Iris is a social documentary photographer working on independent projects and also in partnership with humanitarian-based non-profit organizations in the San Francisco Bay area and internationally. She was born and raised in California and recently completed a degree in Literary and Intercultural Studies at Dominican University of California. Her interest is in ethnic and cultural identity, as well as issues of social justice and human rights, particularly for women. Her own identity as a woman of color and as the daughter of Mexican immigrants informs both her academic interests and social documentary work, as does her love of exploring other cultures internationally.

In 2013, Iris visited the Occupied Palestinian Territories for the first time, which led her to return four more times over a period of six years to learn about life under Occupation. She developed “Faces of Occupied Palestine,” a personal on-going project bringing attention to the struggle of life for Palestinians living in the West Bank. 

Her concern for “wholeness and truth” is centered around education and conscious awareness, and in breaking out of the “conditioned” frames by which people see the world, in order to develop greater compassion and connection as humans. Iris’ goal, in part, is to use photography towards this end.