Flor Garduño (b. 1957)
Cofrade y su Niño, Guatemala, 1989
Gelatin silver print
The Jack Shear Collection of Photography at the Tang Museum
2020.31.127

Flor Garduño was born in Mexico City in 1957 and grew up in a hacienda surrounded by nature. She studied visual arts at the San Carlos Academy (UNAM) in Mexico City until she left to work as a darkroom assistant for Manuel Álvarez Bravo. Bravo was one of Mexico’s most influential photographers, a major influence for Surrealists, and co-founder, in 1959, of the Fondo Editorial de la Plástica Mexicana—a publishing company specializing in art books—and founder of the Museum of Mexican Photography in 1986. Garduño’s career as a photographer grew under Bravo, and she learned to process silver, platinum, and palladium prints. Following her time with Bravo she worked with photographer Mariana Yampolsky. Traveling through the Mexican countryside with Yampolsky, Garduño gained new insights into the lives of Mexico’s indigenous groups which helped her define her own style and subject matter. Garduño’s many series of photographs aim to capture the human and natural beauty of the countryside. Acting as a bridge between the past, present, indigenous cultures, and natural elements, Garduño’s photography captures the radiance of nature and the emotions it can evoke.

Cofrade y su Niño, Guatemala, 1989, is part of Garduño’s “Witnesses of Time” series. The title translates to “The Brotherhood and the Boy, Guatemala.” This title is what initially drew my attention to the piece. The photograph shows a young boy, dressed in Guatemalan textiles, sitting next to a similarly dressed figure whose hand is on the young boy’s head. The face of this figure is cut off by the frame leaving their identity unknown. As this figure supports the little boy’s head, they create an aura of unity and guidance. The “brotherhood” unites them and offers a sense of community.

I feel an indescribable feeling of pride and joy when my flag or my country’s name is in a place where I would not expect it to be. Being Guatemalan is a huge part of my identity and growing up in a white neighborhood and attending schools with little diversity created a distance between me and my birth country. It has taken time for me to confront this inner turmoil. I have asked myself whether other individuals of color experience that spark when they see themselves reflected in their surroundings. A feeling of recognition fills my heart, and I want to share my culture with my communities.

—Martita Baenziger ’25