Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide

by Isabel Quintero, Zeke Peña (Illustrator)

Graciela Iturbide was born in México City in 1942, the oldest of 13 children. When tragedy struck Iturbide as a young mother, she turned to photography for solace and understanding. From then on Iturbide embarked on a photographic journey that has taken her throughout her native México, from the Sonora Desert to Juchitán to Frida Kahlo’s bathroom, to the United States, India, and beyond. Photographic is a symbolic, poetic, and deeply personal graphic biography of this iconic photographer. Iturbide's journey will excite readers of all ages as well as budding photographers, who will be inspired by her resolve, talent, and curiosity.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Biography, Nonfiction, Art, Photography, Comics, Biography Memoir

96 pages, Hardcover

First published December 27, 2017

About the author

Isabel Quintero is a writer, poet, teacher, wife, friend, sister, daughter, granddaughter, aunt niece, and a bunch of other things. She lives in the Inland Empire, where she was born and raised by Mexican immigrant parents and Mexican immigrant granddparents; the hospital where she was born in was converted to a Lowe's hardware store. That's how long ago she was born.

She learned to love reading and the written word from a very young age when her mother used to read to her Amelia Bedelia. That love was fostered by teachers and professors throughout her schooling and she is sure if they hadn't boosted her ego for all those years she would have never dared letting the world see what she had written.

Gabi, A Girl in Pieces is her first young adult novel.

Reviews

[Shai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Photographic is a splendid graphic novel that narrates the life story of one of the brilliant and prominent photographers in Mexico. Through this, readers will finally get to know who Graciela Iturbide is behind her famous works.

I was able to read about her and see some of her photographs in a National Geographic magazine when I was still young. When I saw the photo of her "Our Lady of the Iguanas" in this graphic novel, that's when it hit me that I have seen it before. The photos that Iturbide captures really stands out and will make people become curious about what's the story behind the subject(s).

A great photo book/graphic novel will enthrall readers on who is Graciela Iturbide and that showcase some of her well-known works.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exemplary biography of Graceila Itrubide, a Mexican photographer and artist.

Iturbide's work spans decades and themes, and this book traces her background, training, and inspirations. Some of her best known work is in the intersection of humans and nature in Mexico. Traveling to different states and regions, she photographed the indigenous Seri people of the Sonoran desert, portraiture in markets in Oaxaca, cityscapes in Mexico City, and natural landscapes, particularly cacti, birds, and reptiles of Mexico. Some photographs also capture her travels to California and Arizona in the US.

The biography includes many of her photographs, and graphic renderings of the photograph by Zeke Peña. Quintero's writing is contemplative, philosophical and wonderfully done.

A beautiful quality graphic biography, published by the Getty Museum in Los Angeles - and highly recommended for anyone into photography, cultural studies, and landscapes.

After reading this book, I really enjoyed seeing more of her work online, and stumbled across this great interview with Iturbide that shows many of her pieces: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oZxDrw61eI.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

“We are all fragments of one another, strewn across.... borders. Different lines in the same poem.”

“Photography reveals flocks of birds with unclipped wings moving inside me. . . .I am a woman and then a bird.”

“Bird is dream is camera is self is life.”

I am glad to recall through this graphic biography Graciela Iturbide, the great Mexican photographer, maybe the second most famous woman Mexican artist. However, I had only seen scattered images of her work. Here’s a famous one, Our Lady of Iguanas:

https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/openco...

“in which I blur the line between the present and the mythical and the immortal.”

I am inclined to say her work is magical, but she hates that word for her work, preferring to think of it at its best as poetic. Thus, the biography by Quintero and Pena strives for a poetic rendition of her life. I am not quite satisfied with the execution, but I admire the attempt and I do like several things it does.

As with The Photographer,

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

it mixes cartoon images with actual photographs in its biography and while I like collage, pastiche or mixed media approaches, in neither of these books did I really like the juxtaposition of photographs to comics. It always made me want to stop reading the graphic tale and go straight to the photographs. I also wasn’t always sure in the blending of words whose words were whose.

