What are your thoughts on the current global epidemic and how we've come to this?
This is a terrible biologic war. This has helped us to think about our planet and think about how to care for nature and for ourselves. I hope that the world gets better, I hope that this biologic war teaches us that if it is possible that this virus was created by humans, we are able to see the evil in humans, but we can also see that there is much kindness in many people in the world. Did you see how all the animals of the world are recovering the territory that we have taken from them?
Graciela Iturbide, Pajaros en el Poste de Luz, Carretera a Guanajuato, Mexico, 1990
How does this period affect you personally?
I am very worried about the world, but I am at home with my sons and grandchildren, resting, I love to be at home. for me personally, it has been a great time of reflection and meditation on my own life, my own work. It has been a period of calm. a way to re-connect with my archives.
Photo © Ben Sklar for The New York Times
Tell me about how your days have been having had almost nonstop commitments and projects in the past several years, is being at home a welcomed change?
I am happy at home, take care of my plants, work on my archive, I am very happy.
Photo © Rafael Gamo for Arch Daily
Knowing that you are an artist who is very much engaged in literature, films, history, music and the visual arts, what are you reading or watching these days?
I am seeing all the Bergman films, I love him and I am reconnecting with him. My favorite film by Bergman is Fanny and Alexander. At the same time, I am reading the Magic Lantern, a book that is closely related to that movie, so I can see his childhood influence in his movies.
I am an admirer of Pasolini, specifically his literary work. I also love history in literature. Now I am reading historical essays on pre-Hispanic and colonial culture, I am interested in knowing about my country. I also enjoy the works of the Latin American writers Juan Carlos Onetti and Mario Vargas Llosa.
Knowing also that you are an artist who travels a great deal to make photographs, is not being able to travel right now affecting the way you're thinking about future projects?
I am traveling through my archive and it is wonderful to remember the places where I have been and how many negatives are waiting to be printed.
Graciela Iturbide, ¿Ojos para volar? Coyoacán, México, 1991
Has this time given you space to reflect on past and/or upcoming projects?
Of course, my reflection is on the archive. I see some bad things, others very good, and I have nostalgia of many places.
Interview by Zoe Lemelson.
