César Estrada Chávez: Lost But Not Forgotten Photographs

When I get really bored, I scan old negatives and slides. Recently I found a series on César Estrada Chávez. I remember printing, publishing and exhibiting many of them. This one in particular, I never reproduced. I felt it was about time.

This series of photographs were taken in San José, California in the early 70s. It was at a benefit concert for the United Farmworkers Union. Chavez was in attentendance. I have seen the UFW leader many times before. He was not a stranger in San José.

I have two examples of the photo. One is full frame and the other is cropped. Since I shot the black and white photograph with my Hasselblad medium format camera. The pictures are quite sharp. Feel free to contact me should you have any questions about this and any of my photographs. My website is www.JMMGarza.com. 

Copyright 2022 Jesús Manuel Mena Garza. All rights reserved. JMMGarza@Gmail.com

Two Free 2015 Calendars by Jesús Manuel Mena Garza

2015 is just around the corner. Why not get a fabulous calendar to share. It is very simple. Click either or both images to download. The files are in the form of a large PDF. Print on letter, legal, tabloid or other size paper. Print via a basic black and white laser printer or high end photo printer. It is your choice.

Another option, you can copy the file to a CD, thumb drive or download to a retail website such as CVS, Walgreens, Costco, etc. Trim the image and you are set. If you have any questions please give me a call or send an email.

Print extras. They make great (cheap) gifts. Generously give one poster to your teacher or professor. They will be absolutely impressed by your excellent taste.

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Photographs from North Tejas

Three Photographs From the Series

Wichita Falls, Texas: Isolation, Abandonment and Loss

Near Oklahoma, exists the city of Wichita Falls, Texas. The glory days of Wichita Falls are but a distant memory. Downtown buildings blue and gold have long been empty. Desolate suburban streets lead to unrealized subdivisions. The poor live on the margins while the rich can leave town. Every community has its positives and negatives. Residents here enjoy a simpler life. Housing is dirt cheap and parking is never a problem.

No majestic mountains, crystal clear rivers or historic infrastructure to photograph here. Jesús Garza is forced to focus his lens on the more mundane. Issues of isolation, abandonment and loss are examined in his new work. Garza photographs decaying infrastructure and the endless landscape. They are embedded with symbols of the ordinary. 

Locals brag about the Texoma landscape. It lays flat at the Southern edge of the great American prairie. Garza often traveled to the edge to see what has been built or fallen. On the margins of Wichita Falls are extensive fields of cotton, grass, oil and gas. The red soil obscures the essential fuels that drive the local economy. While taking these photographs, Garza found solace in interpreting the landscape, simply. Typical of many photographers he enjoyed revisiting and reexamining past adventures. Possibly seeing more the next time around.   

Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston have grown exponentially over the past decades while Wichita Falls seems the worse for wear. There is no rush to live here, now. The area has become a refuge for those with few options. This new book project is dedicated to those hardy souls who make this wind-swept corner of Tornado Alley their home. This project offers eloquent visual testimony of their tenacity. Their future embedded in this dusty patch of Texas.. 

Click photo to see larger version.

Photos from the 2013 National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies (NACCS) Conference

Photos taken by Jesús Manuel Mena Garza during the 2013 National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies (NACCS) conference in San Antonio, Tejas. Click photos to enlarge. 

The next NACCS conference will be in Salt Lake City April 9 - 12, 2014. Here is a link for more information.

 

Copyright 2013 Jesús Manuel Mena Garza. All rights reserved. 

Jesús Garza: Summer 2011 Oil Paintings

I have placed on my wall the first of four oil paintings I completed this Summer. In a few months I will coat them with the appropriate varnish. They are not completely dry yet.

The first iPhone photo is of the painting on my wall and the second is a closeup detail. Feel free to send me your comments. I will start my Fall and Winter phase of painting in a few days.

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