California
Musicians in B&W
July 29, 2009
Several years ago I photographed a few local Los Angeles music and poety groups. One of my Flickr sets has Quetzal, Ozomatli, Cihuatl Tonali, Jarabe Citlali, Quinto Sol and In Lak Ech. Most of it was shot on BW film. I will keep adding to that set until I have an edit for a gallery on Calaverascallejeras.com.
Juan Pacheco's Hijos de Cuauhtémoc en El Valle de Aztlan
June 22, 2009
A few years back Juan Pacheco taught a photo class at the Dolores Mission in Los Angeles' Eastside. The students were day workers who spent their nights at the mission.
Juan photographed some of the men and printed the portraits on postcard paper and mailed them in envelopes to the families in Mexico and Central America. Some of the postcards were mailed back with family comments.
Here is Juan's Artist Statement about this series:
Hijos de Cuauhtémoc en El Valle de Aztlan
A Manifesto March 11, 2009
On these proud faces we can trace the lineage of our
collective past. Each one of these men, who are
invisible to most of us as we go about our daily
life, serve as a constant reminder that we, if we are
not Native Americans, arrived on these shores from
another place.
Our community, both women and men, demand that we be
given the recognition we deserve. And that our
contributions become part of the progressive dialog
presently taking place in the United States.
We ask that our human rights be respected, de ser
humano, and that we be allowed to freely participate
in the struggle for survival, as law abiding
citizens, within a free society.
Late Groom - Avenida Cesar Chavez
June 12, 2009
The groom was late, everyone looked stressed and I just had to get a picture of it.
"Who are you!?! We already have a photographer!", the bride snapped at me. I did not want to miss the picture so I ignored the first time she spoke to me. I was hoping she would ignore the stranger with the camera leaning into the car through an open door.
She asked me again and I tried to explain that I was shooting street scenes on Avenida Cesar Chavez. She did not care but luckily the offer of free photos got a relative on my side and she told the bride it was OK.
The groom arrived only 15 minutes late and all went well. He later emailed me got his photos.
Arte Calidad - May 2000
June 05, 2009
These photos are from a May 2000 shot of Tony Dominguez and other local artists making paper mache art and piñatas at Arte Calidad on Indiana St. in East Los Angeles.
Richard on Avenida Cesar Chavez
May 27, 2009
I first met Richard while shooting on Av Cesar Chavez. He was collecting cans and bottles to sell. We ran into each other a few days later in front of Nuestra Señora de Soledad Catholic Church.
Richard told me that he had been homeless for a week. He said that he had a argument with his wife and decided to live on the streets instead of staying. He shaves regularly in the church's restroom because it is the only public restroom in the area. The small mirror he carried had broken the morning before so he used the chrome plumbing on the toilet as a mirror.
I have driven down the street many times since sometimes wondering where he is and if he ever got off the street.
Johnny Martinez' Bike - Avenida Cesar Chavez
May 22, 2009
I was at the City of Angels Tattoo shop a few years ago taking some photos when Johnny Martinez asked if I wanted to see the bike he built and customized.
We walked over to Norma's Beauty Salon on Avenida Cesar Chavez where his mom worked and shot it in the salon.
Lowrider Bike from Dennison's
May 21, 2009
Years ago I shot this photo of a guy on his lowrider style bike leaving Dennison's Schwinn in East LA. The shop, having opened in 1941, is said to be the oldest family owned bike shop in LA.
Below are some pics of the inside from a website I ran into but will be down shortly. Miguel who ran the website let me use them. You can contact him at miguel@schwinndreams.com.
Calvary Cemetery in East Los Angeles
May 11, 2009
In 1998 I was teaching a photo class at Self-Help Graphics and took the students on a field trip to the Calvary Cemetery in East LA. Before meeting the group I took a walk through the ornate All Souls Chapel built in 1902. There I followed a family that was shooting a young family member's First Holy Communion photos. The photo appeared in Americanos: Latino Life in the United States published in 1999.
Jae Bueno's Lowrider Culture
May 07, 2009
Jae Bueno was born in Boyle Heights and raised in East LA and the San Gabriel Valley. His love for custom cars started when he was very young. As a kid he painted his Hot Wheels and BMX bikes.
