Melba Arellano

Born in Mexico City, Melba Arellano studied at the University of the Arts London and at the Escuela Activa de Fotografía, Gimnasio del Arte, and Centro de la Imagen in Mexico. Recipient of the Tierney and Jóvenes Creadores grants, she won the acquisition prize at the Yucatán Visual Arts Biennial (2015) and the Javier Ramírez Limón Photography Contest (2022). Her work has been presented at Fotoespaña, Knokke Heist, Photoquai, Paraty em Foco, Fotofest Brazil, and the Monterrey FEMSA Biennial. Carretera Nacional, her first book, was shortlisted for the Paris Photo Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Award. Exhibited across Europe and the Americas, her photographs appear in Aperture Magazine, Balam, GUP, Vice (México, España, UK), and the anthology Develar y Detonar. Her work is held in private and public collections in Mexico and the United States. Arellano joined the National System of Art Creators in 2015 and 2020.