Meet Sergio Meléndez
An independent Mexican photographer and documentarist, currently with "Queremos ver sangre" exhibition, now in NYC galleries.
A mutual friend introduced me to Sergio Meléndez a few weeks ago. Sergio is spending a month in New York showing his work, and I caught one of his talks at B&H. Worth every minute, and I was there to document it for you, dear Camera Clara reader!
Sergio is a documentary photographer from Mexico. He’s been at this for over twenty years, working independently, no gallery contracts, no institutional backing. His approach stays personal and direct: focused on people, movement, and moments that don’t need explaining.
His most known series is Queremos ver sangre (”We want to see blood”), a body of work shot in 2014 at the legendary Arena México.
The series goes back to his own childhood, to an early fascination with the world of Mexican wrestling, a spectacle that merges discipline, risk, theatricality, and popular folklore. Those nights still echo in his memory: the chants of “¡los rudos, los rudos!”, the crowd charged and shouting. “Queremos ver sangre” is a demand for total commitment from the fighter, for the willingness to put the body on the line and become something mythical.
Sergio sees lucha libre as a social phenomenon, a space for catharsis where many stories and emotions converge. On the ring, you have the physical fight. But something very powerful also happens below: people shout, release their emotions, project their frustrations. Some wrestlers interact with the audience, mocking or challenging them. He’s photographing all of that, not just the acrobatics.
A New York gallerist acquired two pieces from the series, opening the door for him in the contemporary art world. That’s what brought him here, and the work has been showing around the city since. In 2025, he received the Excellence in Visual Arts Award at the Mexican Music Awards, recognized on the screens of Times Square.
At the B&H talk, he was candid about what it actually takes to build this kind of career outside of Mexico. New York is a place where every artist from any discipline wants to be seen. Every trip involves expenses and time. People are still getting to know him there, and finding spaces or connections is harder than in Mexico City, where he has roots and speaks the same language as his audience. He didn’t complain about it. He said something closer to: these are the uncomfortable places you need to put yourself in to grow.
After the talk, we stepped outside. There’s a cop who works traffic right in front of B&H, and within minutes she was talking to Sergio, laughing, making her feel completely at ease. This got me thinking a lot that photography is about connecting people, and Sergio is a natural, because he is genuinely interested on what other people has to say. He’s there for the others, and THAT’S what makes him a great photographer. No gear talk, no bullshit. Just art, feelings, connections, emotions.
As many of you know, I am Brazilian, and due to that, I’ve been to many photography festivals in Brazil. In these, I had the chance of meeting people and having conversations with great names of photography, like Sebastião Salgado (rest in peace, my friend), Claudio Edinger, Evandro Teixeira (also rest in peace, my friend), and I can tell you with no mistake: I felt the same energy coming from Sergio. He is a great photographer and a great humanist.
They exchanged Instagrams. I photographed both of them. The whole thing lasted maybe five minutes and felt completely natural, like he’d known her for years. That’s just who he is. People gravitate toward him. I think it says something about why his documentary work is what it is. He got her trust in minutes, which is the most important talent a documentarist photographer must have.
I think that’s worth keeping in mind when looking at his work. Twenty-plus years of this. No shortcuts.
There’s something I keep thinking about after that talk. Photography isn’t about gear. It’s about culture, about people who dedicate their lives to documenting something real. Independent artists like Sergio are the ones keeping that alive, doing the work without institutional support, without shortcuts, just because they believe the story deserves to be told.
I was lucky to meet him through Brian when he came to New York. And I have a feeling that in a few years, a lot more people will know his name.
If you want to own a piece of his work, prints from the Queremos ver sangre series are available at shop.sergiomelendez.com.mx.
You can also follow Sergio on Instagram at @sergio.melendez and see more at sergiomelendez.com.mx.
