The essence of the portrait is linked to the enigma, to the questions more than to the certainties, as soon as someone tries to define it, they run into a big problem: given that there is no living being that stops transforming or individual that does not seek to match its real appearance with its ideal image, it is impossible for the artifact in charge of registering, commenting or criticizing this aspiration to be described simply.
Since the beginning of photography, the experience of creating a portrait focused on capturing the aspects that defined a person, whether through their character, their tastes, or those physical or moral qualities that made a human being unique.
In addition to revealing how a subject is represented, the contemporary photographic portrait questions us about the very essence, mysterious and unfathomable, of the representation of an identity. This is why artists explore new ways to answer who we are.
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This exhibition is based on the book A través de la mascara. Metamorfosis del retrato fotográfico en México by Pablo Ortiz Monasterio and Vesta Mónica Herrerías, published by Fundación Televisa’s Visual Arts Department.
Text: Vesta Mónica Herrerías.
Virtual exhibition: Cecilia Absalón Huízar.
Digitization and image editing: Omar Espinoza and Saúl Ruelas.