The writer, photographer, and philosopher Janet Sternburg looks back at the land that spawned her love for photography; twenty-three years ago, she took her first photos in Mexico. In her new photo series, Sternburg looks at Mexico using low-tech cameras to create a poetic image of the country's multifaceted culture.

In 2022, Sternburg met Jose Alberto Romero Romano, a Mexican physical therapist. Accepting her invitation, both tell their stories of Mexican culture in the book. In addition to a deep cultural exchange, this book tells a story of two people with different backgrounds and memories seeking and finding a place of encounter through photography. Looking at Mexico / Mexico Looks Back is Sternburg's third monograph.

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About the Author

Janet Sternburg is a versatile artist, photographer, writer, filmmaker , and educator. Since 1998, her photography has been featured in Aperture, Art Journal, and The Utne Reader. She received acclaim as one of forty international artists and writers who challenge societal norms with their work. Her monographs, "Over spilling World" (2016-17) and "I've Been Walking" (2021), showcase her unique photographic vision.

Her solo exhibitions have graced galleries in New York, Los Angeles, Berlin, Milan, Munich, Mexico, and Korea, where she created a full-building installation at Seoul Institute of the Arts. She' s known for using disposable cameras to create borderless, interpenetrating imagery .

As a writer, she's authored seminal works like "The Writer on Her Work" (W.W. Norton, 1981 and 1991) and critically praised books such as "Phantom Limb" (2002) and "White Matter " (2016), blending memoir and essay forms. Her film "El Teatro Campesino" and documentary "Virginia Woolf The Moment Whole" garnered acclaim.

Sternburg resides in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, with a residence in Downtown Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo. She' s been honored with grants, fellowships, and artist residencies, including support f rom the National Endowment for the Humanities and MacDowell. She has al so contributed to academia, teaching at institutions like the New School University and the California Institute of the Arts. In 2016, she was co-recipient of the REDCAT AWARD, celebrating her creative leadership in contemporary culture.