Syrian Refugees Photography Exhibition?

As I write, an ambitious photographer or two is probably organizing an exhibit. A series of photographs of the ravaged faces of Syrian refugees. Images of destroyed Syrian buildings will give context. The collected images offer a stark contrast to our reality.

Wandering the streets, the photographer will pick and choose who to immortalize. Feeling almost guilty, the photographer snaps the shutter. The more desperate and suffering the refugee, the better. They can see the picture framed in a sterile gallery as the photo is captured.

What do you think?

Documenting the Legacy of César Estrada Chávez Exhibition

Jesús Manuel Mena Garza Documentary Photography Exhibition - July 18 to September 29, 2013

Kathryn Blackmer Reyes of San José State University (SJSU) created this poster and curated my show at SJSU. If you happen to be in San José, California go check out my photo exhibition at the SJSU MLK Library.

Click poster to enlarge

Latina Students Land Gallery Row Exhibit for Their Interpretation of Historic Olvera Street

This month Cobá will open its headquarters to expose Art Walk attendees to a photography collection from students involved in Las Fotos Project, a non-profit, community-based program that seeks to empower Latina youth through photography. The collection of photographs is from “Nuestra Placita Olvera,” a project in which the young women captured the culture and life of the city’s historic landmark, Olvera Street, by documenting its annual celebrations.

Headquartered in the heart of the arts district in downtown Los Angeles, Cobá wanted to respect the culture of the neighborhood and thus transformed their office into a gallery featuring the work of various accomplished, local artists. Last month, Cobá featured the work of Yolanda Gonzalez, whose bold use of color and texture reflects her family’s long heritage of artists. In April, José Ramirez’s sociopolitical paintings, rich with images of Chicano culture, were a hit.

The Las Fotos Project encourages young women to express their individuality and creativity and hone their artistic talents with photography training, mentoring and field projects. On display will be the work of Valerie Beltran, age 16, Julie Cabral, age 18, Civil Hernandez, age 16, Jessenia Pineda, age 14, and Yoali Sayago, age 17. According to Las Fotos Project founder Eric V. Ibarra, “The students took a photojournalistic approach to this project by documenting historical celebrations that may be forever changed in the future. Their ability to create this beautiful installation full of color, culture, and life was very inspirational to the Las Fotos Project community and we are all very proud that their hard work and amazing accomplishments will be shared with such a large audience.”

Cobá CEO, Arnulfo Ventura stated, “Art Walk is a great venue and opportunity for these students to display their best work and I know how much this means to them.” Later adding, “Orozco’s murals in Guadalajara made an impact on me as a child and today, I see Yolanda (Gonzalez) and José (Ramirez) as some of the greats of our time. Arts have a rich history in the Latino culture and I’m just glad we’re able to provide a forum to keep celebrating these fabulous artists.”

The event takes place the evening of Thursday, June 9 during the general hours of Art Walk. Cobá, the first ready-to-drink all-natural aguas frescas company, will be providing samples of their authentic aguas frescas sweetened with organic agave.To learn more about Cobá and its work with local artists, please go to www.drinkcoba.com. For more information about Las Fotos Project, visit lasfotosproject.org.

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'Miradas' reveals how Mexican artists confronted modernity after Revolution

By Steve Bennett
sbennett@express-news.net

San Antonio's Witte Museum marked the centennial of the Mexican Revolution last year with its multifaceted exhibition “1910: A Revolution Across Borders.” Now the venerable institution examines the artistic legacy of that earth-shattering rip in society's fabric with a seismic summer show that traces the development of Mexican art over the past 80 years in some 100 works.

“Miradas: Mexican Art From the Bank of America Collection” features paintings, prints and photography by 32 artists, including Diego Rivera, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Graciela Iturbide and Rufino Tamayo, as well as contemporary artists such as Alejandro Colunga, Judithe Hernandez and Luis Jiménez.

