he decided to go to New York to complete a two year MFA program at the School of Visual Arts. For his series Scars he made 20 portraits of people from Mexico City that decided to engrave ink marks on their neck or face as a statement of their life experiences. Throughout his projects the theme of identity is apparent. The following images come from his projects Scars, Covers (Adopt & Adapt) and M (De Michoacán).

Website: www.alvarezmontero.com