Still, having said that, I liked getting to know more background about Iturbide, and immediately ordered a couple collections of her photographs from the library and probably will buy one. Exciting stuff, and the biography is sufficiently disjointed to be true to her career and approach. It is short, though, and feels like a YA intro to the author in some ways. I wish I got to know her more deeply. It focuses a little too much on her travel and less on who she really is. It feels a little too surface/rushed in its presentation of the range of her life. I might say something in the range of 3.75. Still, I’m intrigued, and glad to invite others in with me on a new obsession.

International Center for Photography photographs by Iturbide:

https://www.icp.org/browse/archive/co...

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and thought-provoking book.
Graciela Iturbide was an artist first but was born into a society where women confirmed.
Getting married and raising a family didn't complete her and finally she enrolled into film school, later to become an apprentice photographer.
She has had a long and successful career as an award-winning photographer and never leaves home without her camera.
This is a wonderful insight into her creative life; her influences and personal approach to her art.
I loved her style and vision which makes one marvel at such a humble person who is accepted everywhere she travels and captures her images.
This book is a great advocate for equality and diversity and seeing life with fresh eyes. We visit many places in our world all armed with mobile phones and basically take the same pictures. We are so full of ourselves we repeatedly take selfies and crave likes.
Maybe we can learn from this strong woman to be less conservative and so eager to confirm and explore our world with fresh eyes.
I have always loved photography and Graciela's story has taught me so much more than the standard books one gets to explore a hobby.
Not so much just How to, but How to be, to live, to see.

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was unfamiliar with the Mexican photographer, Graciela Iturbide, whose works are displayed in the J. Paul Getty Museum in L.A., Houston's Museum of Fine Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and New York's Museum of Modern Art. This book illustrates her journey interspersed with her photographs to various Mexican States, her fascination with birds, the objects of India, the quiet spaces of the U.S. (El Norte), and Frida Kahlo's Casa Azul. In Juchitan, the proud women embrace her into their community and she learns that a Mexican woman is (I quote in part) earth, flora, song, the colors of the Mexican flag, the wild mountains, and the question and answer. She is introduced to Zobeida, La Medusa Juchiteca, a vendor who has a crown of "iguanas undulating atop her head." The plants of Oxaca leads to a fascination of photographing nature throughout the world. Her work is a mix of poetry - symbolism, dreams, and imagination as depicted in her favorite and haunting mix of the past and present in Mujer Angels. Photography "is the synthesis of what you are and what you've learned to do." What a life this creative artist has and is living. I hope to visit the museums featuring her images one day soon.

[Romie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found it interesting to see how this woman, Graciela Iturbide, saw the world as a writer, a photographer, an artist. How she understood it through her lens.
What I loved the most was how she travelled all around the word and tried to capture things that weren’t usual, things that people didn’t care to look at, didn’t care to see. That was beautiful.
What was also beautiful was the way this depicted womanhood: people who identify as women, different women, beautiful women no matter what.
There was power in her photographies, something you can’t quite catch but a real atmosphere.

3.75

Thank you Netgalley for providing me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not usually a fan of biographies that stray too far from fact, but while this one walks right on the line with its poetic digressions, it manages to justify the style by crawling into the head of its subject. Iturbide's photographs are well integrated into the narrative.

Still, it is more paean than biography, and since it is produced by the museum that owns a lot of Iturbide's photographs, that relentless positivity gives the book the whiff of advertorial.

[Sylvia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it. This is a book written by a poet and an artist, and because of that both language and image intertwine in the most beautiful way. Isabel Quintero and Zeke Peña, use their particular languages to tell us the story of Graciela Iturbide; furthermore, they also bring to us the importance of looking at people, objects, places with different eyes. Always.

This is not a common biography or a common graphic novel; this is an attempt to bring together the magic of Iturbide´s life and work to the page in brief fragments and vivid glimpses. The narration takes us in and out and carries us deeply.

[Lata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting introduction to Mexican photographer Graciela Iturbide. I liked the use of comic line drawings+photographs to give us a small taste of both the woman and her work. The few of Graciela Iturbide's photographs that are featured in this book are haunting.

[Elizabeth A · Rating 4 out of 5]

"We are all fragments of one another, strewn across Mexico and across borders. Different lines in the same poem."