“The ‘Revolution' show was very gritty,” says Marise McDermott, Witte president. “It really captured the violence of those times. This one explores the explosion of art across the U.S.-Mexico border.”

According to Cesáreo Moreno, chief curator and visual director at the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago, a furor of post-Revolution nationalism fueled the engines of creativity as Mexican artists rediscovered their country's past and peered ahead into its future.

“At the close of the war, an era of peace was ushered in gradually, with a different political order, a strong sense of nationalism — known as Mexicanidad (Mexican-ness) — and newfound social goals,” says Moreno, organizer of “Miradas,” a touring show culled from one of the country's strongest corporate collections. “Artists sought to develop an artistic language that could convey their sense of modernity in an increasingly industrialized world.”

Among the outlets of expression was a cultural movement known as Indigenismo (Indigenism or Indianism), Moreno says, pointing to “Miradas” paintings by Jean Charlot, a Zapotec mestizo born in Paris in 1898, and Guatemala native Carlos Mérida's series of lithographs reimagining the creation myths of the Popol Vuh.

“Artists and writers who participated in this movement explored their national heritage and proudly included in their work aspects of ancient Mesoamerican culture,” he says.

The Mexican mural movement emerged from the Revolution as well, and Los Tres Grandes (The Three Giants) — Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiros — became Mexico's artistic ambassadors, global beacons who championed indigenous culture and the rights of the common man, even as they adopted and adapted international avant garde theories and methods.

Although a meditative suite of later (1968) Siqueiros lithographs dealing with family (“Mother and Child”) and community (“Village Dance”) is included here, visitors will find only one work by Rivera, who, as Witte curator of collections Amy Fulkerson points out, has a long history with the museum.

“The Witte was the first venue in San Antonio to exhibit Rivera, in 1927, so it's a nice connection to our history,” Fulkerson says.

Rivera's 1932 lithograph “The Teacher — The Fruits of School,” which looks like a pencil drawing at first glance, is a sensual work that “employs the classicizing style of Italian Renaissance fresco alongside the smooth elongated forms favored by the Cubists,” Moreno writes in exhibition materials. “His symbolic image valorizes popular education and implies it is planting the seeds of the nation's future.”

Photography occupies a longstanding and important niche in the history of Mexican art, and no exhibition chronicling the 20th century would be complete without Manuel Alvarez Bravo, the influential photographer whose work is such an important window on the world, as well as being a bridge from the past to the present.

The images here, which span the years from 1927 to 1972, capture a sense of Mexican daily life that only Alvarez Bravo could, with his unique vision. His '30s portrait of Frida Kahlo is absolutely majestic.

The most striking photographs in “Miradas,” however, are by Graciela Iturbide, born in 1942, who apprenticed with Alvarez Bravo — and perhaps has surpassed the master. Iturbide's lens found one of Mexico's most iconic images, which she titled “Mujer angel (Angel Woman),” depicting a young woman navigating the Sonora Desert, presumably heading north, with a boom box in her hand. It compresses so much political information into a single image.

The Chicano movement is epitomized in the work of Judithe Hernandez. The pioneering artist is represented here by a strong 2008 pastel on paper work from her Manos de sangre series.

“Red Hand, Bloody Hand, Hand of Oppression” encompasses nine small facial portraits of women in a grid format, as if they are caged or jailed. Bloody handprints are splashed on eyes, mouths, cheeks or necks, reflecting the artist's concern about the abuse of women. It's difficult not to think of the hundreds mysteriously murdered along the border when contemplating Hernandez's disturbing piece.

Many other works are worth discussing in “Miradas”: “There truly is something for everyone in ‘Miradas,'” Fulkerson says.

