Cara Romero: Panûpünüwügai (Living Light) (PRE-ORDER)

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Cara Romero’s storytelling leads us into the future. Each image is a doorway to an even more profound level of imagination than thought possible and remakes a history that includes us: the grandchildren, the great-grandchildren, and those who follow, generation-by-generation.

—  Joy Harjo

Throughout her renowned creative practice, Cara Romero has brilliantly challenged dominant narratives of Indigenous decline and erasure, disrupting preconceived notions about what it means to be a Native American. The artist’s first monograph, Panûpünüwügai (Living Light), explores the ways in which her images simultaneously acknowledge the injustices of colonialism while centering the humanity and vitality of her Indigenous collaborators, inviting audiences to engage in transformative dialogues.

Published in conjunction with the artist’s first solo museum exhibition of the same name, this comprehensive publication highlights the breadth of Romero’s practice, bringing together a dynamic selection of images from across her diverse bodies of work.

Organized into thematic sections, the works are accompanied by essays from notable scholars, including Karen Kramer, Curator of Native American and Oceanic Art and Culture, Peabody Essex Museum; Suzan Shown Harjo; Joy Harjo; Jordan Poorman Cocker, Curator of Indigenous Art, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art; Felicia Garcia, Education Programs Manager at the Santa Ynez Chumash Museum and Cultural Center; Kate Nelson, an award-winning journalist; and Jami Powell, Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs & Curator of Indigenous Art, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth.

SHIPS FALL 2025

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Cara Romero’s storytelling leads us into the future. Each image is a doorway to an even more profound level of imagination than thought possible and remakes a history that includes us: the grandchildren, the great-grandchildren, and those who follow, generation-by-generation.

—  Joy Harjo

Throughout her renowned creative practice, Cara Romero has brilliantly challenged dominant narratives of Indigenous decline and erasure, disrupting preconceived notions about what it means to be a Native American. The artist’s first monograph, Panûpünüwügai (Living Light), explores the ways in which her images simultaneously acknowledge the injustices of colonialism while centering the humanity and vitality of her Indigenous collaborators, inviting audiences to engage in transformative dialogues.

Published in conjunction with the artist’s first solo museum exhibition of the same name, this comprehensive publication highlights the breadth of Romero’s practice, bringing together a dynamic selection of images from across her diverse bodies of work.

Organized into thematic sections, the works are accompanied by essays from notable scholars, including Karen Kramer, Curator of Native American and Oceanic Art and Culture, Peabody Essex Museum; Suzan Shown Harjo; Joy Harjo; Jordan Poorman Cocker, Curator of Indigenous Art, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art; Felicia Garcia, Education Programs Manager at the Santa Ynez Chumash Museum and Cultural Center; Kate Nelson, an award-winning journalist; and Jami Powell, Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs & Curator of Indigenous Art, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth.

SHIPS FALL 2025

  • Photography by Cara Romero
    Text by Cara Romero, Jami Powell, Karen Kramer, Suzan Shown Harjo, Joy Harjo, Jordan Poorman Cocker, Felicia Garcia, John R. Stomberg, and Kate Nelson

    Co-published with The Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College

    Hardcover
    10 x 12.75 inches
    244 pages / 97 images

    Trade ISBN: 9798890181176
    Signed ISBN: 9798890181183

  • Cara Romero (b. 1977, Inglewood, CA) is an artist known for dramatic fine art photography that examines Indigenous life in contemporary contexts. An enrolled citizen of the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe, Romero was raised between contrasting settings: the rural Chemehuevi reservation in Mojave Desert, California, and the urban sprawl of Houston, Texas. Informed by her identity, Romero's visceral approach to representing Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultural memory, collective history, and lived experiences results in a blending of fine art and editorial styles. Romero travels between Santa Fe and the Chemehuevi Valley Indian Reservation, where she maintains close ties to her tribal community and ancestral homelands. Maintaining a studio in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Romero regularly participates in Native American art fairs and panel discussions and was featured on PBS's Craft in America in 2019.