Enrique Metinides

Jaralambos Enrique Metinides Tsironides (1934–2022) was a pioneering Mexican crime photographer, renowned for his stark and often disturbing images of crime scenes, accidents, and natural disasters. Born in Mexico City to Greek parents, Metinides developed an interest in photography at a very young age. His father gave him a Brownie box camera when he was ten, sparking a lifelong passion for capturing the grim realities of urban life. He began photographing car accidents near his father’s restaurant, initially imitating the action movie scenes he admired. At just twelve years old, he had his first photograph published in a newspaper, and by age thirteen, he was working as an unpaid assistant to the crime photographer at *La Prensa*, a major daily newspaper in Mexico City. His early exposure to the world of crime photography earned him the nickname “El Niño” (“The Boy”) from his colleagues. Metinides worked as a crime photographer from 1948 until his retirement in 1997. Over these decades, he documented thousands of crime scenes, car crashes, murders, and disasters around Mexico City. His work was primarily featured in the “nota roja” sections of newspapers, a genre known for sensational, often graphic depictions of violence, death, and tragedy. Metinides’ photographs were both haunting and visceral, capturing moments of horror with a detached, almost journalistic precision. Although his work was originally appreciated within the context of sensationalist tabloid journalism, it was only after his retirement that his photographs began to be recognized for their artistic merit. Metinides’ ability to blend reportage with visual storytelling drew increasing attention from galleries and exhibition spaces, and his work was shown in Mexico, the United States, and Europe. After retiring in 1997, following his dismissal from *La Prensa*, Metinides stopped photographing live crime scenes. However, he continued to pursue photography, using his vast collection of miniature emergency vehicles and figurines of firemen, medics, and ambulances to stage mock disaster scenes. He also had an extensive collection of plastic frogs, which he photographed in various arrangements. Metinides continued to live in Mexico City until his death in 2022. Despite his early association with the lurid and sensational world of crime photography, his work ultimately achieved recognition as both an artistic and historical record of Mexico’s urban life and the human experience of violence and catastrophe.