Can't miss works include a suite of prints by Luis Jiménez (check out “Bronco I”; nobody captured equine fury like Jiménez); the surreal folk narrative paintings of Alejandro Colunga, leader of the Nueva Mexicanidad movement; the “Rodeo Drive” series of Cibachrome prints dealing with rampant consumerism and the inequity of wealth by Los Angeles artist Anthony Hernandez; the symbolic paintings of self-taught artist Raymundo Andrade, who holds degrees in medicine and history, a fact that obviously influences his allegorical work; and Ricardo Rendon's large multimedia installation “Trabajo Diario (Daily Work),” which takes up two walls and features 31 consecutive front pages of the tabloid periodical La Jornada from August 2007.

“Miradas” visitors can't fail to linger over Javier Chavira's “El guerrero (Warrior),” which dominates the entry foyer to the exhibition, and in many ways embodies the dominant themes of the show: Chavira is a young Mexican American artist educated in the Midwest who draws on traditional Mexican sources of imagery, including indigenous sculpture, the Catholic Church and native folk art.

“In addition to producing drawings and paintings,” Moreno says, “Chavira has executed murals on schools and other buildings. ‘The Warrior,' with its architectonically rendered, monumentally proportioned head of an indigenous male, is reminiscent of Chavira's murals.”

In Spanish, the word mirada usually refers to a quick glimpse, but in the case of “Miradas,” it also can evoke a longer look, a deep, captivating gaze.

“Miradas” runs through Aug. 21 at the Witte Museum, 3801 Broadway in San Antonio, Tejas.

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2011 San Bernardino County Museum Photography Exhibition Focuses on the 1970s Chicano Experience

[Click photo to enlarge. Photo copyright 2011 Jesus Manuel Mena Garza. All rights reserved.]

UPDATE: Chicano Photographer, an exhibition by Riverside, California documentary photographer Jesús Manuel Mena Garza opens at the San Bernardino County Museum (SBCM) Schuilling Gallery, March 26, 2011. The exhibition continues to November 6.

A reception open to the public takes place on Friday, March 25, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Space is limited (400+). Please call (909) 307-2669 x227 or email kplimley@sbcm.sbcounty.gov to make your reservation. The event is free to museum members or $10 at the door.

Get more information by clicking here...

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Photography show looks through Latina eyes

Sexy, but not erotic. Magical, mythic and mysterious. The photos in "Her Gaze" capture how identity shapes our vision.

By Kyle MacMillan
Denver Post Fine Arts Critic

When most people snap pictures with their cellphones or digital cameras, their intent is simple: Record whatever immediate reality is in front of them at the moment.

But for the five widely recognized Mexican and Mexican-American artists featured in a new exhibition at Museo de las Americas, photography provides a means to see beyond the tangible to something spiritual, metaphorical and mysterious.

The show's evocative title, "Her Gaze/Su Mirada," points to this preternatural ability, as well as broader implications of the word.

"We always talk about the gaze — the gaze of the photographer, the gaze of the public, the gaze of a man on a woman and vice versa," said Kathy Vargas, a participating photographer from San Antonio.

Kathy Vargas uses an in-camera, multiple-exposure technique to create multilayered images such as her cross-shaped array of six photographs, "Broken Column: Mother," 80 by 48 inches. (Courtesy of Joe Diaz )

"What is the female gaze? I guess that's what the show is about. What are women looking at? How are they looking at it? Is it different from the way a man would look at it?"

By focusing only on Latina photographers, curator Maruca Salazar, Museo's executive director, has expressly narrowed her focus to an artistic point of view that is not just female but also Latina.

The question is: Do these two pivotal identity markers come together to produce a distinctive vision? The more than 50 black-and-white and color images on display provide compelling evidence that the answer is yes.

It is a rich, perceptive world view that finds deep roots in the Latino embrace of the cycle of life and death and encompasses metaphorical and transcendent dimensions beyond the merely physical.

At the same time, it is a vantage point of the outsider. Although a Latina sits on the Supreme Court, Latinos in the United States still struggle to be fully enfranchised with equal pay and all that mainstream society has to offer.

