Photography exhibit at the Crystal Bridges Museum a window into contemporary history
Photography
New exhibit at State Historical Society documents 75 years of Missouri Photo Workshop
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Willie Christie book casts style and celebrity in a cinematic light
From Vogue’s cover of green jelly, to Pink Floyd’s The Final Cut album – with a host of celebrities including Grace Jones, Cary Grant, David Bowie, and Jerry Hall in between – photographer and filmmaker Willie Christie has captured it all. Now, his eclectic body of work has been gathered together for the first time, with the publication of new photography book Willie Christie: a very distinctive style: Then & Now by ACC Art Books, making for a vibrant retrospective.
Jerry Hall in Vogue, 1977
(Image credit: Courtesy of Willie Christie)
‘I had wanted to do a book for some years,’ Christie tells us. ‘I scanned down all my images about 15 years ago and only then did I see a theme running through. A look where, although there were other influences, it was my work. I saw that all my images had their own individuality. I was asked initially whether I wanted to do a book “for Christmas” or to make some bigger statement. I had begun to think by then, that my work was of some interest within the world of fashion. And perhaps even outside of it. Time is a great observer. A friend mentioned that my work then, was relevant now. And that my work now (limited though it was) was also relevant now. So, the title was born. And so was the book.’
Willie Christie book: ‘Every image has its own life’
Pierre Laroche’s Breakfast Party, May 18th 1974
(Image credit: Courtesy of Willie Christie)
Images from the mid-1970s join more recent work in the tome. ‘Although there is a style, every image is lit, composed, and according to how I saw it at that time,’ Christie adds. ‘Not because “that is what I did”. A while ago I looked through a photographer’s book and every picture was the same. The same technique. In a house on location, in the same house and in a different room, then another room all around the house. Yet everything looked the same. No early morning. Later afternoon or at night. Page after page of the same light. The same tricks. I realised that was not the way to go. Or at least not the way I wanted to go. Every image has its own life. Its own secrets.’
Grace Coddington on honeymoon
(Image credit: Courtesy of Willie Christie)
Christie’s images spotlight a particular moment of time, eschewing sentimentality for a cinematic portrayal of the 1970s and early 1980s. ‘I hope readers discover the feel, look, clothes and style of [the era]. The celebrities of then. I hope they will perhaps find images that they know and like, which they didn’t realise I had taken. I hope that they will find images they have never seen before that will evoke a distant memory particular to them. That they will find something in the “personality” of a subject, an empathy with a landscape. That they will feel something. But in the end, I just hope that they like my work and that they like the book. That the few stories from behind the shoots will be interesting and offer a glimpse into life as it was then.’
Marcie Hunt for British Vogue
(Image credit: Courtesy of Willie Christie)
Area ‘Wheaties’ showcase craftsmanship, photography, commitment to quality at Kansas State Fair
By JULIA DEBES
Kansas Wheat
HUTCHINSON — From beautiful hand-crafted wheat weaving to stunning captured moments of the growing season to hefty jars and bags filled with wheat kernels, Kansas Wheaties brought their best entries to the Kansas State Fair. With ribbons awarded and entries taken home, Kansas Wheat recognizes the winners of annually sponsored contests at the statewide event, including the Market Wheat Show, Open-Class Division — “It’s All About Bread,” Kansas Wheat Photography contest and Wheat Weaving.
“A little friendly competition can be fun, and the Kansas State Fair is the perfect statewide showcase,” said Cindy Falk, Kansas Wheat nutrition educator. “Kansas Wheat sponsors a wide variety of contests, so there’s something for everyone in the family to participate in and enjoy.”
Meeting the needs of customers is important to any business, and wheat farming is no exception. The Kansas Market Wheat Show exists to educate Kansas wheat producers of all ages on the factors that they can control, to some extent, to grow high-quality wheat.
Entries into the Market Wheat Show include five pounds of wheat grown by the exhibitor in the current year. Entries are then judged on protein, test weight, dockage, shrunken and broken kernels and milling and baking scores. Kansas Wheat also sponsors Division 121 – Wheat, which ups the sample size to 20 pounds of wheat in any container, all of which must be the same variety.
