Christa Cowrie

Christa Cowrie (born 1949) is a German-Mexican photographer, who began her career in photojournalism but is best known for her work documenting Mexico’s dance the theater events. Cowrie arrived in Mexico in 1963 and began her career in 1975 with the Excélsior newspaper. In 1977, she was one of the founders of the Unomásuno newspaper, also working to found one its supplements, focusing on ecological journalism. Her work began to shift towards photography dance and theater in the mid 1990s working with the Centro Nacional de las Artes. The archive she has created with this institution is one of the most important in Mexico documenting dance and theater. Her work has been recognized with membership in the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana.

Life Cowrie was born in Hamburg, Germany in 1949 and moved to Mexico in 1963. She studied photography with Lázaro Blanco. From 1995 to 2002, she worked with the cultural section and the Sábado supplement of the same newspaper.

Artistry Her initial intent in her career was photojournalism, but became attracted to photographing dance and theater as she found that is kept her focused to find the perfect shots. She has stated, “I found in dance the eternal exercise to be ready for the shot. It is a visual exercise with energy and discipline because modern dance is completely unpredictable. Many like sports because one must shoot at the right time, but it has never quite satisfied me; dance has.”