Professor Norma Patiño was born in Mexico City. She is a photographer and has a Ph.D. in Urban Design and Studies. She is a specialist in Urban Identities and has a Masters in Historiography of Mexico from the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM), she is a Graphic Designer from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM).

Professor Patiño works an analytical vision on the photography of violence in the city. She is the author of the photography books "Las Costumbres del Rostro", 2001, and "Dialogos de la Mirada, Retratos de Norma Patiño", 2015; she has also coordinated other titles and has collaborated in some thirty publications with her photographic works.

Professor Patiño is an independent creator. Her photographs have been published in newspapers, magazines, and art and literature books. Her work is part of private collections and some museums.

Professor Patiño has stood out for her work, taking portraits of creators for her projects in the Huamelula community in Oaxaca and for her work as an activist against gender violence. Professor Patiño participated in more than 100 individual and group exhibitions in various museums and galleries, in Mexico and other countries, among which are: "D'après Claude Cahun, Autoritratto al Femminile", in Rome, Italy; "Diversidad Metropolitana", at the Museum of Modern Art, in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia in 2014, in Havana, Cuba, 2015; Costa Rica 2017. "Las Costumbres del Rostro", in Casa Lamm and "La Piel del las Horas", in the Museum of the Archbishop's Palace; "Sin Comisario" at the Museo de Arte Moderno del Edo. de México; "Desde la India ellas nos mira", at the Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala. "El Tiempo" in la Casa de la Cultura de Azcapotzalco; "Mujheroes (r)evolucionando" in Barcelona, Spain 2017 and 2018. "Mujeres. Historias que también importan", Red foto México 2019. Casa de la Cultura Azcapotzalco. "La manta de curación" in the Zócalo de la CdMx. Collective exhibition.

She is a professor and researcher at the Department of Evaluation and head of the Research Area "Semiótica del Diseño", at the UAM. Professor Patiño has published research articles in various media. As an academic for more than 30 years, she has promoted the criticism and analysis of photography in the face of new technologies and has given workshops and conferences internationally.