Xavier Tavera Castro (born August 5, 1971) is a Mexican photographer and artist. He was born and raised in Mexico City where he studied at the Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana. Tavera completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography from Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) in 2014. Tavera received his Master of Fine Arts in Photography and Moving Images from the University of Minnesota in 2017. He taught photography at Augsburg College (2012–2016), the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (2016–2021), and is currently an assistant professor of art at Carleton College. Tavera's work has been exhibited at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Soap Factory, the Eide/Dalrymple Gallery at Augustana University, the Staniar Gallery at Washington and Lee University, the Athens Institute for Contemporary Art in Georgia, the Center for the Study of Political Graphics in Los Angeles, the Galeria del Hospital Maciel in Montevideo, Uruguay, and at ProjekTraum FN at l'atelier Glidden Wozniak in Friedrichshafen, Germany. Tavera received a McKnight Photography Fellowship in 2003 and his work has been recognized with OverExposureMN Grants, Minnesota State Arts Board, and the Minnesota State Arts Board Artists Initiative.
Early life and education
Early years
From an early age, Tavera showed interest in visual arts and started taking photography seriously as an art form at the age of sixteen. At this early age, Tavera's work focused on portraiture and he commonly incorporated his family and friends into his photographs; a practice that he would maintain throughout his career. During these formative years, Tavera also became interested in events which brought people together such as community or identity-forming shows, such as reenactments of “La Pasión de Cristo'' or the creation of ofrendas. In these early photographs, taken with the family camera. Tavera also developed his interest in capturing portraits of strangers, the peculiar, and the absurd.
Education
Initially enrolled in law school in 1993 at Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana in Mexico City, Tavera came to professional photography in 1996 when he was invited to work as an industrial photographer for a company in the United States. The company offered to cover the cost of tuition at Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD), allowing Tavera to pursue an artistic path. When the company went bankrupt and failed to pay his tuition, Tavera dropped out of MCAD to seek employment. He later re-enrolled and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2014.
Artworks
Tavera's photographs are inspired by mundane or fleeting interactions with strangers on the street, neighbors, and family members. Tavera's portraits emphasize individuals who are often marginalized, frequently focusing on members of the Latinx community. Tavera's work is based in his theory of photographic experience in which the process begins when the artist conceives an idea, continues over the course of multiple conversations with the intended subject (sometimes involving long-distance travel, culminating in one or more photography sessions, complete with the image post production. Tavera contends that the final image printed on paper is a byproduct or record of the photographic experience.
Veteranas/Veteranos
Even as a child, Tavera exhibited great curiosity in Mexico's 201st Fighter Squadron (Spanish: Fuerza Aérea Expedicionaria Mexicana (FAEM) Escuadron 201), also known as Águilas Aztecas or Aztec Eagles which was a part of the Mexican Expeditionary Air Force that aided war efforts during World War II. Due to a lack of information on Escuadrón 201 and his personal interest in the subject, Tavera began seeking out veterans with the intention of documenting their lives and stories through photography. It was at this time that a friend of his, a journalist by the name of Alberto Luck, mentioned a documentary on which he had been working about Escuadrón 201. Tavera was introduced to Captain Manuel Cervantes Ramos, a World War II veteran who Tavera photographed in his home in Mexico City. This interaction allowed Tavera to get in contact with over a dozen Mexican WWII veterans, that he interviewed and photographed.