This graphic memoir is targeted for the middle grade reader, and it's the first time I've even heard about Graciela Iturbide. She's a critically acclimated Mexican photographer, and it's a shame that she isn't a household name. There is one particular photo of hers that I've always been both unsettled and intrigued by - thought didn't know the artist until now - and this book show how it was captured. So cool.

This is a gentle biography of her life with wonderful black and white illustrations of some of her photos. It also includes some actual photographs - all in black and white, as that is how she made sense of the world. It's a lovely homage to her talent, and I plan to read more about her.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Graciela gave up a life of comfort and convention—choosing instead the path of the artist and risking everything."

"This is how I find my selves. But choosing who I will be."

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I choose photography over tradition."

Photographic is a graphic novel following the life of Mexican photographer Graciela Iturbide, someone that I, unfortunately, didn't know about until reading this. Actually, that is precisely why I picked this up. A successful, female, Mexican photographer? Of course I had to check it out!

Before saying anything else, I need to mention that I am Mexican. Born and raised. Reading about Graciela Iturbide and what she has been doing way before I was alive, was just mind-blowing. Knowing that she was able to follow her dreams in a time and place where her only job was to have children has left me speechless.

Following her journey has taught me so much I didn't know about my own country, my own culture. So much that we don't talk about. This simple, yet beautifully drawn novel momentarily talks about the resilience of Mexican families and culture in the United States; the strength and power of women in parts of Mexico that are less patriarchal; and the strength, inclusion, and celebration of muxes in Juchitan.

"In Juchitan, womanhood is not weakness; it is unapologetic."

This graphic novel not only includes these amazing revelations and gorgeous illustrations but it also includes stunning photographs taken by our very own Graciela Iturbide. Someone who not only has taught me so much about my country but also has made me feel free. Someone who has made me appreciate photographs much more.

[Jenny Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a digital copy to read and review from NetGalley

Clearly based on the cover, this book is full of gorgeous art.
However, this book is in black and white, because that is what photographer Graciela Iturbide believes reality is - black and white.

This is around 90 or so pages of a very brief history of the rise and work of Graciela Iturbide. The pages are a mix of simplistic comics composed of interviews done with Graciela, as well as a few of her actual photographs.

There is additional information about her life as well as references to additional reading material provided after the comic portion is completed.

I love this concept. I love the ability to learn about someone new to me in a graphic novel form, and I love that her work was incorporated into this book. This was really well done and I hope to see way more books published like this. I'm definitely feeling inclined to learn some more about Graciela Iturbide, and view more of her photographs.

[Raina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love that the world is being exposed to Iturbide's work through this book. Her photographs are truly striking, and I loved that several of her photos are included within this book. They integrate well with Zeke Pena's illustrations (those end papers with drawings of different cameras are so so gorgeous).

That said, I've read a lot of nonfiction graphic novels. Many of those I read are memoir, written by someone describing their own life. So I think that wealth of reading experience colored my perception of this work - there's an obvious difference in describing a historical figure's life instead of your own. Structurally, I also found it a little bit hard to follow. For some of those reasons, I decided it wouldn't have a wide enough appeal to booktalk to broad school audiences, but I will (and have) definitely handsell it when I have the opportunity.

I loved the context given to the photographs though, as well as the photographs themselves. Quintero includes a brief biographical words-only essay in the backmatter (complete with citations), as well as image captions for the photographs (good job!).

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you still think of graphic books as lesser, or more like comic books, this will convince you otherwise.

Not a kid's book. Not too much that is mature/ disturbing for teens, but a quick search for more related content showed me images I did not actually want to see.

I agree with the notes that Iturbide's is not surreal or magical, but very, very real. And poetic. Yes.

One thing that this bio reveals is noteworthy - Iturbide admits that she believed Mexico and India to be similar, to have a lot in common (perspectives, significance of traditions, focal points of land- and city-scapes, etc., iiuc)... but then she went to India and found that each country has its own magnificence. I appreciate biographies that reveal flaws or naiveties in their subjects... and that show how the subject can learn and grow....

