Dr. Lorena Mostajo

Biography

Lorena Mostajo is an artist whose photographic practice spans Mexico, the United States, and Bolivia. Her current projects center on the ways vernacular historical photographs interact with national imaginaries and the global-local economies of tourism. She examines the relationships and power dynamics present in tourism images, which often both contain and displace commonly known histories and ideas about national culture. Mostajo is the founder of Taller California, a small press that collaborates with artists, writers, and community members in the Tijuana-San Diego area. Taller California’s books are collaborative, and the press fosters experimental methods of production and distribution. Originally from Mexico City, she completed her Master of Fine Arts in photography at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and her Bachelor of Arts in Hispanic American Literature at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. In addition to her artistic practice, she has written for prominent Mexican photo journals such as Luna Córnea and various magazines and newspapers in Mexico. Mostajo co-edited 'Inmemoria,' a volume of essays on the French filmmaker Chris Marker, which included a translation of Amos Vogel’s 'Film Subversive Art,' published by the Ambulante Documentary Film Festival in Mexico. Her artistic work has been featured in collective exhibitions across Mexico, the United States, and Germany.

Research Interests