Jonathan Michael Castillo

Jonathan Michael Castillo is a photographer, visual artist, and educator whose practice spans photography, video, installation, and handmade paper to examine immigration, labor, debt, and the systems of government that shape everyday life.

He is a 2026 Guggenheim Fellow in Photography and the 2026 Joyce Foundation Artadia Awardee. He was the 2019-2021 recipient of the Diane Dammeyer Fellowship in Photographic Arts and Social Issues. Jonathan was included in the 2021 Hyde Park Art Center's Ground Floor Biennial in Chicago and was a finalist for the WMA Commission in Hong Kong. His work has been featured with The New Yorker, Wired, The Chicago Tribune, and CBS: Los Angeles. He has been interviewed on the BBC's “World Update” and Los Angeles public radio stations KPCC and KCRW.

Jonathan was commissioned to create a large-scale permanent installation of his work at O’Hare International Airport as part of the Terminal 5 expansion project. In 2023 he was commissioned to make work for the city of Chicago’s Citywide Plan in partnership with the Department of Cultural Affairs and the Department of Planning and Development. Work from that project was installed at Midway International Airport, City Hall and the Chicago Cultural Center.

Exhibitions include Opening Passages at the Chicago Cultural Center and A Lion for Every House at the Art Institute of Chicago. His work is held in the collections of the Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University, the DePaul Art Museum, and the Illinois State Museum, among others. His monographs include Car Culture (Skylark Editions, 2022) and Flags, Food & Faith (City of Chicago, 2025). Castillo holds a BFA from CSULB and an MFA from Columbia College Chicago.