Stefan Ruiz is an award-winning photographer and filmmaker based in New York City. He has worked for a variety of publications, including The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, National Geographic, and Vanity Fair. His work has been featured in numerous exhibitions around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
Ruiz was born in Mexico City and moved to the United States at age 16. He studied photography at the School of Visual Arts in New York City and began his career as a freelance photographer shortly after graduating. His work has taken him around the world, from Mexico to India to Cuba to South Africa. He has documented a wide range of subjects, from street life to celebrities to political figures.
In addition to his editorial work, Ruiz has directed several short films and music videos for artists such as Bjork and The Black Keys. He also collaborated with director Spike Lee on the documentary film When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (2006). In 2010 he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for his project “The American West” which explored themes of immigration and identity through photographs taken along the US-Mexico border.
Ruiz’s photographs have been widely published and exhibited around the world. His work is held in numerous public collections including those of The Museum of Modern Art (New York), The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Smithsonian Institution (Washington DC), and The Victoria & Albert Museum (London).