Leica Hall of Fame Award 2026: Graciela Iturbide
Mexican photographer Graciela Iturbide has been awarded the 2026 Leica Hall of Fame Award in recognition of her remarkable contribution to photography. The honour was presented on 8 October during Leica’s annual Celebration of Photography at Leica World in Wetzlar, Germany. An exhibition featuring more than 50 photographs from her extensive career is currently on view at the Leica Gallery Wetzlar, where it will remain until 3 January 2027.
Over more than five decades, Iturbide has developed a distinctive photographic language that moves between documentary observation, symbolism and poetry. Her work is deeply connected to Mexican culture, particularly the traditions and everyday lives of indigenous communities, yet it extends beyond any strictly documentary approach. Questions of identity, spirituality, life and death emerge through images that often leave more to the imagination than they reveal.
Working predominantly in black and white, Iturbide finds unexpected connections between people, animals, objects and landscapes. Birds, masks and religious symbols frequently appear in her photographs, suggesting meanings that resist easy interpretation. Her images explore the relationship between tradition and modernity, the natural and the spiritual, while maintaining a strong sense of mystery.
One of her most celebrated photographs, Nuestra Señora de las Iguanas (Our Lady of the Iguanas), taken in Juchitán in 1979, depicts a market woman carrying live iguanas on her head. The animals form an extraordinary crown, transforming an everyday encounter into an almost mythological portrait. The photograph has become one of the defining images of Iturbide’s career, illustrating her ability to discover symbolic meaning in ordinary life.
Her photography also reflects a sustained interest in the social structures and cultural traditions of Mexico’s indigenous communities. Rather than approaching her subjects solely as an outside observer, Iturbide develops images that combine human presence, cultural detail and personal interpretation. Her work in Juchitán, in the southern state of Oaxaca, is particularly significant for its portrayal of women and their prominent role within the local community.
The Leica exhibition brings together photographs from five major bodies of work spanning several decades. Juchitán (1979–1988) focuses on the people and traditions of the Oaxacan city, while México Clásicas (1974–2008) offers a broader view of Mexican life and culture. In Pájaros (Birds, 1987–1998), birds become recurring figures within compositions that often border on the surreal. Desierto de Sonora (Sonora Desert, 1979) explores the landscapes and communities of northern Mexico, while Viajes (Journeys, 1972–1994) brings together photographs made during her travels through Ecuador, Panama, Argentina and Cuba.
Together, these series reveal the consistency of Iturbide’s vision and the evolution of a photographic practice in which personal experience, cultural observation and imagination remain closely intertwined.
As part of the recognition, Leica has also selected Iturbide’s Na’ Lupe Pan, photographed in Oaxaca in 1986, as its Leica Picture of the Year 2026. The image, from the Juchitán series, portrays a woman standing before a wall covered in bold abstract patterns. The contrast between her composed presence and the graphic background creates a striking visual tension characteristic of Iturbide’s work.
The photograph will be offered as an exclusive limited-edition print through Leica Galleries worldwide, continuing a programme launched in 2021 to celebrate photographers inducted into the Leica Hall of Fame. Previous artists selected for the Leica Picture of the Year include Ralph Gibson, Thomas Hoepker, Elliott Erwitt, Herlinde Koelbl and Joel Meyerowitz.
Established in 2011, the Leica Hall of Fame Award recognises photographers whose work has made a lasting contribution to visual culture and influenced the way we understand the world. Its recipients include Steve McCurry, Barbara Klemm, Nick Út, René Burri, Ara Güler, Joel Meyerowitz, Gianni Berengo Gardin, Bruce Davidson and Elliott Erwitt. With Iturbide’s induction, the Leica Hall of Fame now counts 15 honourees.
The award ceremony formed part of Leica’s Celebration of Photography on 8 October, which also recognised the winners of the 46th Leica Oskar Barnack Award and introduced the first LOBA Women Grant. The shortlisted photographic series from this year’s competition are being presented at the Ernst Leitz Museum in Wetzlar until 18 February 2027.
About the Author
Graciela Iturbide was born in Mexico City on 16 May 1942. Her interest in photography began during childhood, encouraged by her father, an enthusiastic amateur photographer. At 19, she married architect Manuel Rocha Díaz, with whom she had three children.
In 1969, she enrolled at the Centro Universitario de Estudios Cinematográficos (CUEC) in Mexico City, initially intending to study filmmaking. Her encounter with photographer Manuel Álvarez Bravo proved decisive. She became his assistant in 1970, accompanying him on journeys through rural Mexico and discovering the cultural diversity of the country’s indigenous communities. The death of her six-year-old daughter Cláudia profoundly affected her life and artistic direction. Photography became an increasingly important means of exploring the world and expressing her personal experiences. Her first exhibition took place in Mexico City in 1975, followed by her first exhibition in New York in 1976. International recognition grew throughout the 1980s, establishing her as one of the leading figures in contemporary Latin American photography. Over the course of her career, Iturbide has received numerous distinctions, including the W. Eugene Smith Award in 1987, the Hugo Erfurth Award in 1989, the Prix des Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie d’Arles in 1991 and the Hasselblad Award in 2008. More recently, she received the Gold Medal from Mexico’s Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (INBAL) in 2024 and the Princess of Asturias Award for the Arts in 2025. Iturbide lives and works in Mexico City.
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