"We are, I don't really want to use the word 'marginalized,' but I guess I could use that word," said Albuquerque photographer Delilah Montoya. "Even the word 'Latina' was

Exploring the relationship between humankind and nature, Mexican photographer Yesika Felix intersperses surprisingly similar topographic close-ups of human skin and bark, such as this silver gelatin print from her "Sequoia" series. (Courtesy of the artist )

devised by the dominant culture to explain who we are. That's a word to make us more simple, more uniform."

There is no doubt that each of these photographers — the youngest born in 1976, the oldest in 1942 — has a distinctive visual style and subject matter.

In 1979-88, for example, Graciela Iturbide, the most famous of the five, took her camera to the isthmus city of Juchitán in Oaxaca, Mexico, creating enigmatic images of its ancient, matriarchal society.

In a series of photos along the American-Mexican border, Montoya, who takes an overtly sociopolitical stance in her photographs, explores the clash between the area's rugged beauty and the frequent deaths of immigrants there.

Vargas confronted the death of her mother and her ensuing grief in a shrine-like installation that combines hanging and wall-mounted photographs with a sculpture that extends their multilayered symbolism.

Common themes

Divergent, yes, but certain commonalities run through these and the images by the two other featured photographers — Yesika Felix and Flor Garduño, both from Mexico.

Among those commonalities is a drive to define themselves, something that Montoya has sought to do in the Chicano communities where she has lived in Denver and Albuquerque, and in connection with other artists, musicians and writers.

"We were more or less forming our identity," she said, "forming a way of speaking about who we are and what our issues are. And, of course, the issues change throughout time."

Though what differentiates how men and women perceive things is nearly impossible to pin down and has been debated for centuries, it seems clear a dichotomy does exist.

"I tried to truly analyze why women are different when they take a picture," Salazar said. "What happens when they take a picture? How do they see things? Definitely, there is something there that tells me that we totally look at things differently."

Not surprisingly, the show contains many views of women, none more provocative then Montoya's series of feminist-infused images of female boxers.

"You think of them as very bad girls, (niñas)malcriadas," she said. "I wanted to find out who they are and why are they pounding each other. And what does violence look like with women? Does violence look the same as it does on a man?"

Defiant gazes

Greeting viewers at the entrance of the exhibition is the portrait, "Jackie Chavez" (2006). Posed in her uniform with boxing gloves boldly emblazoned with the abbreviation "TKO," the sitter stares directly at the viewer — adding a defiant dimension to the show's title, "Her Gaze."

"The strong woman in the photograph is saying to the viewer, 'Here I am, and I'm looking out too. I'm not just here to be looked at. I'm going to be looking at you, too,' " Vargas said.

Similarly, Iturbide presents her now-iconic take on the unbowed, independent woman in "Our Lady of the Iguanas" (1979), a portrait depicting a marketplace vendor in Juchitán wearing a group of iguanas on her head like a headdress.

In an alternative vein are a group of female nudes by Garduño that are certainly sexual but not in an erotic way, as they might have been through the lens of a man. Instead, she seems to be emphasizing the women's natural beauty and fecundity, tying them to the ancient notion of Mother Earth.

This connection links her directly with a Latino sensibility that emphasizes the relationship between humankind and nature, embraces the inevitable life cycle and does not shy from death and what might lie beyond.

"A lot of our work is very much about metaphor, that it's not just what you see on the surface," said Vargas. "It is about the spiritual and what unites the spirit with the physical."

Magic realism

This kind of supernatural realm is sometimes described as magic realism, an aesthetic that first emerged in Europe in the early 20th century but found particular resonance in Latin America, especially in the literature of Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel García Márquez and many others.

This approach, which expands the notion of reality to take in elements of magic, myth and religion, extends as well to Latin-American visual art, such as the paintings of Frida Kahlo and the photography of Manuel Álvarez Bravo.

It has been a strong influence on Iturbide, a student of Bravo, suffusing her 13 images on view, such as "Cementerio (Cemetery)" (1988), a haunting scene in which dozens of what are apparently sparrows take to the sky at once.

