Features / Press
Rising Stars of the Latino Community in NYC
Steven Molina Contreras was named a rising star in the Latino Community in NYC by NYC x Go. He also photographed the campaign.
“Whether they are born-and-bred New Yorkers or have embraced the City as home, many creatives and entrepreneurs can’t imagine being anywhere but New York City. That connected experience is the foundation for the Rising Latino Stars of New York City—a roundup of Latino talents who use their gifts locally and amplify them globally. These individuals come from all walks of life and hail from everywhere: El Paso to upstate to uptown. They share multigenerational immigrant experiences that connect them through the Latino diaspora, but they all have original, compelling stories to share.
They’ve used NYC as a launching pad for a floral-design business, culinary innovations, a digital archive that focuses on overlooked Latino stories and so much more. And through their creativity and know-how, they have helped build on the Latino experience in New York City. Read about them in our profiles below.” —Sasha Rodriguez
Papi Jimmy (Dad Jimmy) Portrait #3, El Salvador, 2019
Nominated for the Leica Oskar Barnack Newcomer Award 2021
Steven Molina Contreras selected to submit to LOBA 2021 Newcomer Award.
“This year’s LOBA competition is based on nominations from 100 world-renowned photographic experts from over 43 countries. They include renowned curators, gallery managers, art directors, and numerous photographers from six continents. With this nomination process, the honor of being chosen as a nominee is an esteemed accomplishment of its own, as you are recognized and hand-selected by some of the most respected figures impacting the world of photography.”
For more information, visit https://www.leica-oskar-barnack-award.com/en/
Portrait of an Immigrant Family, The Pampered Palace, My Mother’s Salon, 2020
Aperture Portfolio Prize 2021 Finalist
“Adelante” by Steven Molina Contreras named a finalist for Aperture Foundations Illustrious Portfolio Prize.
“Aperture’s support of emerging photographers and other lens-based artists is a vital part of our mission. The annual Aperture Portfolio Prize aims to discover, exhibit, and publish new talents in photography—identifying contemporary trends in the field and highlighting artists whose work deserves greater recognition. This year, Aperture’s editors reviewed over 1,200 submissions, and we are thrilled to announce the shortlisted artists for the 2021 Aperture Portfolio Prize: William Camargo, Chance DeVille, Jarod Lew, Anouchka Renaud-Eck, Donavon Smallwood”
“These artists join the ranks of illustrious artists shortlisted for the Portfolio Prize in past years, including Dannielle Bowman, Jessica Chou, Eli Durst, LaToya Ruby Frazier…”
“This year, alongside the five shortlisted artists, Aperture’s editors selected twenty finalists. The twenty finalists are Bryan Anselm, Rachelle Bussières, Amarise Carreras, Ronghui Chen, Golden, Jon Henry, Wing Ka Ho, Kovi Konowiecki, Michal Luczak, Spandita Malik, Steven Molina Contreras, Laura Pannack, Miraj J Patel, Ginevra Shay, C. Rose Smith, Elliott Verdier, Marianne & Katarzyna Wasowska, Wei Zihan, Amani Willett, and Zhidong Zhang.”
Vis Abuela's Strength, El Salvador, 2019
“Adelante” by Steven Molina Contreras for New Yorker Photo
“In “Adelante,” my family and I confront the notion of the American Dream. The project offers three points of entry into my family’s history: my stepfather’s brief deportation, my relationship with my mother and sisters, and my desire to reconnect with both my birth father and country, El Salvador. In these contexts, I work to question what is lost and gained through forward momentum.” - Steven Molina Contreras
Online feature curated and edited by New Yorker photo editor, Marvin Orellana.
Announcing the 2021 Light Work Artists-in-Residence
“With great pleasure, Light Work announces the following 2021 Remote Artists-in-Residence: Liz Johnson Artur, Danielle Bowman, Sabiha Çimen, Steven Molina Contreras, Larry Cook, Jeremy Dennis, Odette England, Dionne Lee, Daniel Ramos, Aida Silvestri (in partnership with Autograph ABP), Marion Wilson, and Guanyu Xu. This diverse group of lens-based and multimedia artists represents the breadth of important and innovative work in the field today. We’re pleased to again partner with Autograph of London (U.K.) to support the residency of Aida Silvestri. This international arts organization’s sponsorship of one of our artists is the latest in a longstanding collaboration that dates from 1996.”
What did your January look like? Steven Molina Contreras featured on i-D.
“i-D closed out 2020 with My Year in a Photo, the 12-month retrospective that brought in hundreds of incredible submissions from all over the world. We enjoyed it so much that from now on, we’ll be running it as a regular feature. At the end of each month, we’ll open our inbox to photographs from anyone and everyone”
Online feature curated by i-D editor Ryan White.
The Work Continues #1, New York, USA, 2019
Steven Molina Contreras - Tiger Strikes Asteroid
Artist/Curator Pacifico Silano invites Steven Molina Contreras to share his work for a spotlight on the TSA NY instagram.
TSA is an Artist-run exhibition space in Bushwick, NY.
This Is An Uprising - Puss Puss Magazine
Gala Slater, an Art Director at Apple, curates a portfolio of work by young POC photographers from around the world and much more exciting stories taking you to a dream world created by the contributing artists.
“What do dreams mean when you have to put your whole life on hold? It’s safe to say that, with COVID-19 still on the loose, we are living through the strangest time most of us have ever experienced. So, with the world as we know it crumbling around us, where do we let our imaginations run free? Where can we escape, even if just for an hour? Art, for us, keeps us sane amongst the chaos.” - Puss Puss Magazine Editors on Issue 12.
Curated by Gala Slater featuring an intro written by Will Matsuda.
I Am Home, El Salvador, 2019
“Adelante” by Photographer Steven Molina Contreras - Booooooom
“Adelante” (or “Forward” in english), explores the complexity of his family’s experience as immigrants in the United States. - Anna Schneider
“How does a family congregate and fight to make a land they weren’t born into theirs? And how can photography work to reclaim a narrative of an ‘American’ family that has been largely ignored?” - Steven Molina Contreras
Online feature curated by Booooooom editor Anna Schneider.
Mother & I, #2, New York, USA, 2018.
Introducing: Steven Molina Contreras - Aperture Foundation
Between Long Island, El Salvador, and Peru, an American Family’s Emotional Reunion.
“Molina Contreras’s photographs have the power of evoking total recall of private Latinx family moments,” said Yxta Maya Murray, a writer and professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. “His ability to capture that intimacy recalls Roy DeCarava’s best portrait work, as well as Paola Paredes’s and Laura Aguilar’s.” In his series Mi Familia Immigrante (2018), Steven envisions his family as both documentary subjects and collaborators…Yxta Maya Murray noted that Steven’s “eye for detail robs you of your breath.” But in that moment of breath-taking, Steven also gives something back: a window onto the present tension around immigration in the US, and a stirring vision of an American family.” - Brendan Embser