Enrique Bostelmann was born and raised in Mexico by German parents. In 1957, he received a grant to study photography at the Bayerische Staatslehranstalt für Photographie in Munich. He started working as a professional photographer in 1961, documenting Mexico’s indigenous communities and impoverished rural areas. In 1970, he published America: un viaje a través de la injusticia [America: A journey through Injustice], exposing the terrible working conditions of the impoverished campesinos of Latin America. Bostelmann served as Vice Chairman from 1983 to 1986 on the Consejo Mexicano de Fotografía [Mexican Photography Council].