Patricia Peña

Natalia, With Wings, Castaña, Muchacha de la cuarenta – archival pigment prints

Patricia Peña picked up a camera twelve years ago, and, as a result, photography has changed the way she sees and interacts with the world. Peña obtained a B.A. from Columbia College and an M.A. in Photographic Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University (Toronto) in conjunction with the George Eastman House. She has participated in group exhibitions at Columbia College, the National Museum of Mexican Art, Woman Made Gallery, Robert Morris College, and the Center for Fine Art Photography in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Works from Peña’s series Left Behind: Los Aldama are in the permanent collections of the David Ruttenberg Foundation’s 530 Collection, the National Museum of Mexican Art, and the Center for Fine Art Photography. Peña writes, “Los Aldama is the town of my father’s childhood. In his early twenties he left his loved ones to move to the U.S. As the years passed, the town—and my father’s memory—began to feel like a dream. Now, longing for what is gone, I have chosen to return to the town to photograph what has been left behind. In Los Aldama one can see the remnants of buildings that quartered soldiers during the Mexican Revolution and fully furnished homes awaiting their owners’ return. The elderly, the women, the children, and the occasional man remain in Los Aldama year-round, as most of the men leave their families to work in the States. My hope is that these images show that what is left behind still remains.”

© Patricia Peña