About Monica 

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Monica Rojas is a social documentary photographer based in Northeast Ohio whose work centers on the people, places, and traditions that shape communal identity.

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Her extensive international portfolio has been shaped by her life within the diplomatic community; following her husband’s career with the U.S. State Department has provided her with unique, long-term access to diverse cultures. 

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Monica's work has been published in The Foreign Service Journal and has been exhibited at the U.S. Consulate Nogales' Building Puentes Across Naciones. ​While living in Sonora, Mexico, she documented the US-Mexico border from both sides—including rare access to the tunnels beneath the border alongside Border Patrol and the Policía Federal. This work has evolved into a long-term project documenting the H-2A visa process; having captured the recruitment and departure stages in Nogales, she is now completing the narrative by documenting the lives and labor of H-2A workers on farms in Ohio.

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Now settled in Youngstown, Ohio, Monica is focused on her current project, George Town with Miles: A Cat's Guide to Penang's Most Colorful City. This children's photo book celebrates the culture of George Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. She is also developing a long-form documentary book on the Clan Jetties of Penang—one of the last surviving waterfront communities of its kind in Southeast Asia.