Alejandro Cartagena Explained

Alejandro Cartagena (born 1977) is a Dominican Republic-born Mexican photographer.^[1] His work is held in the collections of the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago,^[2] Museum of Fine Arts, Houston,^[3] San Francisco Museum of Modern Art,^[1] and Santa Barbara Museum of Art.^[4] Cartagena has been shortlisted for the 2021 Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize.^[5]

Work

Cartagena is interested in the "effects of suburban sprawl on population growth and the environment in his home city" of Monterrey, Mexico. For Carpoolers (2014) he photographed construction workers from above, travelling to work along Mexican Federal Highway 85 in the back of their contractors' trucks, in 2011. Highway 85 links the city centre and its wealthier parts with the surrounding suburban sprawl.^[6]

Publications

Books of work by Cartagena

• Suburbia Mexicana. Daylight/Photolucida, 2010. . With an introduction by Karen Irvine, an essay by Gerardo Montiel Klint and a transcript of an interview by Lisa Uddin. Edition of 2000 copies.^[7]
• Carpoolers. Self-published, 2014.^{[8] [9] [10]}
• Before the War. Self-published, 2015. Edition of 200 copies.
• Headshots. Self-published, 2015.
• Santa Barbara Return Jobs Back to US. Skinnerboox, 2016. . With an essay by Jonathan Blaustein. Edition of 500 copies.^{[11] [12]}
• Rivers of Power. Newwer, 2016. . Edition of 500 copies.
• A Guide to Infrastructure and Corruption. Velvet Cell, 2017. . Edition of 500 copies.
• Santa Barbara Shame on US. Skinnerboox, 2017. . With an essay by Blaustein. Edition of 500 copies.^[13]
• A Small Guide to Homeownership: Case Study: Mexico. Velvet Cell 2020. With essays by Fernando Gallegos and Cartagena. First edition, first printing. First edition, second printing edition of 600 copies.^{[7] [14]}
• Santa Barbara Save US. Skinnerboox, 2020. . With an essay by Blaustein. Edition of 800 copies.
• Suburban Bus. Velvet Cell, 2021. Edition of 500 copies. .

Other publications by Cartagena

• We Love Our Employees. Mexico City: Gato Negro 2019. Photographs by Alberto Flores Varela.^[15]
• Insurrection Nation. Studio Cartagena, 2021. Magazine.^[16]

Awards

• 2021: Shortlisted, Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize, London for Centralia; along with Poulomi Basu, Cao Fei, and Zineb Sedira^{[17] [18] [19]}

Collections

Cartagena's work is held in the following permanent collections:

• San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco: 7 prints (as of July 2021)^[1]
• Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago: 8 prints (as of July 2021)^[2]
• Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

3 prints (as of July 2021)^[3]

• Santa Barbara Museum of Art

2 prints (as of July 2021)^[4]

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2021-07-14. Cartagena, Alejandro. SFMOMA.
2. Web site: 2021-07-14. Museum of Contemporary Photography. www.mocp.org.
3. Web site: Works | Alejandro Cartagena | People | the MFAH Collections .
4. Web site: 2021-07-14. Works - Alejandro CARTAGENA - Artists - eMuseum. collections.sbma.net.
5. Web site: 2021-07-14. This year's Deutsche Börse prize shortlist is fascinating – but is it photography?. O'Hagan. Sean. Sean O'Hagan. 10 November 2020. The Guardian.
6. News: Hannah. Booth. 2021-07-14. The big picture: Car Poolers, by Alejandro Cartagena. The Guardian. 24 February 2012. 0261-3077.
7. Web site: 2021-07-15. What Happens When the American Dream of Homeownership Reaches Mexico?. 31 March 2020. Aperture.
8. 2021-07-14. Time Picks the Best Photobooks of 2014. Time.
9. Web site: David. Rosenberg. 2021-07-14. Spying on Mexico's Carpoolers. 13 February 2013. Slate Magazine.
10. Web site: Matt. McCann. 2021-07-14. Piling in a Flatbed to Get By in the Suburbs. 27 June 2012. The New York Times.
11. Web site: 2021-07-14. Alejandro Cartagena. 29 June 2016. 1000wordsmag.com.
12. Web site: Brad. Feuerhelm. 2021-07-14. Alejandro Cartagena: Cultural Picture Coding and Collapse. 7 September 2016. americansuburbx.com.
13. News: Gloria Crespo. MacLennan. 2021-07-14. Los mejores libros de fotografía de 2017. El País. 12 January 2018. Madrid. 1134-6582.
14. Web site: 2021-07-14. Alejandro Cartagena documents the suburbanisation of northern Mexico and the fraught dream of homeownership. British Journal of Photography.
15. Web site: 2021-07-15. Alejandro Cartagena — We Love Our Employees. 31 July 2020. Tique.
16. Web site: 2021-07-15. Photography, Surveillance, and Protest. 29 June 2021. New Orleans Museum of Art.
17. Web site: 2021-07-14. The 2021 Deutsche Börse Photography prize sheds light on global issues. https://web.archive.org/web/20210714081001/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/photography/2021-deutsche-borse-photography-prize-b1867849.html . 2021-07-14 . limited . live. 28 June 2021. The Independent.
18. News: 2021-07-14. The Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2021. The Times.
19. Web site: Matthew. Ponsford. 2021-07-14. Prestigious photo prize honors docu-fiction on India's hidden war. CNN.