In the Market Wheat Show, the division champion went to Jay Derley from Lewis with his entry of HRW wheat, with Greg Turek from Caldwell receiving reserve champion. Derley also won the Market Wheat Sweepstakes for Western Kansas and Turek won the sweepstakes award for Eastern Kansas. In Division 121, Cameron Peirce from Hutchinson won the division champion award.
Market Wheat Show Results
Champion – Jay Derley, Lewis
Reserve Champion – Greg Turek, Caldwell
Market Wheat Sweepstakes
- Eastern Kansas – Greg Turek, Caldwell
- Western Kansas – Jay Derley, Lewis
Class 1 – All Hard White Wheat
- Brad Whitman, Leoti
Class 2 – All HRW Blends
- LaVern Potuzak, Agenda
- Royden Derstein, Ford
- Mat Mai, Russell
- Larry Stude, Larned
- Gerald Mai
Class 3 – All Other Private HRS
- Brandon Riffey, Sawyer
- Jaxten Fimple, Ness City
- Emily George, Albert
- Clark Greene, Larned
- Ruben Blatz, Montezuma
Class 4 – All WestBred/Monsanto
- Lyle Katz, Kinsley
- Mark Baus, La Crosse
- Gary Graff, Marienthal
- Rick Sherer, Mullinville
- Piper Brown, Russell
Class 5 – KSU HRW Varieties
- Dan Wimmer, Bushton
- Jaiden Pfannenstiel, Hays
- Greg Turek, Caldwell
- Colten Katz, Lewis
- Waymaster Farms, Bunker Hill
Class 6 – All Other Public HRW
- Jay Derley, Lewis
- Jason Hildenbrand, Stafford
- Fred Newby, Pratt
- Jason Howell, Preston
- Allen and Beth Vogel, Wright
Division 121 – Wheat Results
Division Champion – Cameron Peirce, Hutchinson
All Agri-Pro/Syngenta HRW Varieties
- Joshua Patterson, Whitewater
- Nolen Hyde, Minneapolis
All Hard White Wheat Variety
- Sterling Nichepor, Ness City
- Cameron Peirce, Hutchinson
All Other Varieties or Hybrids
- Joshua Patterson, Whitewater
- Doug Patterson, Valley Center
All WestBred HRW Varieties
- Reed Nichepor, Ness City
KSU HRW Varieties
- Cameron Peirce, Hutchinson
Other Public HRW Varieties
- Steven Yust, Sylvia
For those with a keen eye, the Kansas Wheat Photography Contest is a perfect fit. The contest is open to both amateur and professional photographers, who are challenged to capture the story of Kansas wheat across all aspects of the industry from seeding to storage to wheat fields, harvest, grain trade, milling, baking and anything else that captures the photographer’s imagination. This year’s contest winner was Loribeth Reynolds from Hutchison.
Kansas Wheat Photography Contest Results
- Loribeth Reynolds, Hutchinson
- Kimberly Coffey, Wichita
- Ellie Just, Marion
Wheat weavers combine nimble fingers with pure artistry to make intricate creations from amber waves of grain. Divisions include everything from holiday designs to jewelry as these artists utilize traditional patterns and draw upon their creative talents to come up with new and contemporary designs. This year’s division champion was Angela Harlan from Viola, and the reserve champion was Donna Morgenstern from Salina.
Wheat Weaving Contest Results
Plaited
- Marian Vavra, Norwich
- Donna Morgenstern, Salina
- Mary Thrower, Minneapolis
Marquetry
- Marian Vavra, Norwich
- Donna Morgenstern, Salina
Dimensional
- Angela Harlan, Viola
- Rita Peterman, McPherson
- Donna Morgenstern, Salina
Jewelry/Pin/Corsage
- Marian Vavra, Norwich
- Donna Morgenstern, Salina
Swiss Work
- Donna Morgenstern, Salina
Straw Pulp
- Donna Morgenstern, Salina
Holiday Design
- Mary Thrower, Minneapolis
- Marian Vavra, Norwich
- Rita Peterman, McPherson
And no state fair is complete without food. In the “It’s All About Bread” category, bakers exhibit their best recipes from sourdough bread, holiday bread and whole wheat quick bread. This year’s winners combined tasty ingredients with perfect technique to make winning entries of Rosemary Parmesan Sourdough Bread (Sourdough Division), Whole Wheat Honey Applesauce Pecan Quick Bread (Whole Wheat Quick Bread Division) and a Holiday Kolache Bouquet (Holiday Bread Division).
