Fotografía Maroma: a living gallery of Mexican photography

Fotografía Maroma: a living gallery of Mexican photography is a project commissioned by Belmond and co-curated by Photo London’s co-founder Fariba Farshad and Mexican gallerist Patricia Conde, the show champions the work of four prominent Mexican photographers: Patricia Lagarde, Javier Hinojosa, Ilán Rabchinskey and Margot Kalach.

The four photographers were asked to capture the bounty and beauty of the beautiful Maroma landscape. With its captivating culture, astonishing terrain and rich storytelling tradition, many artists feel the inexorable pull of the Riviera Maya. The photographers’ unique perspectives provide a glimpse into Mexico’s beguiling identity. A stretch of Caribbean coastline on Mexico’s northeastern Yucatán Peninsula, the Riviera Maya is steeped with centuries of Mayan history. Regarded as one of the most beautiful tourist destinations, the long beaches are for many photographers a dream subject. The four photographers commissioned for this unique project all approached the assignment with their own sensibilities.

From Patricia Lagarde’s creative conjurings of dreamlike scenes  – ‘Rather than taking pictures of reality I shoot images from my imagination. I invent realities’ – to Ilán Rabchinskey’s beautifully minimalist works ‘My aspiration is to achieve simplicity’; Javier Hinojosa’s intuned approach to the natural elements ‘Working with nature means managing uncontrollable factors,’ to Margot Kalach’s focus on the core make-up of a photograph ‘My preferred medium is the expression of light’, the artists used the landscape as their studio and interpreted the Riviera May to powerful effect.

Commenting on the project’s process Farshad says: ‘It was quite an experience in terms of short-time delivery but for me, it was incredible to work in this way. To give the artists just a couple of weeks and for them to get their shoot done and come back with the results. I think the main point was that we went for the artists that we trusted were going to deliver.’

Farbia Farshad and Patricia Conde discuss the challenges and joys of curating the work in the artnet’s podcast series The Art Angle. Read more about the exhibition here.

After its opening at the Miami Design District during Art Basel Miami Beach, the exhibition has embarked on an international tour (see dates below) and will be on show at Photo London in May. After its international tour, the photographs will go on display at Maroma, Belmond’s hotel in the Riviera Maya in May 2023.

Touring exhibition dates

• Art Basel Miami Beach at 182 NE 39th Street, Suite 117, Miami Design District, 33137. Public viewings: 1 December (4pm–8pm EST), 2 and 3 December (11am–8pm EST). Special conversation with the curators and artist Ilán Rabchinskey on 1 December at 5pm EST.
• ZONAMACO in Mexico City (8–12 February 2023)
• Photo London (11–14 May 2023)
• The exhibition will end its tour at Maroma, following the hotel’s grand re-opening