“Photography is a medium that allows me to bridge personal and collective memory. It’s a way of organizing a universe within a single frame….”
Her face is framed by a black lace veil—her gaze turned away from the camera—soft, contemplative, yet piercing. A tear cuts a faint line across her cheek, a subtle contrast to the vivid red of her lips. The stillness of her expression holds worlds of complexity: sorrow, strength, and defiance. This beautiful yet sombre image is from MADRE, the acclaimed series by Bolivian photographer Marisol Mendez.
Born and raised in the Andean city of Cochabamba, Mendez discovered photography by “chance.” Initially aspiring to be a screenwriter, as she was “drawn to storytelling through words,” she soon realized she needed to understand how to construct images, so began taking photography lessons, and something “instantly clicked.” She went on to explore cinema after moving to Buenos Aires, and later, fashion photography after relocating to London.
This period, she reflects, was crucial: “I developed the skills to observe, contemplate, compose, and reflect about images,” laying the foundation for her practice, and ultimately what she truly wanted to do: turn her gaze back to her own culture and heritage.
MADRE was born out of her frustrations with gender dynamics in Bolivia. Struggling to find ‘nuanced representations of womxn¹’ in her homeland, feeling disconnected from her identity, and helpless in the face of machismo, the project became both a response and a personal catharsis.
“It allowed me to celebrate the diversity and complexity of my culture while raising questions about patriarchal rule and gender discrimination. Simultaneously, it became the experience that allowed me to (re)connect to my female lineage and through it, (re)invent the history of Bolivia.”
Bolivia’s diversity is profound, home to a rich tapestry of indigenous groups and traditions. While Roman Catholicism dominates, it often intertwines with pre-Columbian beliefs. Mendez confronts this complexity by reappropriating Catholic iconography, using its visual language, blended with Andean folklore to “subvert the Madonna-Whore complex and challenge colonialist narratives.”
“With MADRE, I’m exploring how religion and race influence the representation of womxn. Most womxn not only struggle with macho-patriarchal structures but also face racism. Although we’re a pluricultural nation, we have a history of colonialism and inequality that manifests as the under and misrepresentation of indigenous and mestizo people.”
Instead of idealized figures of purity and sacrifice, the figures in MADRE appear raw and real, reclaiming their agency within a visual language that historically confined them. Lace veils, flowing fabrics, and symbolic gestures are reimagined to convey strength, vulnerability, and defiance in equal measure.
Mendez’s lens focuses on the intersectionality of Bolivian womxn’s experiences, capturing indigenous and mestizo identities often overlooked or misrepresented. “I didn’t want to perpetuate stereotypical images that reduce indigenous culture to something ornamental or exotic,” she explains. Instead, she celebrates its resilience, portraying womxn whose expressions and bodies carry complex histories.
A key element in MADRE is Mendez’s use of archival family photographs. Rediscovering her family album during a period of alienation, she saw it as a way to reconnect with her Bolivian roots. “My mom found the album while cleaning my grandma’s house and thought it might help me feel grounded. She was right,” Mendez explains.
These images became a window into her history, offering both understanding and redemption. Integrating them with new imagery, she created a dynamic interplay between opacity and transparency, mirroring the complexity of memory and the healing process.
Collaboration with her subjects was also essential to MADRE. Eschewing professional models, Mendez worked with womxn she met in everyday life, fostering trust and connection before capturing their portraits. “I shared my vision for the project, explaining its focus on reimagining archetypes like the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene,” she says.
Each was invited to choose the figure they felt most connected to and to contribute their ideas to the final composition. This dialogue often revealed the fluidity of femininity, with many womxn expressing how they embody different aspects of purity and defiance, sometimes within the same day.
Combining staged portraits with personal narratives, MADRE feels both mythic and intimate. Whether draped in ornate garments or surrounded by natural landscapes, the subjects immediately capture attention. Their gaze is often direct, daring us to confront their stories, “I wanted to honor their realities without appropriating them,” she explains. For Mendez, the process of creating MADRE was transformative, forcing her to ‘confront and deconstruct patriarchal ideals she had internalized’.
In 2022 After completing MADRE, Mendez began a new project exploring masculinity in her homeland. Rooted in her family history, Padre began when she rediscovered letters from her late father, which included exchanges with her grandfather, reflecting on being an absentee parent and offered advice on manhood. “Reading them made me reflect on how the men in my family navigate masculinity, grappling with its ties to violence, power, and patriarchy”, she says.
Drawing on these reflections, and building on insights from MADRE, the new ongoing project weaves three generations of family experience into a broader commentary on Latin American masculinity. Mendez examines how masculinity is learned—passed from father to son—and reinforced through cultural rites of passage that transmit codes of power.
Hunting—both literal and metaphorical—is a recurring motif in the series, symbolizing conquest and dominance juxtaposed against the nurturing, emotional aspects of fatherhood. This tension highlights the struggle men face between societal expectations of toughness and their need for emotional connection and intimacy.
“Patriarchal thought imposes rigid, harmful ideals of masculinity, while suppressing those deemed illegitimate.”
Mendez acknowledges that, while masculinity has evolved across cultures and time, traditional male dominance in social structures has entrenched a persistent gender hierarchy. She envisions a future where new masculinities align with women’s rights and dismantle patriarchal systems—transforming everything from family and religion to politics, cities, and even language.
“Ultimately, the objective of Padre is to question assumptions, ignite discussions, and encourage viewers to reassess their views on gender and gender justice.”
Together, MADRE and Padre embody Mendez’s vision, showcasing her unique ability to craft captivating personal stories through images that challenge broader narratives while remaining deeply intimate—a true testament to her artistry, vision, and skill.
“Photography is a medium that allows me to bridge personal and collective memory. It’s a way of organizing a universe within a single frame—a means of distilling complexity into simplicity. Through it, I navigate identity, desire, and power, contributing to larger societal conversations.”
All images © Marisol Mendez
Madre the photobook is published by Setanta and is available here.
¹ The term “womxn” is used as an inclusive spelling to recognize diverse gender identities and experiences, moving beyond the binary implications of “women.”