Cristina García Rodero

2025 Honoree / Achievement in Documentary

Cristina García Rodero (1949, Puertollano, Ciudad Real). Graduated in Painting from the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM); professor of drawing and photography at the School of Art and Design of Madrid, 1974-1985, professor of photography at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the UCM, 1983-2005.

In 1973 she began a research and compilation work on festivals, traditions and rituals in Spain thanks to a grant awarded by the Juan March Foundation. This work is reflected in “España Oculta”, a project that was recognized worldwide, obtaining the award for Best Photography Book at the XX International Photography Meeting in Arles. Kodak Fotobuchpreis, Stuttgart, 1990. The World Press Photo, Amsterdam, awarded her work in three editions of the competition (1993, 1997 and 2008). García Rodero is also the winner of the W. Eugene Smith Prize for Humanist Photography, New York, 1990; the Dr. Erich Salomón Prize, Cologne, 1990; the National Photography Prize, 1996; the Olorum Ibero-American Photography Prize in Havana, 1996; the Godó Prize for Photojournalism, Barcelona, 2000; the Bartolomé Ros Prize from PhotoEspaña, 2000; the Spanish Geographical Society Prize, Madrid, 2001; the Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts, 2005; the Culture Prize of the Community of Madrid for artistic career, 2006; the Alfonso Sánchez García Prize for Graphic Journalism, 2007; the Castilian-Manchegan Arts and Science Prize of the World (Plastic Arts Prize), 2008; Communication Award from the Cadena SER, Ciudad Real, 2009. Piedad Isla National Photography Award from the Palencia Provincial Council, 2010. Alcobendas International Photography Award, 2011; D’Achtall Observatory Photography Award, Madrid, 2012. Gold Medal for Merit at Work, from the Government of Spain. Madrid, 2014. Gold Medal of the Castilla la Mancha Community, 2016. Photo España Award 2017; Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Castilla la Mancha, 2018; Honorary Academician of the Real Academia de Belas Artes Galega, 2019, Ojo Crítico Special Award 2020, RNE, Ortega y Gasset Journalism Award for professional career, 2024; Honorary Award from the Faculty of Humanities of Albacete, 2024; XV journalism Award Ciudad de Málaga for professional career, Malaga Council, 2024.

She worked for VU Paris agency (1989-2005) and joined Magnum Photos in 2005, of which he has been a member since 2009.

She has exhibited at, among others, PS1, MoMA Contemporary Art Center, New York, the 49th and 51st editions of the Biennale di Venezia, Museo del Prado and Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid; the International Center of Photography, New York; the Meadows Museum, Dallas; the Seattle Art Museum, Washington; the Center for Creative Photography, University of Tucson, Arizona; the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago; Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá; Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Santiago de Chile; Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales de Montevideo; Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires; Museo Álvarez Bravo, Oaxaca; the Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo; the Folkwang Museum, Essen, Germany; the Photographers’ Gallery, London; Il Diaframma, Milan; Palazzo Fortuny, Venice; Musée Nicéphore de Niepce, Ville de Chalon-Sur-Saône, France; Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon; Rijksmuseum Twenthe, Enschede, Netherlands; Kunsthaus, Switzerland; Borusan Kültür ve Sanat, Istanbul; Science Museum, London; Academy of Fine Arts, Naples; Pushkin Museum, Moscow; Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson, París; Museo de Bellas Artes, Bilbao; Museo Guggenheim, Bilbao; Museo Picasso, Málaga; Museo de las Peregrinaciones, Santiago de Compostela, La Coruña; Museo Nacional de Antropología, Madrid; Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Sevilla, MUSAC, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León, Valladolid; Centro Atlántico, Las Palmas de Gran Canarias; Museo Municipal de Orense; Palacio Almudí, Murcia; Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Vigo; I
Bienal Internacional de Arte Contemporáneo de Sevilla, Círculo de Bellas Artes Madrid, y Canal de Isabell II, Madrid, Caixaforum, Fundación “La Caixa”, Barcelona, Centro Cultural de la Villa de Madrid; Palacio de la Virreina, Barcelona; IVAM/Centro Julio González, Valencia. Her work is represented by the Galería Juana de Aizpuru in Madrid and the Magnum gallery in Paris.

Her photography is part of the collection of the Museo del Prado, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Museo Marugame Hirai de Arte Español Contemporáneo de Marugame (Japón), The J. Paul Getty Museum de Los Ángeles, George Eastman House (International Museum of Photography, Rochester, EE.UU.), Museum of Fine Arts of Houston, W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fundation, ICP, Nueva York, Colection Buhl Fundation, Nueva York, The Mother Jones International found for documentary photography, San Francisco, Fond National d’Art Contemporain de París, The Modern Collection, Londres; Museo Folkwang, Essen; Centro Portugués de la Fotografía, Oporto; Collection de la Foundation Select de Lausanne, Suiza; IVAM, Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderno; MUSAC, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León, Valladolid; Colección CA2M, Centro de Arte 2 de Mayo, Madrid; Fundación Foto Colectania, Barcelona; Colección de Arte Contemporáneo Fundación “La Caixa”, Barcelona; Colección Fundación ARCO, Madrid, Museo Galego das Peregrinaciones e de Santiago, Santiago de Compostela, among many others.

She published “Hidden Spain”, 1989; “Europe, The South” and “Spain, Festivals and Rites”, 1992; “Grabarka. The Mountain of 6,000 Crosses. An Orthodox Pilgrimage in Poland” and “Cristina García Rodero. PhotoBolsillo”, 2000; “Rituals in Haiti”, 2001; “The Santiago pilgrimage in Haiti”, 2004; “María Lionza, the goddess of watery eyes”, 2008; “Transtempo”, 2010; “Fighting nothingness”, Art Center, Alcobendas, 2012; “The seven deadly sins”, La Fabrica, Madrid, 2013; “With open mouth”, CEART, Fuenlabrada, 2014; “Tierra de sueños”, La Caixa, 2016. “Lalibela, cerca del cielo”, La Fabrica, Madrid, 2017. “España oculta”, Ediciones Elviria, 2024. Cristina García Rodero’s work always shows a deep interest in human behavior, investigating man and what makes him up: spirituality and body, to talk about the dualities of life and its contradictions: religious-pagan, natural-supernatural, life-death, pleasure-pain, war-peace, city-countryside, new-old, earth-water, men-gods, spirits-earth, investigating the traditions and rites that have survived for centuries and the new beliefs and manifestations, the result of economic and political changes, current needs and social conflicts.

Website: www.magnumphotos.com/photographer/cristina-garcia-rodero

Photo: Self Portrait