Medina, Elsa

Elsa Medina was born in Mexico City in 1952. She studied photography and design at the Universidad Iberoamericana and San Diego State University in California, United States. The years 1984 and 1985 were pivotal for her artistic and personal development, as she enrolled in the Free Photography Workshops taught by Nacho López at CUEC (now ENAC). There, the teacher would emerge as one of her greatest influences, to the extent that she considered him the one who taught her how to see. Her stints at the newspapers La Jornada (1986 and 1999) and El Sur (1993 and 1994) solidified her viewpoint and photographic style. Her frequent stays in Tijuana allowed her to document precisely what was happening on that border with the United States, leading to one of her unforgettable icons: "Migrant in Zapata Canyon, Tijuana, 1987.