Centro de la Imagen Photography Center

The Centro de la Imagen (the Center for the Image) is a Mexico City space dedicated just to research, training, analysis, and propogation of photography and photographic images. A big part of the Plaza de la Ciudadela it’s easily accessible from Metro Balderas and a big part of the city’s cultural life.

Run by the National Council for Culture and the Arts (Conaculta), the center is dedicated first to preserving photographs. It includes a tremendous number of slides, negatives, and printed photos in its collection.

Parts of the collection are regularly presented both in the center’s six galleries and at other institutions around the country. A public institution, the center has hosted more than 360 exhibitions and regularly hosts  workshops, seminars, and presentations. It’s most famous for hosting the Photography Biennial and the Photo Mexico exhibition.

Centro de la Imagen is also deeply invested in regularly publishing. Luna Córnea occupies a central place in that effort. The Center has also  published a wealth of books on the history of photography and its most important creators. Catalogs of the Photography Biennial, Photo-September and the Photo Mexico Festival have also been regularly praised.

The galleries are open Wednesdays through Sundays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and admission is free. Very near to both the La Ciudadela and La Ciudadela Artisan Market, it’s an easy and priceless afternoon.