Pieter Henket: Birds of Mexico City

Join us in conversation with Pieter Henket to celebrate his new book, a collection of beautiful portraits of young people in Mexico City, interweaving themes of gender, sexuality, heritage, and self-expression. He will be in conversation with Justin Gaspar, followed by a signing.

PLEASE NOTE: RSVPs are encouraged but not required. Seating is limited and will be first come, first served. Doors open at 5:30 pm.

Can't attend?(please specify that you would like it signed in the comments box at checkout).

Dutch photographer Pieter Henket's (born 1979) Birds of Mexico City is a collection of portraits created in the years following the Covid-19 pandemic.

During Henket's extended time in Mexico City, he and stylist Chino Castilla fostered a collaborative creative environment where participants could gather, experiment and express themselves freely. The space became a vibrant meeting point for dancers, mask-makers, designers and performers―each engaging with the interplay between Mexico's deeply rooted cultural symbolism and the liberating possibilities of modern self-expression. Within this setting, Henket and Castilla worked closely with each participant to craft portraits that reflect both the tension and the harmony between inherited traditions and lived identity. The book is structured in three thematic parts: "The Divine Feminine," "The Masculine" and "Mexican Culture and Artifacts." Together, these sections offer a layered visual narrative tracing how contemporary Mexican youth engage with and reinterpret the cultural, spiritual and historical forces that shape them.

Born into a family of artists, Henket’s early fascination with film and photography was bolstered when he moved to New York City in 1998 to enroll in a three-month documentary filmmaking course at New York University. Soon thereafter he began interning for the director Joel Schumacher, where Henket learned staging and production. Time spent experimenting in the studio and doing portraits of friends and strangers in equal measure resulted in editorial work for magazines such as Esquire. His photograph of Lady Gaga was used for the album cover of The Fame (2008), which sold over 15 million copies worldwide. The photograph was included in the exhibition American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in 2010. In 2012 he photographed the Carnaval de Rio, a Brazilian carnival taking place every year in San Luis, a city in the mountains of Argentina. The work, Stars to the Sun, resulted in a book and several exhibitions, which led to a relationship with the environmental activist group Tales of Us.

Henket is the author of The Way I See It (Uitgeverij de Kunst, Uitgeverij Waanders, 2013); Stars to the Sun (Lannoo Publishers, 2014); and Congo Tales (Prestel, 2018). Henket’s work has been the subject of numerous exhibitions at institutions such as the Museum de Fundatie in The Netherlands, and the Museum Barberini in Germany. His work is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.

Photo by Justin Gaspar

At just 23 years old, Justin Gaspar is a Filipino American writer and editor whose work centers on culture, identity, and intergenerational dialogue. A graduate of Pepperdine University, where he studied political science and philosophy, Justin began interning at Boom Productions Inc. and working directly with fine art photographer Pieter Henket at just 20 years old. There, he learned the ropes of the industry quickly, fast becoming an integral part of Pieter’s artistic practice.

Through his meticulous eye and deeply reflective sensibility, Justin became instrumental in shaping the narrative voice of Birds of Mexico City, ultimately serving as the book’s editor and writer. His approach is rooted in proximity and trust. He traveled extensively to Mexico City, building close relationships with many of the subjects and immersing himself in their lived realities.

As a young queer professional, Justin resonated strongly with the differences that define each of these “birds” — the nuances of identity, vulnerability, and self-expression that make them who they are. His voice became essential precisely because it reflects a new generation: one that sees complexity not as contradiction, but as strength. His writing carries an attentiveness to individuality and freedom that gives the book its emotional depth.Justin continues to collaborate closely with Pieter across projects, including Wings of Light, a photographic series of 18 Ukrainian refugee dancers who express their experience of war and displacement through dance. He currently serves as a studio manager at TRIM Editing, one of the leading film editing companies in New York.

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