Fernando Delgado

Fernando Delgado (born 1957) is a Cuban‑American photographer and multimedia artist whose work transcends simple image capture to embrace presentation, installation, and the alchemy of “making” photographs. Born in Santiago de Cuba, he emigrated to Newark, New Jersey, with his family in 1969 and cultivated his creative foundations at Arts High School. He honed his visual vocabulary at The Cooper Union and Parsons School of Design—studying under luminaries such as Louise Nevelson, Milton Glaser, Henry Wolf, and Herb Lubalin—before launching a 25‑year career in New York advertising with brands like Macy’s, Avon, and Bloomingdale’s.

In 2005 Delgado relocated to New Mexico’s high desert, where he turned to personal artistic practice. His ongoing Speculum series exemplifies his holistic approach: photographic portraits of people and flora are embedded within Gothic‑inspired triptychs or antique frames, overlaid with Latin inscriptions on glass, and arranged to evoke themes of life, death, beauty, and procreation. By integrating natural forms with crafted presentation elements—architectural framing, hand‑etched text, and sculptural display—he deliberately blurs the line between photograph and object, inviting viewers to contemplate each piece as a unified tableau.

Delgado’s work has been exhibited nationally and appears in numerous public and private collections. A published author and sought‑after speaker, he leads workshops and lectures for institutions across the arts and corporate sectors, sharing his insights on visual storytelling, creative process, and the transformative power of photography as an immersive, installation‑based medium.