It’s All About Bread Results
Sourdough
- Jayne Notin, Rosemary Parmesan Sourdough
- Wilma Olds, Sourdough Bread
Holiday Bread
- Wilma Olds, Holiday Kolache Bouquet
- Betty Hawthorne, Snow Flake Pull Apart Monkey Bread
Whole Wheat Quick Bread
- Betty Hawthorne, Whole Wheat Honey Applesauce Pecan Quick Bread
- Wilma Olds, Chocolate, Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread
While the contests and categories for the 2024 Kansas State Fair won’t be open for entry until next summer, there’s no need to wait to try out a new recipe, break out the camera to capture wheat planting in action or try your hand at a new craft. Check out eatwheat.org for ideas and inspiration.
These haunting underwater photos portray climate change in a new way
Akessa stares straight ahead with a look of fierce indignation.
The 15-year-old is sitting in a rickety chair. Her hands are clasped in her lap. Her white skirt is billowing ever so slightly in what, at first glance, you might assume is the wind.
The scene seems nearly normal until more details come into focus: The background is an eerie shade of blue you wouldn’t see on land. Thousands of broken shards of coral cover the ground. And a reef looms behind her.
There is no breeze blowing here.
This girl and her searing gaze are underwater.
The stunning portrait is one in a series of images in “SINK / RISE,” the latest project from fine art photographer Nick Brandt. The photos feature South Pacific islanders representing people who are on the brink of losing their homes, lands and livelihoods due to climate change. And despite the difficulty of photographing them on the ocean floor, Brandt knew that’s what he had to do.
The dramatic and devastating impact sea level rise will have on the lives of millions of people can be difficult to see and grasp in real time, he says. So Brandt came up with a way to show it symbolically.
“Somebody said it was quite post-apocalyptic. And I said, ‘No, it’s pre-apocalyptic.’ Because it hasn’t actually happened to these people yet,” Brandt says.
And that, he says, is part of the point.
Akessa and the other coastal residents of Fiji he photographed for this project haven’t seen the world they know sink underwater — yet. But many of them will, he says, if climate change continues at its staggering pace and water levels keep rising.
Pacific islands like these contribute only .03% of global greenhouse gas emissions, Brandt says, but they’re facing the alarming prospect of losing everything to climate change anyway.
“They’re the most vulnerable to the consequences of the industrial world’s ways,” Brandt says.
The photographer is wary of ascribing a message to his creative work. He knows viewers will have their own interpretations.
But he hopes these photos, portraying what he fears will happen in the future, help others see the devastating impact of their actions in the present.
The younger people he photographed — like Akessa and Maria, shown here — were often the most relaxed, Brandt says.
Brandt says the bubbles appearing in some images, like this close-up of Akessa, are among many serendipitous moments that occurred during the photo shoot.
Joe and Wane are shown side by side. Brandt had a narrow window to photograph his subjects while they held their breath.
Focusing largely on young people — like Paul, pictured here — wasn’t his original plan. But it made sense, Brandt says, since “they are the future.”
The complicated photo shoot took weeks
Before embarking on this project, Brandt says the only underwater photos he’d taken were vacation shots of tropical fish that caught his attention.
Photographing people underwater — and helping them feel at ease and look natural despite the strange circumstances — is a far more difficult undertaking. But Brandt knew that if he succeeded and was able to create the concept he’d envisioned, the images would be unlike anything he’d seen before.
He auditioned about 200 people for about 20 spots in the cast. He enlisted divemasters to ensure safety and help with scuba training. He stood by for days, waiting, when muddy runoff from torrential rains made the water off the coast of Fiji so murky that taking photos was impossible.