Bueno started casually taking photos since high school to document car shows he attended as well as graffiti and cars he built. Bueno started contributing to Lowrider, Girls of Lowrider, DUB and Heavy Hitters Magazine on a regular basis since he bought my first DSLR in 2006.
Beautiful cars and family values keeps him shooting the lowrider culture. "Lowriding isn't what it was in the 80's. It is all family oriented now and the quaility of the cars has improved so much. To me lowriders or custom cars in general are a excellent subject to shoot. "
Taking photos has become a family affair in the Bueno home. His wife Stephanie sometimes works as a second shooter on his shoots. My son Julian, who uses a uses a point his big sister gave him, also take photos and has a page on Bueno's blog.
Los Angeles Times Street Scenes
May 04, 2009
At 4:30 am the bakers at El Gallo Bakery in East Los Angeles start baking fresh bread. It has been nearly a year since the Los Angeles Times Street Scenes were shot. Five Latino shooters, 4 photographers and one editor, shot 5 of the 14 neighborhoods.
I shot Avenida Cesar Chavez in East Los Angeles
Carlos Chavez shot Lankershim Blvd in North Hollywood
Genaro Molina shot the Boardwalk in Venice
Michael Robinson-Chavez shot Broadway in Downtown Los Angeles
Karen Tapia shot the Orange Plaza in Orange
May Day 2006 & 2007
May 01, 2009
Los Angeles May Day marches in 2006 and 2007 brought large peaceful crowds to demand better treatment of undocumented immigrant workers and an end to raids and deportations.
Police estimated a midday downtown LA march to City Hall on May 1, 2006 at 250,000. More than 400,000 marched four miles down Wilshire Boulevard later in the day. Organizers estimated that the crowds were nearly one million. On May 1, 2007 100,000 demonstrators marched up Broadway to a mass rally at Los Angeles City Hall.
Marches - March 25, 2006
April 27, 2009
More than 500,000 people marched in Los Angeles on March 25, 2006 to protest federal legislation that would crack down on undocumented immigrants, penalize those who help them and build a security wall along the U.S.' southern border.
J Emilio Flores photographed the march.
Student Walkouts - March 24, 2006
April 23, 2009
On March 24, 2006, five hundred students from Huntington Park High in Los Angeles walkout of school to protest proposed federal legislation that calls for building a 700-mile-long wall along the Mexican border and making felons of undocumented immigrants. Hundreds of other students from Garfield, Roosevelt and Montebello high schools also walked out.
J Emilio Flores photographed the Huntington Park High students.
Graffiti in Los Angeles 1983
April 17, 2009
Here is another scan of an old print I pulled out of my print box.
This photo reminds me that not enough has changed for immigrants in my lifetime. The next few posts will be photos of the marches and walkouts of the last few years..
José Luis Villegas' Home is Everything
April 13, 2009
Home is Everything: The Latino Baseball Story by photographer José Luis Villegas and writer Marcos Breton is, according to Villegas, "A complex story about mostly Black Spanish speaking men, immigration, and baseball, the vehicle that drives the story."
"The main part of the story is the contrast of two kids that grew up together - Miguel Tejada and Mario Encarnacion. Encarnacion was the can't miss prospect and Tejada who was signed as a favor to a scout with the Athletics. The two had careers that went in opposite directions. Tejada went on to be MVP in the American League and a multi-millionaire while Encarnacion struggled in the minor leagues, finally getting a taste of the major leagues before being traded and cut loose. Encarnacion went on to try and restart his career in Taiwan, where he died from a undiagnosed heart problem. Tejada paid to have Mario's body returned as well as paying for his funeral."
It took Villegas 10 years, begining in 1993, to find a publisher. Simon and Schuster published the first book, "Away Games" but it was a word driven book, with a small insert of black and white images in the middle of the book. Sports Publishing later was planning to publish the book but killed the project just a couple of days before it was to go to press because they weren't comfortable selling a book that was Latino driven.
In a Sportsshooter.com story, Villagas states, "The Latin population is the fastest growing in the United States; it's unfortunate that none of the publishers had the desire to use our project to tap into that market. I understand that book publishers are in the business to make money. I just haven't seen very many projects published that could tap the Latin market, as well as catch the attention of people of other cultures like this one. I'm perplexed."
