Kathya Maria Landeros: Verdant Land

Verdant Land
Kathya Maria Landeros
Dust Collective, 2025

Hardcover, 100 Pages
ISBN: 979-8-9893350-4-6

Supported by the Light Work Book Award Program

Designed by Emily Sheffer

Verdant Land by Kathya Maria Landeros is a photographic exploration of her family’s century-long migration between Mexico and the U.S., shaped by agricultural labor. Blending personal memory with broader histories, the project reflects on immigrant contributions to the American West, honoring ancestors like her great-grandmother Mama Chuy and generations of Latino workers.

Landeros traveled through western American states between 2011-2024, creating photographs that reflect our interdependence both with the landscape and with one another.

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Kathya Maria Landeros is a Mexican-American photographer and educator. Influenced by her bi-cultural upbringing, her work of two decades focuses on Latinx communities and the exploration of history, migration, representation and belonging. Her research has been supported through fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the Fulbright, and residencies at Anderson Ranch Arts Center, the Rayko Photo Center, the Center for Photography at Woodstock and Kala Art Institute. Her work has been exhibited nationally and is held in both private and public collections. 

Prior to joining the faculty at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, she taught at public institutions of higher education in northern California and Massachusetts. She holds a graduate degree in photography from MassArt and a dual undergraduate degree in English literature and Hispanic studies from Vassar College.