There has been much debate in recent decades around exhibitions of this kind that critics would argue segregate, even ghettoize, certain societal groups like women.

But Vargas believes the day of such debates is over. Like the rest of the Latina photographers in the exhibition, her works are now regularly shown in mainstream venues of all kinds.

"It doesn't bother me because we've done all things now and because we all are everywhere," she said of "Her Gaze." "This is just another excuse for a show, as far as I'm concerned. It's kind of nice that it's women because we can sit and gossip and go shopping together."

Kyle MacMillan: 303-954-1675 orkmacmillan@denverpost.com

"Her Gaze/Su Mirada."

Photography. Museo de las Americas, 861 Santa Fe Drive. This exhibition showcases the works of five widely recognized Latina photographers of varying generations: Yesika Felix, Flor Garduño, Graciela Iturbide, Delila Montoya and Kathy Vargas. Through May 29. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and noon to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. $4, $3 students and seniors and free for children younger than 13 and members. 303-571-4401 ormuseo.org

Read more:Photography show looks through Latina eyes - The Denver Posthttp://www.denverpost.com/entertainment/ci_17286464#ixzz1DJCG1bDL

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2011 San Bernardino County Museum Photography Exhibition Focuses on the 70s Chicano Experience

[Photo by Ann Marie Leimer, Ph.D. Click to enlarge]

Chicano Photographer, an exhibition by Riverside, California documentary photographer Jesús Manuel Mena Garza opens at the San Bernardino County Museum (SBCM) Schuilling Gallery, March 26, 2011. The exhibition continues to November 6. A reception open to the public takes place on March 25, from 5:30 to 8:30 PM.

The photographs were captured from 1970 to 1975. During this period, Garza took intimate photographs of Chicano icons César E. Chávez, Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzáles and others. The photographs provide a retrospective glimpse from the unique perspective of the photojournalist and activist. The SBCM exhibition lists thirty-one select images from the photographer’s Imágenes Xicano Archive, a portion of which has already been exhibited on both coasts.

University of Redlands Professor Dr. Ann Marie Leimer adds, “During the past decades, Garza has extensively published and exhibited several documentary photographic series. The Chicano Photographer series explores important aspects of the American experience, historic events and cultural practices often marginalized by the dominant culture.” Photographs from the series have already been published in journals and books. Dr. Leimer recently completed a book on the photographic series. The Chicano Photographer series can be viewed at Garza’s website, jmmgarza.com.

Please contact the SBCM for details about lectures and events coinciding with the Chicano Photographer exhibition. The March 25, 2011 reception is a family-friendly event featuring free entertainment, food and refreshments. Parking is also free.

Chicano Photographer Exhibition and Lecture Series

Location:

San Bernardino County Museum

Schuilling Gallery

2024 Orange Tree Lane

Redlands CA 92374

Voice (909) 307-2669 ext. 227 Fax (909) 307-0689

www.sbcountymuseum.org

Contacts:

Ann Marie Leimer, Ph.D., University of Redlands, 909-557-7159, ann_leimer@redlands.edu

Michele Nielsen, Curator of History, San Bernardino County Museum, (909) 307-2669 ext. 240, mnielsen@sbcm.sbcounty.gov

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Steve Anchell's Route 66 Photography Exhibition

[Click photo of Steve Anchell to enlarge. Photo and text copyright 2009 Jesús Manuel Mena Garza. All rights reserved.]

By Jesús Manuel Mena Garza

Wearing a Leica M7 named “Sonny” around his neck; Steven Anchell strolled into the Gallery at the Creative Center for Photography in Los Angeles for the opening of his exhibition titled, Route 66. The photographer and author, noticeably late, was cordial and available to discuss his work with the modest gathering. Anchell is a photographer with an international reputation. He leads numerous photography workshops including one scheduled for Cuba in 2010. He is the author of several books on photography including The Darkroom Cookbook. His portfolios include; documentary, landscape, food, fine art, commercial and architectural photography.

