Graciela Iturbide, ‘Mujer ángel, desierto de Sonora, México' (Angel Woman, Sonora Desert, Mexico), 1979; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, purchase through a gift of Jane Reed and the Accessions Committee Fund © Graciela Iturbide
In 1990, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) became the first American museum to give Mexican photographer Graciela Iturbide a monographic exhibition. Since then, she has become one of the most celebrated contemporary photographers around the world. Now, Iturbide’s work returns to SFMOMA with a retrospective spanning more than five decades of work.
Graciela Iturbide: Between Two Worlds features over 150 photographs taken between the 1960s and the 2010s, from her earliest experiments behind the camera as a young student to trips she took abroad later in life. Working almost exclusively in black and white, Iturbide’s photographs seem to exist at the intersection between life and death, tradition and mysticism, and reality and magic.
While some of her photographic series chronicle her journeys through places like the Southern U.S. and India, the bulk of Iturbide’s work paints an eerie yet soulful portrait of her home country. This can look like the busy markets in her hometown of Mexico City to religious rituals in Juchitán, a city in the southern state of Oaxaca with a large Zapotec population. “The camera is an excuse to share the life of the people, the rhythm and sympathy of festivals, to discover my country,” Iturbide says.
The exhibit also features some of the most famous pictures in Iturbide’s portfolio, such as Our Lady of the Iguanas, Juchitán, Oaxaca, Mexico. The striking portrait depicts a woman selling live iguanas, which she carries around on her head. To some, the image mirrors that of Medusa, with iguanas in place of snakes atop her head. Others draw a parallel between the iguanas and Christ’s crown of thorns, all while capturing the strong, defying look in her eyes.
“Graciela Iturbide’s photographs describe an array of life in Mexico that is so intimate and full of wonder that the viewer feels transported into a literary realm, like that of a vivid novel,” says Delphine Sims, assistant curator in the Department of Photography at SFMOMA.
Graciela Iturbide: Between Two Worlds will be on view through November 29, 2026. To plan your visit, learn more at SFMOMA’s website, and stay up to date by following SFMOMA on Instagram.
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) honors Mexican photographer Graciela Iturbide with a retrospective spanning more than five decades of work.
Graciela Iturbide, ‘La Nuestra Señora de las Iguanas, Juchitán, Oaxaca, México' (Our Lady of the Iguanas, Juchitán, Oaxaca, Mexico), 1979; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, gift of the artist; © Graciela Iturbide
Graciela Iturbide, ‘México, 1969;' Collection Fundación Mapfre; © Graciela Iturbide
Graciela Iturbide, ‘Magnolia (2), Juchitán, México,' 1986; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Accessions Committee Fund purchase; © Graciela Iturbide
Graciela Iturbide, ‘Ritual, fiestas de Niño Fidencio, Espinazo, Nuevo León, México' (Ritual, Niño Fidencio Festival, Espinazo, Nuevo León, Mexico), 2000; Collection Fundación Mapfre; © Graciela Iturbide
Graciela Iturbide, ‘Khajuraho, India,' 1998; Collection Fundación Mapfre; © Graciela Iturbide
Graciela Iturbide, ‘Vendedora de zacate, Oaxaca, México' (Woman Selling Fodder, Oaxaca, Mexico), 1974; Collection Fundación Mapfre; © Graciela Iturbide
Graciela Iturbide, ‘Carretera 61, de Clarksdale, Mississippi, a Memphis, Tennessee, Estados Unidos' (Highway 61, from Clarksdale, Mississippi, to Memphis, Tennessee, United States), 1997; Collection Fundación Mapfre; © Graciela Iturbide
Graciela Iturbide, ‘Baile del cabrito, La Mixteca, Oaxaca, México' (The Goat’s Dance, La Mixteca, Oaxaca, Mexico), 1992; Collection Fundación Mapfre; © Graciela Iturbide
Graciela Iturbide, ‘Autorretrato con los indios seris, desierto de Sonora, México' (Self-Portrait with the Seris, Sonora Desert, Mexico), 1979; Collection Fundación Mapfre; © Graciela Iturbide
