Nathan Cordova (he/they) is a queer/pansexual artist and educator based in San Francisco. His work explores the mobilizing potential of somatics in connecting shared desires to political practice, weaving together theories of the glitch, emergence, the abject, the erotic and others. He completed his MFA in Photography, Video and Imaging at the University of Arizona (’24) and currently holds a Lecturer position at Stanford University teaching undergraduate darkroom photography, concepts and theory. Nathan spoke as a student-presenter at the Society for Photographic Education’s Annual Conference, New Realities, in St. Louis, MO in the spring of 2024. That same year he was named to the Lenscratch Student Prize Top 25 Photographers to watch.
Education
2024 University of Arizona, MFA, Photography, Video and Imaging, Tucson, AZ.
2022 Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Photographic Innovations With Laser Cutting and Engraving, Abbey Hepner, Snowmass Village, CO.
2019 San Francisco Center for the Book, Core Bookbinding Series 1-4 Certification, SF, CA.
2017-2019 McNair Evans, One-on-one Directed Study, San Francisco, CA.
2014-2016 Kirsten Rian, One-on-one Directed Study, Portland, OR.
2011-2013 Lauren Henkin & Kirsten Rian, Directed Group Study, Portland, OR.
2002-2007 B.A. Journalism, University of Oregon School of Journalism, Eugene, OR.
Teaching
2024-2026 Stanford University, ARTSTUDI 170: Light and Shadow, Primary Instructor, Stanford, CA.
2022-2024 University of Arizona, ART 244: Introduction To Photographic Practices and Visual Thinking, Primary Instructor, Tucson, AZ.
2021-2024 University of Arizona, ART 242: Introduction To Photographic Concept, Graduate Teaching Assistant, Tucson, AZ.
2022-2023 University of Arizona, ART 100C: Gaze, Primary Instructor, Tucson, AZ.
2021 Design Tech High School, April Intersession Instructor, “Zine Making for the Visual Artist”, Redwood City, CA.
2017-2020 First Exposures, Part-time Mentor for Digital Photography and B&W Darkroom, SF, CA.
Professional Experience
2023 Paradise Is Trouble, Technical Production, The Loft Cinema, Tucson, AZ.
2017-2019 McNair Evans, Studio Assistant contributing to all aspects of art production, San Francisco, CA.
2017 Begin Anywhere: Paths of Mentorship and Collaboration, Production Assistant, SF Camerawork, San Francisco, CA.
2009-Present Nathan Cordova Studios, Founder and Principal Photographer, Portland, OR, Oakland, CA, and Berkeley, CA.
Awards/Grants/Fellowships
2024 Lenscratch Student Prize Top 25, Lenscratch, Online.
2023 Melon-Fronteridades Fellowship, Confluencenter For Creative Inquiry, Tucson, AZ.
2023 Helen Gross Award, University of Arizona School of Art, Tucson, AZ.
2022 Full Tuition, Room and Board Summer Workshop Scholarship, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass Village, CO.
2022 Graduate & Professional Student Council Travel Grant Recipient, University of Arizona GPSC, Tucson, AZ.
2022 Medici Scholar Award, University of Arizona College of Fine Arts, Tucson, AZ.
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024 San Francisco Camerawork 2024 Member’s Open, SF Camerawork, SF, CA.
2024 Reciprocity: Expanding Ideas of Community, Kimball Visual Art Center Atrium at Weber State
University, Ogden, UT.
2024 Leaving to Arrive: 2024 MFA Thesis Exhibition, University of Arizona Museum of Art,
Tucson, AZ.
2024 Land, Body & Archive, Northlight Gallery, Phoenix, AZ.
2023 Land, Body & Archive, Lionel Rombach Gallery, Tucson, AZ.
2023 Land, Body & Archive, John Sommers Gallery, Albuquerque, NM.
2023 2023 National Juried Graduate Exhibition, Gallery 130, Oxford, MS.