The exhibition consisted of forty black and white photographs typical of documentary photography. Documentary photography is a couple steps removed from family snapshots taken with a Kodak Brownie, but those steps are crucial and hard-fought. They allow his work to ascend into the realm of fine art.

A fine art photographer needs a keen eye, an advanced sense of composition and mastery over current technology. Anchell is facile in both digital and analog photography. Anchell, as his publication credits indicate, has mastered the darkroom. The 57-year-old photographer noted, “My favorite developer is D76H. I make it from scratch. It is much better than the stuff that is already prepared.” Having feet firmly planted in both camps is typical of photographers of his generation.

In this series, the photographer used a variety of film formats to capture his images. They included 6x7 roll film, 4x5, 5x7 and 8x10 inch sheet film. The photographer said, “Though I use both, I prefer film over digital. Film is more personal.” He added, “The photographs for this series were taken over several years. Sometimes I would go out for a couple weeks, sometimes a month, to take pictures.”

The 16x20 inch silver gelatin prints explore the remnants of Route 66, the iconic American highway as it meanders from Chicago to Santa Monica. Shot under natural light, the auteur has captured retro diners, vintage cars and quaint restaurants. Witnessing the state of decay of the infrastructure within various communities was paramount in this production. Roland Barthes, in his classic essay, Rhetoric of the Image explains, “What we have is a new space-time category: spatial immediacy and temporal anteriority, the photograph being an illogical conjunction between here-now and the there-then.”

In Sting Spot of the West, New Mexico, Anchell captures a dusty car from the forties parked for what seems decades in front of an Indian trading post. This image illustrates excellent gradation of tones limited only by the variable contrast Ilford paper. If the negative were printed on a graded fiber based paper like Ilfobrom Galerie, the final product would have been improved. I feel his paper choice was one of convenience.

Another print that I found compelling was Wigwams, Rialto California. The quirky faux Plains Indian residences were definitely out of place and kitsch. A small pathway leads the eye towards the three pyramid-shaped dwellings. The closest tipi was darker offering a contrast to the brighter row of tipis arcing gracefully behind.

The fact that the images were not framed in a traditional manner but simply nail mounted by the staff of Freestyle Photographic Supplies limited the aesthetics of the exhibition. The use of Plexiglas sheets also caused annoying glare to interfere with viewership. Overall the show was well produced, though poorly attended. I counted only a dozen people that were not staff at the event. The silver gelatin prints were for sale at $650 each. Other sizes were available starting at 8x10 inch prints mounted on 14x18 inch, 4-ply museum board for $224. Additionally, digital prints mounted on a similar board were being offered at a lower price.

Having exhibited my documentary photographs at venues across the nation, I find a certain kinship with his work. Anchell, like me, apparently enjoys capturing the subtle textures and cultural symbols that mark a fading American landscape. With the encroachment of cheap foreign products, the epoch of the Pontiac and tipi are fading, only to be captured as mementos by adventurous documentary photographers.

Derrick Price, referring to Martha Rosler, an influential Rutgers University author and artist states,

“To understand it [documentary photography] we need look at history, and she characterizes documentary as a ‘practice with a past’. A past, we might add, which, despite changing technologies, practices and fashions, was always concerned to claim for documentary a special relationship to real life and a singular status with regard to notion of truth and authenticity.”

In the digital age, the photograph is subject to artistic compliance. Can a documentary photographer capture “real life or truth”? This “claim” is invariably tainted by subjective analysis and invariably exposed in production. Yes, documentary is not as contrived as studio photography and there can be an “authentic” and “special relationship.”

The photographs from the Route 66 series could be retroactively published in Life or Look magazines. These two magazines were popular in the mid-20th century and were filled with lavish photographic essays. They consistently presented the documentary works of talented photographers ranging from Margaret Bourke-White to W. Eugene Smith to Robert Capa. Anchell is of a generation that would have been exposed to these magazines. They may have influenced his work. These coffee table staples have long disappeared like the malt shops on Route 66. Their remnants or facsimiles are now only accessible as curiosities.

