Al Rendon

Al Rendon is a San Antonio-born and based commercial and fine art photographer who is particularly interested in the Mexican heritage of his native city. Rendon's influences include scene and street photographers such as Tina Modotti, Manuel Álvarez Bravo, and Henri Cartier-Bresson. He has exhibited his work in the United States, Latin America, and China.

Rendon had a 50-year retrospective at the Witte Museum in San Antonio in 2023–24. Part of the Fotoseptiembre annual festival, it was curated by Bruce Shackelford and Katherine Nelson Hall.

Photography career Jack Morgan calls Rendon "one of San Antonio's longest-running photographers."

Rendon began taking pictures when he was around 12 years old, when his mother had difficulty using the viewfinder of her Instamatic camera. He quickly developed a liking for photography.

Rendon's first published photograph was a result of an assignment at Catholic Central High School. It was a "moody, spotlit image of 1972 Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern speaking in front of the Alamo." As the photographer noted, "it’s not about getting the most perfect picture … it’s more about having a vision and following through with it.”

Public collections

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston McNay Art Museum Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery Witte Museum Wittliff Collection at Texas State University

Books

A Century of Fiesta in San Antonio, by Jack Maguire, San Antonio Fiesta Commission, Eakin Press, 1991. Sights and Scenes of San Antonio, text by Gary S. Whitford, Gulf Publishing, 1995. Fiesta from A-Z, by Linda Sulser and Jeanne Schaefer, Fiesta Book Club, 1995. Puro Conjunto, ed. by Juan Tejeda & Avelardo Valdez, CMAS Books & Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, 2001. Charreada, Mexican Rodeo in Texas, ed. by Francis E. Abernethy, University of North Texas Press, 2002. The Red McCombs English & Irish Silver Collection: Every Piece Tells a Story, Robert Underdahl and Thomas Sinsteden, University of Texas at San Antonio Institute of Texan Cultures, University of Texas Press, 2010. Painters in Pre-History (Archeology & Art of the Lower Pecos Canyon Lands), ed. by Harry J. Shafer, Trinity University Press in association with The Witte Museum, 2013. American Cool, by Joel Dinerstein and Frank H. Goodyear III, Delmonico Books/Prestel for the National Portrait Gallery, 2014. San Antonio, a Photographic Portrait, text by Gary S. Whitford, Twin Lights, 2017. The King William Area, a History and Guide to the Houses, by Mary V. Burkholder and Jessie N.M. Simpson, 2017. The Elderly as Historical Agents of their Dignity and Destiny, by Michael Candelaria, 2019. Faces of Resiliency, by WellMed Medical Management and WellMed Foundation, 2022. Phil Hardberger Park: A Story in Photographs, Phil Harberger Park Conservency, 2022. San Antonio: City on a Mission, by Henry Cisneros, Red McCombs & Catherine Nixon Cooke, Urban Renaissance Books, 2022. Mi Cultura: Bringing Shadows Into The Light: The Photography of Al Rendon, Witte Museum, 2023.