It was not until the project was pitched to Cinco Puntos press did the bilingual (Spanish and English) book with 86 photos get published in 2003.
Villegas also co-authored a book, "Far From Home", pulished by the National Geographic in 2008. The book is half text and half photography. Half the images in the book are Villegas'.
Villegas' work, will be exhibited at the Baseball Hall of Fame opening over the Memorial Day Holiday, through the end of the year.
Captions: (above) Mario Encarnaccion of the West Michigan Whitecaps watches the game from the bench in Lancing, Michigan in 1996. (below) Miguel Tejada is blessed by a Pastor in Santa Domingo before Game 4 of the Dominican World Series in 2006.
Taco Bell Sign
April 09, 2009
Taco Bell used the symbol of a sleeping Mexican wearing a sombrero until it was sold in 1978. Pepsi then changed the logo to a Mission Bell. Over 30 years later the racist logo is still proudly displayed at a Los Angeles Taco Bell on Washington Blvd. in Los Angeles.
Barreras Chicharrones
April 03, 2009
I exit the northbound 710 freeway at Avenida Cesar Chavez several times a week. For years as I waited to turn left or right I would look right at the painting of a pig cooking in a pot on Barreras Chicharrones. I kept telling myself that I need to shoot a photo of the sign. Time went by and one day, as I headed south on Ford Blvd., I stopped my car in the intersection and snapped a picture of the sign.
I thought nothing of it until several months later I looked at the building and it had been painted dark brown. The pig was gone. I went home and searched for the photo and did not feel at ease until I saw the smiling pig boiling in the pot.
Leopoldo Peña's South Central Farmers
March 30, 2009
Leopoldo Peña's portraits of some of the South Central Farmers are great historical documents of Latinos in Los Angeles. Between 1994 and 2006 the South Central Farm was located at East 41st and South Alameda Streets in an industrial area of South Los Angeles. Peña spent two months photographing the farmers in mid-2006.
Peña did not document the farmers like most of the media who merely covered the closure of the farm but failed to document the over 350 families as urban farmers. "I decided to just do portraits. I thought it was a different take and it also forced me to interact more with the farmers, instead of just sneaking on them and shooting a photo through the fence like most people were doing. I wanted to do something more humane, more personal, something that most of the media there were not doing."
Peña attended East Los Angeles College and California State University, Long Beach.
House on Gerhart Ave.
March 24, 2009
I got up early on Saturday morning to buy my mom tamales and see if I could find some hand painted store signs to shoot.
I was not expecting to find this sign only a block from my house.
Everyday it seems to get worse.
Ernesto de la Loza's “Resurrection of the Green Planet”
March 16, 2009
Last week I went to shoot a photo of Ernesto de la Loza's “Resurrection of the Green Planet”. It is probably one of my favorites because it is based after a photo by Graciela Iturbide. I looked for the photo all last week and could not find it to post it.
As I was looking for it I asked a photographer who collects photo books if he had it. I hit a sore spot. He rattled off several murals and paintings based after photos where the photographer was never given any credit. I understand. It has happened to me here in LA a couple of times and that is why I was going to post it.
But to be fair I have gotten calls from muralists who complain that a mural is in the photo but the artist was not given credit. Fair enough.
Here are recent stories from the LA Times and LAEastside regarding the mural.
Former Neighbor
March 12, 2009
Carlos lived next door to me when I lived in City Terrace. He often came over after arguing with his wife to get some peace and quiet.
They day I took this photo he fell asleep on a chair with a cigarette between his fingers. I woke him up and asked him if I could shoot his portrait. After arguing a bit he agreed only if he could take off his shirt and show is neighborhood tattoo.
Some time later I showed him this photo and he said "Damn. If I saw that m***** f***** walking through my back yard I would shoot him."
Lucky for Carlos I shoot with a camera.
Elysian Park
March 04, 2009
Here are another couple of prints I found in the old print box in my closet.
In 1985 cruising was big in Elysian Park in Los Angeles. LAPD started to ticket and tow cars to stop the cruising. While there I ran into Mike and Danny, a couple of high school friends who were in the Amigos Car Club (below). One of my favorite photos from that day is the group of young women with the cool hairdos.