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

The art of this graphic novel is beautiful, but it barely compares to the photographs taken by Graciela Iturbide. I was astonished that I'd never heard of this amazing photographer and incredibly glad that the authors of this volume provided a list of references for exploring her work. The photos are gorgeous, even when the subject matter is a bit rough. (I was not, for example, prepared for a beautifully composed but still disturbing shot of someone holding a slaughtered goat.) I can't recommend this book strongly enough as an introduction to Iturbide's life and photographs.

[Victoria Waddle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was excited to learn that Isabel Quintero wrote a new YA book because my students had enjoyed Gabi: A Girl in Pieces so much. (I only use the past tense because I retired; they are most likely still enjoying it.) However, it wasn’t until I went to a reading event last weekend in Riverside, where Quintero was one of the authors, that I realized the new book is not a novel, but graphic nonfiction.

Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide was commissioned by the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, I imagine, because Mexican photographer Graciela Iturbide deserves to be known by young people. Since Quintero is a poet as well as a fiction and nonfiction writer, she was a great choice to bring this book into the world. Her language is a perfect for the discussion of creative vision. Zeke Pena illustrated the book and he does a beautiful job. (You may recognize him as the cover artist for Gabi.) Some of Iturbide’s photos are included beside Pena’s black and white illustrations.

Iturbide’s story begins with her path of marriage and motherhood, a typical journey for a Catholic girl from a conservative Mexican family in the 1960s. In fact, a typical path for many young people throughout history. However, she was always creative; she was restless. She decided on the path of a photographer, using only black and white film because it expresses reality for her. This choice is not an easy one, as Quintero reminds the reader. “Do you know how painful sacrifice can be? Graciela gave up a life of comfort and convention—choosing instead the path of the artist and risking everything.”

Iturbide had the opportunity to work with other very talented photographers including Manuel Alvarez Bravo, who showed her that photographs should not be staged, but rather waited for. It takes talent to catch the right moment, and Iturbides does it regularly, becoming famous and having the opportunity to travel the world. She documents her vision through many cultures “where ritual is survival. How else can culture be held onto?” Even in her native Mexico, she encounters the women of Juchitan and sees freedom from patriarchy that she couldn’t have imagined in her conservative upbringing.

While Iturbide is a renowned photographer, I’m sorry to say that I had never heard of her until I read this book. Happily, both Quintero and Zeke had seen and been influenced by stagings of her photographs years ago. They knew they were the right people to bring Iturbide’s story to a younger generation. And, happily, to me, too.

High school housekeeping: I recommend Photographic to all teens. Since it’s a graphic novel, the illustrations aid the emergent reader. For those reading at grade level and above, the the story of sacrifice and creativity will inspire. For artists, there are the illustrations. For photographers, there are nice details about finding a subject and making it art. For poets and writers, there is the lovely language.

[Jade · Rating 5 out of 5]

My mother is a photographer. I have practiced photography more as a hobby than anything else since I was a kid (still reluctant to call myself a photographer). My 4 year old already has very clear desires on becoming a photographer (and clear signs of talent too). My kids are also first generation US citizens with immigrant parents, and are indigenous Mexican from their father’s side, so I have naturally been gravitating towards reading books that will expand my own personal horizons, and that will also allow my kids to understand and embrace their heritage too. So when I saw that Isabel Quintero and Zeke Peña had created a graphic novel based on the life of Graciela Iturbide I immediately ordered a copy from our local bookstore!

I’m so glad I purchased this book - it’s beautifully written and illustrated, a combination of words that are poetry, gorgeously drawn images, and actual photos taken by Graciela Iturbide. The books provides an overview of her life, how she became a photographer, and what pushed her to become the amazing photographer that she is. I love how the narrative doesn’t follow Graciela Iturbide’s life chronologically, but however picks certain events and times and provides more detail about her life, her focus, and her subjects. I also love how the author pushes us to think about our own view of the world around us, and on our own heritages. I am a huge believer in letting words and images speak for themselves, letting them ruminate in my mind for a while before giving them my own interpretation, and this book gives us all a chance to do that.

Graciela Iturbide is so inspiring, and I have fallen in love with her photography. I love how Isabel Quintero and Zeke Peña have created a beautiful graphic biography that allows us to see life through the photographer’s lens while still leaving so much to the imagination. My kids may still be a little young to fully grasp all of the content in the book, but they have enjoyed discovering it with me.

