The woman responsible for changing the face of photography in Guatemala, and dare we say the rest of Latin America? Oh yes we do; is our QUEEN SHEVA of this WEDNESDAY.
Clara de Tezanos, or Mamu for her family and friends, was born and raised in the place of the eternal sunshine, our wonderful Guatemala. After high school, Maria Clara hoped on the first flight to Paris and got into the world of photography at Parsons and SPEOS. Starting her career in the art of photography at a young age, she was able to participate as an assistant photographer at various magazines in Paris, including Marie Claire and Cosmopolitan, as well as, assisted many other independent photographers in the business.
After a couple of years of living and working in Paris, in 2009 she made her way back to Guatemala to create the first photography school in Guatemala, with now husband JJ Estrada, called La Fototeca. Clara states that “La Fototeca was created with the purpose to educate, promote, celebrate and document contemporary photography” and they have done so for the past 5 years. After 5 years in the art, she is a renowned photographer with artistic participations in exhibitions, like New York Photo Festival, Foto 30, Es Foto, Arles and a sought after curator for some exhibitions in important festivals around the world.
Another reason she kicks ass: GuatePhoto Festival. With just closing an indiegogo campaign and raising the $50,000 target they had, Clara and her team are preparing the 3rd edition of GuatePhoto in 2015. Since the first edition they have “witnessed a transformation of the Guatemalan and Latin American photography scene creating a new space for dialogue, an exchange of multicultural ideas, in addition to being an interface with a wider public for participants” as told on the Festival’s website. The festival will come alive in September of 2015 with participations from Martin Parr, Luis González Palma, Andy Warhol, Eadward Muybridge and many more. Be sure to keep an eye out for it, it sounds fabulous.
Here is the video they made for their indiegogo campaign to raise the funds:
At only 28, Clara is known for her great track record in photography but she is loved because of her passion, her energy, her willingness to show the world what great talent can be found in Guatemala, and especially her magic to take you to another place when you are in her presence. She talks about spaceships, the moon, energy, past lives, and how we all have our cosmos. Clara has her heart on the moon but her feet on the ground, and we believe that is the perfect combination of someone who is here to better the world we live in, and enjoy (and document) the ride while she is at it.
Clara is, and forever will be, a QUEEN SHEVA.
Simply because of this….. some words directly from the QUEEN.
Some of our favorite quotes from Clara include:
“Photography is a very powerful tool, it sensitizes us to life and makes us aware of what surrounds us. It opens our eyes, it opens our minds.”
