Ada Trillo is a New York-based photographer. She is a first-generation Mexican-American queer artist, born in El Paso, Texas, and raised in Juarez, Mexico.
Trillo’s unique upbringing, commuting between Juarez and El Paso for school, gave her a firsthand view of the migrant experience. These childhood memories, both inspiring and haunting, have profoundly influenced her work.
Trillo’s goal is to contribute to equity through her photography and workshops for at-risk youth. She aims to eliminate the barriers of race, class, and gender divisions deeply embedded in society due to a history of colonization.
Trillo approaches photography with the eye of a painter, drawing from over twenty years of practice and recent studies in documentary practice and visual journalism.
Trillo's photographs are part of the permanent collections of prestigious museums and institutions, including the Library of Congress, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, and the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Ada Trillo's work has been celebrated through numerous awards and accolades, a testament to the impact and quality of her photography. These include the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship in Photography in 2024, The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage Fellowship in 2022, The Eddie Adams Workshop Canon Award in 2022, The Female In Focus Award in 2020, The Leeway Foundation Transformation Award, and The Me & Eve Grant with the Center of Photographic Arts in Santa Fe. Additionally, she received First Place in the editorial category at the Tokyo International Foto Awards.
Her first monograph, "La Caravana Del Diablo: On the Run from the Northern Triangle to America," was published by Komma (Netherlands) in 2021. It provides a powerful account of seven years of traveling with refugees and migrants from Central America to the U.S.-Mexico border.
Ada Trillo's work has been recognized by prestigious institutions and resonated with a global audience. Her photographs have been published in renowned publications such as The Guardian, Vogue, Smithsonian Magazine, and Mother Jones, and her exhibitions have spanned significant cities worldwide. From New York City to Japan, Trillo's global reach and recognition underscore her work's universal relevance and impact.