The role played by Anchell and other documentary photographers is comparable to that of a hunter. Their goal is to travel to an exotic or even banal location and “shoot” their quarry. They return home triumphant with the desiccated representation and proudly nail it to the wall. In the city or ‘burbs, far removed from the original context of the image, locals leer at the circumstances presented in two-dimensions. The photographer’s purpose is to entertain a largely disconnected audience with great stories and brilliant images, all claiming a parallel reality. The “show” is the successful culmination of a long and tedious photographic odyssey. In her essay in Public Information Desire, Disaster, Document, Abigail Solomon-Godeau wrote, “There is a risk that irrespective of the photographer’s intentions the subject becomes an object and spectacle.”

Anchell’s Route 66 exhibition does not explore more explicit forms of documentary photography popular today. In the genre, the presentation of the image of a starving African or Asian against a sterile museum wall is typical. The juxtaposition and its effect on viewership are intentional and profitable. Eminent photography historian Naomi Rosenblum wrote, “Efforts to focus on ‘real life’ with all its grittiness, as opposed to the idealized world visible in print ads and on television, increased the voyeuristic tendencies that had always been inherent in photography.” As potential photographic subjects, at what point does our reality transition to grittiness and becomes condescending?

We are bombarded by information every day. Photographers have been given a unique opportunity, a chance to explore the corners of a ground glass and gain intimate knowledge of a select subject. For an instant in time a photographer can ignore the harassing confusion surrounding them and focus on a scene others may have dismissed.

The process of photographic production, especially documentary photography, is an opportunity to inject yourself into discussions about our transitioning world. According to Minor White, in Susan Sontag’s seminal book, On Photography, “the photographer projects himself [herself] with everything in order to know it and feel it better.”

Some may find the decaying infrastructure photographed in Route 66 not worthy of exhibition. While others would relish the opportunity to capture a scene headed towards oblivion, to witness and preserve it for future generations. A great documentary photographer can facilitate the transfer of valuable information from one generation to another. The photographs in this show have given me additional impetus to continue taking pictures in my sphere and to expand my role as messenger and voyeur.

Bibliography

Anchell, Steve "," Route 66 (Email response, October 19, 2009).

Anchell, Steve, interview by Jesús Manuel Mena Garza. Route 66 Hollywood, CA, (November 15, 2009).

Barthes, Roland. "Rhetoric of the Image." In Classic Essays on Photography, edited by Alan Trachtenberg, 269-286. New Haven, CN: Leete's Island Books, 1980.

Price, Derrick. "Surveyors and Surveyed: Photography out and about." In Photography: A Critical Introduction, edited by Liz Wells, 65-112. New York, NY: Routledge, 2006.

Rosenblum, Naomi. "Documentary Photography: Past and Present." In Photography's Multiple Roles, 84-119. Chicago, IL: The Museum of Contemporary Photography, Columbia College of Chicago, 1998.

Solomon-Godeau, Abigail. "Inside/Out." In Basic Critical Theory for Photographers, 125-132. Oxford, England: Focal Press, 2007.

Sontag, Susan. On Photography. New York, NY: Picador, 1977.

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About Documentary Photography

[From my website, jmmgarza.com. Photo copyright 2009 Jesús Manuel Mena Garza. All rights reserved. Click on image to enlarge.]

Some documentary photographers treat their subjects like quarry in the jungle. They stalk them, take their shot and then hang their desiccated representation on a distant sterile wall. The jungle is the Amazon or the barrio, it is all the same. As outsiders, their images lack any humanity and show a visceral disdain for their subjects.

At the art reception, the shooter can be seen prancing around, weaving fanciful tales of his adventures to the spellbound audience. The assembled, saturated by the stench of privilege, sip on wine while esoteric rhythms waft in the background. The photographs remain mute. Surrounded, the captured photographs witness the decadence.

Jesús Manuel Mena Garza
February 12, 2007

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