Biography:

Lorenzo Armendáriz was born in San Luis Potosí, Mexico in 1961. He has specialized in the photographic record of several ethnic groups in Mexico. In 1995 he made a photographic project about gypsies in Mexico, which earned him the Young Creators Grant 1994-95, PACMYC 1997-98,  2000-2001 and 2003-2004, the Grant of the Endowment Fund for Cultural Projects and Conversions 1996-1997, and 2000-2001. In 2003 he is admitted to the National Creators System (2003-2005) to document gypsies in Latin America and a project about the pilgrimages in Mexico.
In 2006-2007 he was awarded the grants of the Endowment Fund for Cultural Projects and conversions and the National Creators System (2007-2010) again. He has received several recognitions that include the Acquisition Prize of the 7th. Photo Biennale (Mexico 1995), the El Habanero Prize of Bienal de Fotografía Contemporánea La Llave del Cerro, First prize of III Salón Internacional Abelardo Rodríguez Antes, both in Havana, Cuba in 1995. In 1998 he was awarded 3rd. prize in the Photography category of the 5th International Gypsy Art contest of the THEM ROMANO association in Italy.
In 2006 was awarded the Documentary Prize of the China Folklore Photographic Association, Beijing, China. He was also awarded the Acquisition Prize "Manuel Ramos” of the San Luis Potosí Cultural Institute. His work is in the collections of the National Library of Paris, The Fototeca de Cuba, Centro de la Imagen, the Them Romano Association (Laciano, Italy), Instituto Nacional Indigenista, La Sala de Etnografía of Museo Nacional de Antropología de Mexico, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, among others.

Statement:

The paths of faith
Pilgrimage is a penance, a sacrifice made in this world to redeem the sins that would allow us to have access to the heavens. The pilgrimage to Plateros, Zacatecas to worship the Santo Niño de Atocha goes through the desert of Chihuahua, while the pilgrimages to visit San Miguel Arcangel go across San Luis Potosi and Guanajuato under a stormy September sky. The reflection of the water confers a ghostly air to the pilgrims, which anticipates the transit towards purgatory. These images are part of a documentary work about the pilgrimages in Mexico called The Paths of Faith, sponsored by FONCA (National Fund for the Culture and the Arts).