Xan Padrón (Galicia, Spain 1969) is a Galician photographer, musician, and composer. As the son of an old-school journalist, Xan Padrón grew up used to being a silent observer who sees things and finds stories everywhere. He received his first camera at the age of 13 from his godfather, a photo-journalist.
As a former professional touring musician who traveled the world with his bass and his camera, Xan Padrón was able to pursue his career as a photographer focused on the people around him.
Padrón’s fascination with time and movement, coupled with an uncanny ability to disappear behind the lens, unnoticed by his subjects, brought him to the realization of how much life happens even at the most seemingly insignificant location of a city. His critically acclaimed Time-Lapse Series (a collection of city portraits through random passersby, started in 2011), has been exhibited at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, featured on the cover of Saatchi Art's Spring Catalog 2019, and selected for The Other Art Fair in New York City, Chicago, London, Dallas, and Los Angeles.
Padron’s work has been exhibited in Spain, Canada, Israel, and the US and has been published worldwide in book covers, newspapers, magazines, concert programs, posters, and album covers, including the eleventh edition of “Race, Class and Gender in the United States” (MacMillan). Featured in over 1,700 digital kiosks across NYC's five boroughs as part of the #ArtonLink program, Padron’s sociological portraits of cities around the world are now more relevant than ever.
Xan Padrón resides in New York City where he lives and works with his wife, musician, composer, writer, and educator Cristina Pato.