[Jennifer Bacall · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best graphic novels of 2018, the gorgeous exposition on Photographer Graciela Iturbide is not simply an autobiography about her, it dives into the how and why of her life, artistic and philosophical choices.

Author Isabel Quintero uses very few words to tell the story but they are carefully chosen and artfully constructed.

"I photograph and exist in the in-between: those spaces where unknown worlds, real and imagined, intersect."

"I choose photography over tradition."

"Cholos in Tijuana yearning for an imaginary country, one that accepts everyone, somewhere they can find themselves."

"In Juchitan, womanhood is not weakness; it is unapologetic."

"Do we force our vision to find likeness, Reader, because we fear difference? Or is there beauty in the difference- and in learning how we live and breathe and thrive amid all the differences?"

"American roadways carry their own mythology and romance. Not bold and passionate like the mythology of the women in Juchitan. More like a quiet dissection of the metaphysical."

"I've always understood that photographs are taken, not made."

"I see a connection between my own question and Frida's assertion that imagination is the ever-present pair of wings needed to claim freedom."

[Nessa [October Tune] · Rating 4 out of 5]

Photography has always been one of my favourite things to do - I used to run around with the 'family' camera when I was a kid until I got my very own. I wanted to become a professional photographer, but then other things got in the way and stopped photographing (I didn't stop taking pictures though, but I used my phone instead of my camera). When I saw this graphic novel on NetGalley, I decided I wanted to try it out, even though I had never heard of this particular photographer before.

I loved the artwork very much, and what I loved most of all was that they added some of Graciela's pictures in the book as well. I was very intrigued by her life story, and this book certainly made me want to look up more of her photography - which I will do in the future.

What it mostly did was make me want to pick up my camera again!

[Kelly]

Not being familiar with Iturbide's work -- something I plan on doing after reading this -- I only wish there'd been more of her photographs included along with the art. An interesting look at the life of an upperclass Mexican photographer who chose to pursue her passion, even though it wasn't seen as appropriate for someone of her status.

Quintero's narrative and Pena's art work well together. Iturbide said she doesn't like her work being called magical, but rather a shifting narrative and road of exploration, and this book certainly came together offering that feel.

[Kris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored this short graphic biography about the life of Mexican photographer Graciela Iturbide. The Getty Museum has done an outstanding job of pulling together an award winning writer and graphic artist to bring this story to print. The book includes 25 of Iturbide's mythical photographs including "Our Lady of the Iguanas," "Magnolia Juchitan," and "Angel Woman." Treat yourself to this gorgeous foray into the life and art of an amazing Mexican artist.

[Bryan Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are the types of biographies I wish I was cool enough to write. I finished the book quickly, but learned so much about Graciela Iturbide's life and work, not to mention rural Mexican culture. For weeks I thought of this book when I saw birds outside.

[Tineka · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how her photographs were depicted throughout this graphic novel. I am curious to see how the young people in my life react to the way her story is told.

[Cindy Tebo · Rating 4 out of 5]

October is Photographer Appreciation Month. It's an opportunity to honor the artist behind the lens.

At my local library, I discovered a title about Graciela Iturbide, a photographer that I was not familiar with. The book is entitled, "Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide," by authors Isabel Quintero and Zeke Peña.

The book itself is geared toward a teen audience. Readers have a mix of narratives. Some stories are told through illustrated cartoons which meant this reader had to switch gears several times while reading the text.

Near the beginning of the book, there's an imaginary scene in a museum where a visitor is admiring Iturbide's work. She asks the artist why Iturbide only photographs in black and white. The artist responds, "Well, for me, color is fantasy. I see reality in black and white."

Indeed, some of the photographs featured in this book are the stuff dreams are made of. One photo depicts birds flying over a deserted, two-lane highway. While road trips can be lonely, people are never alone. In this case, a flock of migrating birds catches Iturbide's wandering eye. As readers, we can find something of ourselves in these birds who are travelers, too.