Whenever the water cleared, Brandt says he had a narrow window of time to stage and shoot a scene while whoever he was photographing got into position, removed the regulator supplying them with oxygen and held their breath.
In the early days of the six-week shoot, Brandt says most of the models could only manage to hold their breath for about 15 seconds before they needed to reconnect to the underwater oxygen supply, and it would take almost 30 minutes to set up each shot. By the end, some were able to hold their breath for well over a minute, and setting up shots took only a minute or two.
“Getting to that point was very, very complicated,” Brandt says.
A lot of it came down to practice. Good communication also helped, Brandt says. In order to provide guidance to models while he was photographing them, Brandt and his assistants used hard-wired communication to relay information up to the boat. From there, someone would repeat it into a speaker that broadcast underwater.
Through the entire shoot, Brandt says, his models and support crew brought enthusiasm and dedication to the project that made everything come together even on the most difficult days.
“They were amazing. The cast was so engaged, so much part of it, that even when we’d finished photographing them, and they could just chill out and be back on the boat and chatting, they would just basically dive back in the water to help,” he says.
These weren’t deep-sea dives. Brandt says most of the photos were taken 2-4 meters (about 7-13 feet) below the water’s surface. But still, there was a very real risk lurking behind the natural appearance of those everyday scenes they created together.
“If you shoot up to the surface from even as little as 8 feet (below), having held your breath, having taken in a breath at 8 feet, you can still damage your lungs,” Brandt says.
This divemaster kept everyone safe
Volitiviti Niutabua knew well how dangerous the circumstances of a photo shoot like this could be. He also knew how important Brandt’s project was.
The 53-year-old divemaster, who goes by Viti, is a lifelong resident of Fiji, an archipelago that is home to almost 1 million people.
Niutabua is a dedicated conservationist. For years, he says he’s been struggling to get others inside and outside his country to listen when he warns of the dangers of climate change and the harms to wildlife he’s already seeing.
Meeting Brandt, he says, was like a gift from God.
“He gives his heart and tries to show the world…people are suffering,” Niutabua says. “He’s doing this on behalf of the Pacific Islanders, and not just Pacific Islanders, all the low islanders on the planet. This is our story.”
A behind-the-scenes video of “SINK / RISE” shows Niutabua preparing a weighted belt to be placed around Akessa’s waist, then guiding her down from the boat into the chair.
“Don’t worry,” Niutabua recalls telling the teenager and others who were photographed in the shoot. “You’re safe in my hands. I’m going to make sure you’ll come back to the boat.”
Niutabua wasn’t only working behind the scenes. He also posed in front of the camera with his 25-year-old son, Ben.
For Niutabua, the reality that Brandt’s surreal photos are exposing is all too clear. The divemaster lives steps from an idyllic beach along the coast but, like many in Fiji, he’s building a house further inland that he hopes has a better shot at withstanding the impacts of intensifying storms.
“We didn’t cause this. The Pacific Islanders, we are the victims,” Niutabua says. But still, he says everyone on earth, including residents of Fiji, needs to do whatever they can to reverse course and mitigate the impacts of climate change, before it’s too late.
The undersea images convey everything from lost childhoods to hope for the future
While “SINK / RISE” centers around the human impact of climate change, Brandt says he learned more about the environmental impact, too, when they began shooting in a location about a kilometer from shore off the Fijian island of Vanua Levu. Broken pieces of coral covered the ocean floor.
“That’s all happened from climate change-intensified tropical cyclones. … We see the damage done by a tropical cyclone as it sweeps through land and just tears apart buildings and rips out trees. But what I didn’t understand was what happens underwater with that,” Brandt says. “Coral reefs are just annihilated, broken into a million pieces.”
Serafina holds her brother Keanan.
Onnie sits on a bench looking up toward the water’s surface.
Niu sits in front of a reef. Brandt says weights were used to keep people and furniture on the ocean floor during the photo shoot.
Ben stands behind his father, Viti, a longtime conservationist who also worked as a divemaster helping keep everyone safe.