2023 Tú Eres Tú, CAV Gallery, Las Cruces, NM.
2023 Art Research in the Unruly World: Questions, Forms & Methods, Palo Verde Gallery, Tucson, AZ.
2023 Shaping Conduits, Palo Verde Gallery, Tucson, AZ.
2023 Paradise Is Trouble, The Loft Cinema, Tucson, AZ.
2022 A Practice of Doubt, Palo Verde Gallery, Tucson, AZ.
2021 Tú Eres Tú, CAV Gallery, Las Cruces, NM.
2021 Review Santa Fe, official selection, Center Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM.
2021 SF Camerawork 2021 Benefit Auction: The Roof is on Fire, SF Camerawork, SF, CA.
2019 Forecast 2019: SF Camerawork’s Annual Survey Exhibition, SF, CA.
2019 Storytelling Through the Lens, Chicano Humanities Arts Council Gallery, Denver, CO.
2017 SF Camerawork 2017 Benefit Auction, SF Camerawork, SF, CA2016 Our World Portfolio Review, project admission, Photo Alliance, SF, CA.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2025 The Truth is a Sphere, Casa Lü Sur, Mexico City.
2020 One Man’s Body Family Album, Berkeley Salon Show, Berkeley, CA.
2018 One Man’s Body and Vicinity, Walden House Salon Show, Oakland, CA.
2017 One Man’s Body, Richmond Salon Show, Portland, OR.
2017 One Man’s Body, Walden House Salon Show, Oakland, CA.
Film Festivals
2025 Vast Lab 6, official selection for Gold and Glitter, Los Angeles, CA.
2024 Blow-up Chicago International Art House Film Festival, Semi-Finalist for Anatomy of a Scandal,
Chicago.
2024 Blow-up Chicago International Art House Film Festival, Semi-Finalist for Gold and Glitter,
Chicago.
2024 Another Hole in the Head Film Festival, Official Selection for Anatomy of a Scandal, SF, CA.
2024 Another Hole in the Head Film Festival, Official Selection for Gold and Glitter, SF, CA.
Commissions
2020 Elizabeth Eaves. (October 1, 2020). “The Pandemic Closed Borders—and Stirred a Longing for Home”. WIRED. Retrieved from https://www.wired.com/story/the-pandemic-closed-borders-and-stirred-a-longing-for-home.
Bibliography
2023 Michael Chesnick. (September 13, 2023). “Mellon Recipient Cordova Hopes Art Project Adds to Border Discourse”. University of Arizona College of Fine Arts. Retrieved from https://art.arizona.edu/news/mellon-recipient-cordova-hopes-art-project-adds-to-border-discourse/.
2023 “The Racket Journal”, Vol. 5, Issue 78. The Racket Reading Series. San Francisco, CA.
Publications as Author
2024 Cordova, Nathan. “Feeling a Future Coming.” Master of Fine Arts thesis, University of Arizona, 2024. https://www.proquest.com/docview/3071489841
2021 Cordova, Nathan. I Want To Leave So Much Behind. Berkeley, CA: Self-Published, 2021. Artist Zine, Limited-Edition of 100. 24 pages, 14 images, original text.
2020 Cordova, Nathan. One Man’s Body Family Album. Berkeley, CA: Self-Published, 2020. Artist Book, Limited-Edition of 100. 32 pages, 23 original B&W photographs, 4 archival maps, pen on paper.
2018-2019 Cordova, Nathan. One Man’s Body and Vicinity. Oakland, CA: Self-Published, 2018-2019. Artist Zine, Limited-Edition of 100. 7 original B&W photographs. Pen on paper.
2017 Cordova, Nathan. One Man’s Body. Oakland, CA: Self-Published, 2017. Artist Zine, Limited Edition of 100. 20 pages, 14 original B&W photographs, original text.
Lectures and Artist Talks
2024 Society for Photographic Education, Annual Conference: New Realities. St. Louis, MO.
2023 Confluencenter, Fronterivoces, a Fronteridades Fellows’ Presentation and Q&A. Tucson, AZ.
2022 University of Arizona School of Art, Untrue Narratives. Tucson, AZ.
2022 Southwest Photo Collaborative. Online Talk.
Curatorial Projects
2024 Land, Body and Archive, Northlight Gallery, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ.
2023 Land, Body and Archive, Lionel Rombach Gallery, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.
2023 Land, Body and Archive, John Sommers Gallery, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM.
Exhibitions Juried
2025 Forecast 2025: SF Camerawork’s Annual Survey Exhibition, SF Camerawork, SF, CA.
Artist Residencies
2026 Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT.
2025 Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, CA.
2025 Casa Lü Sur, Mexico City.