WENDY EWALD

Working as a photographer and teacher, Wendy Ewald’s projects emphasize a method of collaboration that challenges the distinctions between photographer and subject. Adopting a variety of approaches, she creates projects based on a reciprocal vs. hierarchical approach. Her goal is to provide the vision of her subjects rather than merely make images of them. Through her documentary investigations of places and communities, Ewald probes questions of identity and cultural differences. In her work with children and women, she encourages them to use cameras to record themselves, their families, and their communities, and to articulate their fantasies and dreams.

The Chiapas Portfolio by Wendy Ewald is a collection of twenty-two copperplate photogravure etchings from Wendy Ewald’s 1991 project Retratos y Sueños, which emerged from her work with children in Chiapas, Mexico. Funded by The Ford Foundation, the project empowered Maya, Ladino, and Tzotzil-speaking children to document their own lives, dreams, and cultural experiences through photography. The resulting images provide a rare, intimate perspective on Maya communities just before the Zapatista uprising, challenging the outsider’s gaze that typically defined visual narratives of the region.

The Portfolio includes essays in English and Spanish by Wendy Ewald and Jason de León.

For inquiries regarding availability and pricing, please contact Mullowney Printing. Interested parties may reach out to Ella Marra-Ketelaar at ella@mullowneyprinting.com

To view the full collection of twenty-two images, please download a PDF of the press release.