Mario Algaze was a renowned Cuban-American fine art photographer and photojournalist celebrated for his masterful darkroom printing and evocative images of Latin American culture. Born in Havana, Cuba in 1947, Algaze was forced into exile at age thirteen, relocating to Miami, Florida, in 1960. This formative experience of displacement profoundly shaped his artistic vision.
In the early 1970s, Algaze briefly enrolled in a photography course at Miami Dade College, sparking his passion for the medium. By 1971, at the age of 24, he began his career as a self-taught photographer, capturing portraits of musicians and artists for publications like Vanidades and Zoo World. However, Algaze soon turned his lens toward Latin America, seeking to explore his cultural heritage and process the experience of his exile through photography.
Algaze’s work offers a window into the rich fabric of Latin American life where traditions of the past intersect with the modern world. His photographs are noted for their meticulous composition and atmospheric quality, often evoking a dreamlike sense of time and place. “I wanted to be a photographer without any influence whatsoever,” Algaze once said, underscoring his commitment to a unique artistic path. He believed his creation of art was less a choice than a natural calling.
A passionate artistic visionary, in 1979, Algaze founded Florida’s first fine art photography gallery, Gallery Exposures, in Coral Gables, Florida. After it closed, he dedicated himself fully to his craft, allowing him to travel extensively throughout the Latin America he loved. His work has been exhibited and collected by prestigious museums across the United States, Latin America, and Europe, earning him numerous awards for his striking visual storytelling and technical mastery.
Algaze remained a vibrant part of South Florida’s cultural scene until his death in September 2022, leaving behind a legacy of artistic innovation and a deeply personal chronicle of Latin American life.
