Cara Romero

Cara Romero (born 1977) is a Chemehuevi photographer based in Santa Fe whose work reclaims and reimagines Indigenous identity through large-format, conceptually rigorous images. Her photographs stage Native subjects in environments that challenge received assumptions — figures in traditional dress in contemporary landscapes, Indigenous ceremony meeting desert light, historical imagery reanimated in present-day contexts. Her series "Chemehuevi Portraits," "Jackrabbit and Pronghorn," and others document and celebrate Chemehuevi culture while resisting ethnographic reduction. She is among the most significant Indigenous photographers working today, with work in the collections of the National Museum of the American Indian, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Denver Art Museum, and other major institutions. Her work was featured in the 2022 documentary "Gather" about Indigenous food sovereignty.