John Castillo
March 02, 2009
John Castillo has been a freelance photographer for over 25 years, working primarily in the performing arts.
Twenty years ago he shot Edward James Olmos on the set of American Me and has shot Latino performing arts since. Over the last ten years, John has worked with playwright and director Luis Valdez, documenting El Teatro Campesino productions of Zoot Suit and Corridos.
John served as project manager, photo editor and photographer on Americanos, a multi-media project documenting Latino life in the United States.
Jonny Chingas
February 27, 2009
Twenty-four years ago this week I photographed Jonny Chingas at the Griffith Observatory. A few months ago I heard Jonny's "Se Me Paro" during a birthday party at a Temple City park and decided to hunt for the 2 5x7 BW prints that still exist. I have asked few people and no one seems to remember when Jonny died.
Here is an excerpt from a Don Snowden story that was published in the Los Angeles Times on 3/1/1985:
Nobody needs to tell Jonny Chingas about the difficulties of the do-it-yourself approach to pop music. The singer/saxophonist/keyboardist, who brings his eight-piece band to the Lingerie tonight, has been acting as a one-man record company during his seven-year campaign to break into the pop mainstream.
"I'm trying to follow the American dream," he said in his San Fernando Valley home. "I'm not going crooked. I'm not into drugs or cheating anybody. I'm struggling and I don't have enough capital to work with, but I'm still going forward.
"I'm just trying to make it and if nobody can help me, I have the determination to do it myself. I don't care if I have to press the records myself or sell them at the swap meets."
Carlos Puma
February 23, 2009
Born and raised in East Los Angeles, photographer Carlos Puma has been watching boxing matches for as long as he can remember. Carlos believes the difference between a good photographer and a great photographer is the time a photographer spends on a project. He has been shooting boxing in the Western United States since 1993. These boxing images where all shot in 2008. More boxing images can be seen on his website.
Los Angeles' 6th Street Bridge
February 19, 2009
These are photos on Los Angeles' 6th Street bridge were taken for Quetzal's 2002 CD Sing The Real.
The city of Los Angeles has proposed a new design for the aging bridge. More info on the LAEastside and Los Angeles Times sites.
Ruben 'Funkahuatl' Guevara
February 16, 2009
I went through a box of prints the other night. I no longer have the negatives to many of the photos I took in the 80s and early 90's. This is Ruben 'Funkahuatl' Guevara in the solo performance piece "Aztlán, Babylon, Rhythm & Blues" at SPARC in 1991 or 92.
Jesús Manuel Mena Garza
February 12, 2009
Riverside, CA photographer Jesús Manuel Mena Garza's website has a gallery of his photos taken in the 70's. Seems that Garza is working on a book with a working title of Chicano Photographer. His black and white images were taken while touring with theater groups include Cesar Chavez, Corky Gonzales, farm worker marches and performances by el Teatro Campesino.
Herron's La Doliente de Hidalgo
February 10, 2009
Here is one of my contributions to the documentation of LA's murals.
I ran across Willie Herron III in March of 2006 as he was touching up his mural La Doliente de Hidalgo on City Terrace Drive. Willie was nice enough to let me climb on the roof to see his signature that is not often seen.
One of the best photo archive of LA's murals is at SPARC
Iguana in Venice
February 06, 2009
Lorena's photo of a man with an iguana on his shoulders reminds me of Graciela Iturbide's Nuestra Señora de las Iguanas . This photo was shot with a Diana in Venice.
Lorena's Los Angeles - Holga/Diana gallery includes this photo and others of several Los Angeles landmarks.
Avenida Cesar Chavez Series
February 05, 2009
Sometime in 2002 I started to shoot along Avenida Cesar Chavez. It was very close to where I lived and also represented the lives of many of us living in East Los Angeles. The 6 or 7 mile long street runs from downtown Los Angeles, past La Placita, through Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles and ends in Monterey Park.
Shooting along one street helps me focus and revisit the constantly changing landscape. My Avenida Cesar Chavez gallery has some of the photos I have shot in recent years including several photos published online for the Los Angeles Times Street Scenes neighborhood profiles.