Destiny Mata is a documentary photographer dedicated to capturing the Lower East Side. In response to the rapid gentrification of the community, she began to use portraiture as a way to photograph her friends and neighbors, many of whom are residents of the Lillian Wald Houses where she grew up.
For Mata, NYCHA buildings like Lillian Wald are the heart and soul of New York City. The backdrops of her portraits often prominently feature the iconic brick exterior of the Lower East Side public housing developments.
Taken between 2009 and 2020, La Vida en Loisaida (Life on the Lower East Side) amplifies the pride of longtime LES residents, in the wake of the neighborhood’s rapid and difficult changes.
Artist Bios
-
Destiny Mata
Destiny Mata is a Mexican American photographer and filmmaker based in her native New York City focusing on issues of subculture and community. After studying photojournalism at LaGuardia Community College and San Antonio College, she spent two years as Director of Photography Programs at the Lower Eastside Girls Club. Her photography has been published in The Culture Crush, The Nation, The New York Times, and The Guardian. Mata recently has been awarded the Magnum Foundation Fellowship 2023. She exhibited La Vida En Loisaida: Life on the Lower East Side, a solo exhibition at Photoville Festival 2020. She has taken part in a group exhibition presented by The ARChive of Contemporary Music From Her To Eternity: Women Who Photograph Music at Columbia College Chicago 2023, ICP Concerned Global Images for Global Crisis at the International Center of Photography 2020, Magnum Foundation US Dispatches Grantee 2020, Mexic-Arte Museum, Young Latino Artists 21: Amexican@ 2016 and in 2014 she exhibited photographs of the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy at the Museum of New York City’s, Rising Waters: Photographs of Sandy exhibition. She is currently preparing a series of documentary works continuing her exploration of the fabric of the communities around her.
Organizations
-
Abrons Arts Center
Abrons Arts Center is a home for contemporary interdisciplinary arts in Manhattan’s Lower East Side neighborhood. A core program of the Henry Street Settlement, Abrons believes that access to the arts is essential to a free and healthy society. Through performance presentations, exhibitions, education programs, and residencies, Abrons mobilizes communities with the transformative power of art.
La Vida en Loisaida (Life on the Lower East Side)
Featuring: Destiny Mata
Curated by: Ali Rosa-Salas
Supported by:
Locations
View Location Details Jobs Plus4 Avenue D
E. 3rd Street,
New York,
NY 10009
Location open 24 hours
EDUCATION DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
This photographer makes photos of life on the Lower East Side, where she grew up. Why do you think it’s important to document your friends, family and community?
How do her photos of the Lower East Side differ from other photos you have seen of the neighborhood?
What emotions do you see in the people in the photos?
Related Events
We Built This City: Destiny Mata and Gogy Esparza in Conversation
Photographers Destiny Mata and Gogy Esparza discuss their artistic practices and the role New York City plays in shaping their aesthetic perspectives. Moderated by Abrons Arts Center’s Director of Programming, Ali Rosa-Salas.
Learn More