Taina Franco Klein
by Alex Schwind
October 9, 2025
Taina Franco Klein. “Subject Studies.” MOMA, 2022.
https://www.moma.org/collection/works/450532.
Sliding doors open to a dimly lit gallery where crowds of faces fill each frame. Capturing countless identities and appearances, the eyes of mankind appear imprinted on each wall.
Taina Franco Klein’s “Subject Studies: Chapter 1” is now on display at The Museum of Modern Art, included in their exhibition, “New Photography 2025: Lines of Belonging.” Klein is a Mexican multimedia artist with a focus in photography. Interested in the power of human perception and preconceived judgements, Klein challenges the viewer to become the storyteller. “Subject Studies: Chapter 1” arranges twelve portraits in a four-by-three grid. The subjects are placed in different versions of the same scenes, from a bathroom to a diner, to a car, to an office. Between columns, only the subjects and framing change.
Klein’s work is largely inspired by her Latin American identity, womanhood, and cross-cultural experiences as an immigrant. The artist grew up in Mexico City, where she attended architecture school. She later graduated from the University of the Arts London with her MA in Photography. She now lives in Mexico City, but exhibits her work across both Europe and the Americas. Klein pulls from her own experiences with profiling to channel it through her artwork, confronting prejudice within the viewer.
By employing the same spaces for the diverse subjects, Klein highlights not only their differences in appearance and mannerisms but also fosters self-reflection on why we, as viewers, perceive the portraits in such different ways. Each scene was shot using 106 different subjects, yet displayed separately. Showcasing a vast range of ethnicities, races, gender identities, ages, and emotions, each image emulates a unique essence. Klein’s “Subject Studies: Chapter 1” places the viewer in the role of examiner, not only of the photographs, but of themselves.
Taina Franco Klein’s piece, “Subject Studies: Chapter 1,” is on view at The Museum of Modern Art in New York City until January 17, 2026.