Blending reality with the mythical is Iturbide's photo of Zobeida. She carries iguanas on her head to sell at a local market in Juchitán, a city in southern Mexico. The iguanas remind viewers of the mythological woman, Medusa, who wore snakes in her hair. Zobeida does not gaze directly into the camera's lens but looks off into the distance as though she sees something that we cannot see. Viewers are only given a brief glimpse into her storied life.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this narrative. There are sections that are very poetic in nature. However, my biggest complaint is that I would like to see more of Iturbide's photographs, more of what she refers to as, "Mexican Tempo."

I'll conclude this review with a quote from the book, "Traveling is lonely. Not a desperate loneliness but the kind that asks me to reflect more deeply about the place I'm in." Wherever I go, these are the lines I will carry with me.

[Abby]

I did not think I knew anything about this person, Graciela Iturbide, but while reading I realized had seen some of the photographs—and remembered them. This is just the beginning of why I think you should immediately get off your duff and go seek out Photographic, which is a visually gorgeous and beautifully written account of an artist's development and the way she thinks about her art.

As a representation of someone's life, this book blows my mind. I struggled to think of it as a "biography," since there are sections in the voice of Iturbide but that are imagined by the writer. It's that same strange situation—one person representing another in art—that Iturbide explores in her photographs.

Then I went to a play, Sanctuary by Milta Ortiz, which documents real, living people and fairly recent historical events, but also invents characters based on sparse records and recreates situations for the dramatic medium. That medium involves one person, an actor, speaking in the voice of someone else. And I got it. Boof. Mind blown. I can't wait to see and read and think about more examples of this. I can't wait to see more from Iturbide, from Quintero, and from Peña, and heck, Ortiz in there too. It's gonna be good.

[Shomeret · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I established a shelf for graphic content, I didn't imagine that I'd be reviewing graphic non-fiction. So I called that shelf graphic novels. Today I changed it to include this book. Then I found Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, which I'd read but never reviewed, and added it to the graphic books shelf.

Before seeing this book, I'd never heard of Graciela Iturbide. I decided to purchase it as a gift for a friend who is a photographer and interested in Mexican culture, but it looked so good that I wanted to read it myself before passing it on to her.

The prose in this book is very lyrical and beautiful. There are a few amazing photographs in addition to the art.

I also learned about muxes-- a term that places various types of non-cisgender identity under one umbrella.

This is a totally wow book. I hope my friend feels the same way about it.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quintero and Peña’s artfully crafted graphic biography of Graciela Iturbide glides readers back and forth through Iturbide’s life, circling and briefly roosting in the locations where Iturbide graciously engages others through her camera. Quintero guides readers through direct address. Her poetic prose brings into focus the life of one of Mexico’s preeminent photographers with precise diction and powerful imagery. As if in conversation with Quintero, Iturbide narrates her own story in prose unhindered by quotation marks. Peña’s black and white drawings resonate with the twenty-five photographic images by Iturbide included in the book. Through Peña’s frequent perspective changes and repeated presentation of birds and Iturbide and her cameras, readers come to understand: “Bird is dream is camera is self is life.”

[Petra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was provided an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Before requesting this book I didn't know anything about Graciela Iturbide and if it wasn't for the camera on the cover I wouldn't even know she is a photographer. I know little to nothing about photography and I was never interested in learning more. I don't know what pulled me to request this biography because I usually don't read non-fiction and if I read it, it's about someone I'm really interested in. I think it was because I've never seen biography being done in the format of graphic novel. And I think this one was beautifully done and I'm happy to have a chance to read it. Writing was really poetic and pictures told beautiful story on their own.
My only complain is that it felt a little too cold and objective and I wanted to know more about Graciela, not only about her art and where she traveled.

[Kyra Leseberg (Roots & Reads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley for a digital ARC of this lovely graphic novel.
The life of photographer Graciela Iturbide is told through a combination of her black and white photographs, poetic descriptions by Isabel Quintero, and the crisp black and white illustrations of Zeke Pena.
She defied tradition by attending film school after marrying and having three children in her early 20's, and after losing her daughter, she turns to photography to heal and learn more about herself.
She traveled across Mexico, the United States, and later India to capture life and traditions with a special emphasis on women / feminine nature.
I enjoyed learning about this celebrated Mexican photographer who has spent her life capturing honest portraits and authentic moments at home and abroad.