About Noel Rojo
Noel Rojo (Chihuahua Mexico, 1987 /Dual citizen Mexican-USA)
Noel Rojo is a Mexican/American photographer whose work explores the in-between spaces—the transitions, pauses, and moments of potential that reveal the essence of human stories. His practice merges documentary and fine art, focusing on the subtle interplay between people and place.
Currently based in Oaxaca, Mexico, Noel draws inspiration from years of immersive travel across Southeast Asia, India, Latin America, and Africa. These experiences have profoundly shaped his understanding of the shared and distinct narratives that define human experiences.
His ongoing series, Gotas de Fuego ('Drops of Fire'), is set in Oaxacan cantinas and reflects on themes of longing, separation, and fleeting connection. Inspired by a song that uses love as a metaphor for alcoholism, the project explores the layered stories embedded in these third spaces—where time stretches and settles in quiet corners. The candid yet carefully composed images balance authenticity and intentionality, using light, color, and emotion to evoke the complexities of human experience.
Noel is the co-founder of Women Who Stay, a global multimedia project that highlights the resilience of women whose lives are shaped by migration. His work has been featured in international publications such as Deutsche Welle, Thomson Reuters Foundation/Context, The New Humanitarian, Unbiased the News, and Mongabay, as well as in media outlets across Slovakia, Czechia, and the United States.
His photography has been exhibited in solo shows throughout Central Europe and in collaborative exhibitions in Mexico and the United States. As a speaker, he has shared his insights at universities and festivals. A former fellow at the University of Southern California's Spiritual Exemplars Project, he is currently a journalism fellow at Brandeis University.
Through his work, Noel seeks to illuminate the raw potential in overlooked moments, inviting viewers to reflect on the quiet transformations that occur in the spaces between intention and realization.
Awards and Grants
2024 Emerging Photographer - Hamburg Portfolio Review 2024
2024 Chaplaincy Innovation Lab - Templeton Religion Trust Journalism Fellow
2023 University Of Southern California - Spiritual Exemplar Project Journalist Fellow.
Solo Shows
2023 Women Who Stay in India, Festival Fjuzn, Tyrsak (outdoor), Bratislava, Slovakia. 2023 Women Who Stay in Mexico, Ethiopia, Senegal, Gallery Svatoplukova, Bratislava, Slovakia. 2021 Women Who Stay in Mexico, Ethiopia, Senegal, Festival Jeden Svet, Usti Nad Orlici, Czech Republic. 2019 Women Who Stay in Mexico, Ethiopia, Senegal, Gallery Bastova, Festival Fjuzn, Bratislava, Slovakia.
Collective Shows
2023 Stories of Social Change: Spirituality in Action, USC Annenberg School of Communications and Journalism, Los Angeles, USA.
2023 Nuevas Visiones (New Visions), Cordoba Labs, Oaxaca, Mexico.
Publications
2024 Connecting With God And Others: How Chaplains Support Denver’s Unhoused, Religion Unplugged.
2024 Interest in chaplaincy grows as the role expands to serve more in society, Faith Divinity/Duke.
2023 Reporters’ diary: What women who stay can tell us about migration, The New Humanitarian.
2023 Amid global mezcal craze, scientists and communities try out sustainable plantations, Mongabay. 2023 Custodians of Mexico's indigenous forests confront climate change, Thomson Reuters Foundation/The Context. 2022 Farmers in Mexico fight coffee disease with resistant varieties and agroforestry, Mongabay. 2022 In Oaxaca, Indigenous farmers mourn Catholic activist who championed their rights and rituals, Religious News Service. 2020 The State of Being, South East Asia Globe. 2020 The indigenous women fighting for change in Southern Rajasthan, Friends of Friends
2019 Women Who Stay in Mexico Carry Empty Hearts and Heavier Burdens, The Progressive. 2019 Women weather climate change in Senegal, Deutsche Welle.
Curation
2023 Stories of Social Change: Spirituality in Action, USC Annenberg School of Communications and Journalism, Los Angeles, USA.
Books
2023 Ženy, ktoré zostal (Women Who Stay) - Book on our long term multimedia project (text by Magdalena Rojo, fotos by me), Abzynt.
Education
2015-2016 Metro State University, Denver, CO, US — Linguistics/Speech Language Pathology
2008-2010 Community College of Denver, Denver, CO, US- Associates in Science