Biography

Steven Molina Contreras (b. San Salvador, El Salvador) is a New York-based photographer working across fine art, editorial, and commercial photography. Rooted in personal history and cultural memory, his personal work explores migration, family, and belonging through documentary and staged image-making.

His work has been exhibited internationally, including at Photo Elysée in Switzerland and in Tokyo, Japan, as well as nationally across the United States through You Belong Here: Place, People, and Purpose in Latinx Photography. His photographs are held in the permanent collections of the Hood Museum of Art and Light Work.

His editorial commissions include work for The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, The Cut, Aperture, i-D, and DIE ZEIT. His commercial collaborations include Airbnb, iHeart, NBC, Saucony, New York City Tourism, and the Kissick Family Foundation.

Molina Contreras is a 2025 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in Photography, a 2024 Google × Aperture Creator Labs Photo Fund recipient, and a 2021 Aperture Portfolio Prize finalist. W Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, and The Creative Independent have featured his work and practice.

He has held artist residencies at Light Work, NY, and the Center for Photography at Woodstock, NY, and served as a visiting artist at Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Aspen, CO. He has lectured at institutions including NYU, Stanford University, Bard College, and Pratt Institute.

Available for editorial and commercial commissions.

www.stevenmolinacontreras.com