Cartagena, Alejandro

In the series An Invisible Line (2010–2017), Alejandro Cartagena examines the many cultural, economic, and social issues surrounding the border between the United States and Mexico. Here, Cartagena frames the photograph so that the border appears as if it cuts the landscape in two. One side depicts a thriving and densely populated city, and the other an unpopulated landscape. The image illustrates the stark division that can be created by social-political entities, while at the same time emphasizing the artificial nature of the line.

Alejandro Cartagena’s work has been exhibited and published internationally and is part of several public and private collections in Mexico, Canada, Brazil, Italy, and the United States. A monograph of Cartagena’s Suburbia Mexicana was published by Daylight Books and Photolucida in 2011. He has received the international Photolucida Critical Mass Book Award, the Street Photography Award at the London Photo Festival, the Lente Latino Award, the Premio IILA-FotoGrafia Award, and the Salon de la Fotografia of Fototeca de Nuevo Leon among others. He has been a finalist for the Aperture Portfolio Award and has been nominated for the Santa Fe Photography Prize, the Prix Pictet Prize, the Photoespaña Descubrimientos Award, and the FOAM Paul Huff Award. He lives and works in Monterrey, Mexico.

Alejandro Cartagena (Mexican, b. 1977)
Invisible Line #4
Archival Pigment Print
20 x 30 inch image on 21 x 31 inch paper
Signed edition of 30