Photoville

Destiny Mata

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.

Current Exhibitions Featuring Destiny Mata

Punk’s Not Dead

The South Street Seaport
 on show

Bridging generations of rebellion and creativity, this exhibition unites new and old faces of the NYC punk scene through the lens of five photographers across the last five decades.

From the 1970’s birth of punk and the peak of iconic east village venue CBGB to the alternative punks of color scene that today flourishes throughout all 5 boroughs, witness the evolution of this raw and unapologetic movement that continues to thrive and transcend boundaries, proving once and for all that punk truly isn’t dead.

Learn More

Archive Exhibitions Featuring Destiny Mata

(In)Visible Guides

Martin Luther King Jr. Community Park Hamilton Fish Park
 archive : 2023

(In)Visible Guides brings together photographer Destiny Mata and residents of a Lower East Side shelter for domestic violence survivors to explore notions of memory, safety, and loss.

Learn More

Senior Saviors

Grand Street Settlement Best
 archive : 2022

Presented by The Lower Eastside Girls Club and Photoville, in partnership with PhotoWings

Recipient of the 2022 Photoville & PhotoWings Educator Exhibition Grant

Senior Saviors showcases portraits that celebrate the spirit and legacy of our elders who are giving back to the Lower East Side community.

Learn More

La Vida en Loisaida (Life on the Lower East Side)

Jobs Plus
 archive : 2020

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.

Learn More

Archive Sessions and Events Featuring Destiny Mata

Oct 172021

ICP Local Business Scavenger Hunt With Destiny Mata

Join photographer, community activist, and Lower East Side–native Destiny Mata for an image making walking tour of LES’s Alphabet City! As the popular saying goes, “The best camera in the world is the one that’s with you.” In this hands-on workshop participants learn how to elevate their photos from casual snapshots to frame-worthy personal images using the image making device most accessible to them.

Learn More
Sep 272020

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

This website was made possible thanks to the generous support and partnership of Photowings