Jesse Herrera was born in Monterrey, Mexico in 1945. Herrera earned his B.A. in Art Design from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1975 and an M.A. in Photojournalism from the University of Texas at Austin in 1990. He teaches photography at Laguna Gloria Art School in Austin, Texas. His first job after graduation in 1975 was as a corporate photographer in Chicago. In 1978, Herrera moved to Austin and began working for various Texas State agencies. For the next 25 years he worked for the Texas Department of Agriculture, the State Preservation Board, and the Texas House of Representatives. He retired in 2003. His documentary photography of Mexico, Guatemala, and Spain has been exhibited throughout Texas and the Midwest in one-man shows and national juried exhibitions. In addition, some of this work has appeared in various publications featuring Hispanic culture. Art and Ritual in Golden-Age Spain and Hispanic Times are the most recent books featuring some of his photographs. A selection of his work is in the permanent collection of the following institutions: The Bill Wittliff Photography Collection of Southwestern and Mexican Photography at Texas State University, The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin, and the Mexican Fine Arts Center and Museum in Chicago.