To create the haunting images of people standing amid the broken coral, Brandt used everyday furniture typically seen inside homes and around schools.
“It’s meant to feel very matter-of-fact. They’re just sitting there with the barest essentials for living. A table and chair, a bed,” Brandt says. “And then occasionally I go into something like the seesaw, which is this sense of…a kind of lost childhood.”
Sometimes, Brandt says, what isn’t in the images can be just as striking. One photo, titled “Serafina At Table,” shows a girl sitting at a table across from an empty chair.
“For me that photograph works not just because of her and her expression, but because of that empty chair and what it implies,” he says.
While he hopes viewers will focus on the images he created, the concept behind them and the emotions they evoke, Brandt says he made sure plenty of behind-the-scenes photos were taken, too. At a time when AI-generated images are becoming increasingly common, Brandt says the artistic importance and emotional significance of real photographs showing real people cannot be overstated.
Since he first shared the photos publicly on his website recently, Brandt says he’s been struck by how viewers are responding.
“What I love is that people have said they go back to the photographs, and each time they go back, they see a different emotion in somebody’s face,” Brandt says. “They can see everything from hope to resilience…to resignation.”
How can the same image be both bleak and hopeful? Brandt points to a phrase popularized by Italian philosopher Antonio Gramsci: “pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will.”
“Intellectually, you look at what is happening to the planet, at this rollercoaster ride towards apocalypse, towards environmental destruction. And all the indications are humanity is not going to…act with sufficient urgency to correct course,” he says. “The optimism of the will is that, there is, with determination, the possibility of mitigating the damage. … But it requires all of us to become better ancestors.”
“SINK / RISE” is the third chapter in a larger project Brandt has been working on for years. The first two chapters showed people and animals impacted by climate change in Kenya, Zimbabwe and Bolivia. Like the earlier chapters, “SINK / RISE” will be made into a book and displayed in art gallery shows.
Brandt says the duality people are seeing in these latest images resonates with a theme that ties all the photos together.
The larger effort’s title, “The Day May Break,” refers to a sort of fork in the road that society is currently facing.
“The day may break and the earth may shatter, or the day may break and the dawn will come,” Brandt says.
As Brandt sees it, what happens next is humanity’s choice.
This story is part of CNN’s coverage of climate change”>CNN’s coverage of climate change ahead of the COP28 summit — covering how the crisis affects our lives as well as the global politics and the potential solutions.
Thurston Wolfe Winery holding event featuring master photographer
PROSSER, Wash. – Thurston Wolfe Winery is hosting an event featuring master photographer John Clement and his interpretive photography on November 18 in Prosser.
The event takes place at the winery from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tickets are $25 per person and $15 for wine club members.
All attendees are given a glass of Rose or JTW’s Blend and charcuterie appetizer by Graze Craze in Zillah. Rose can also be purchased for $10 per bottle.
Clement began his career in photography as a portrait photographer in 1970 before becoming a commercial industrial photographer for Battelle NW from 1976 to 1980.
He received a Master of Photography from the Professional Photographers of America in 1986 and has been devoted to landscape photography since 1980.
Clement has received several awards, provided 17 murals of Eastern Washington for the Seattle Seahawks along with images for the Pasco Airport and worked on several books and calendars.
“The challenge of being a photographer is capturing the images that I have created in my minds eye – capturing an emotion that connects someone with that image and draws them into it,” says Clement.
UNews Fall Photography Contest
We are so excited to announce the winners of our fall photography contest! Our first winner is Nadia Abusoud. Below is her submission.
“This is a photo of a beautiful woman who put on her own makeup for a fun photoshoot we did in Forest Park. She created the headpiece herself! This was taken around the time of day of the dead.” -Nadia Abusoud
Our second winner is Lowella Elliott. Below is her submission.
“Miniature horse laying in hay at the St. Louis Renaissance Festival.”
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Stay tuned for our next photo contest for a chance for your photography to be highlighted!
Joel Meyerowitz explains how he became “the magician of color” photography
Joel Meyerowitz: A Question of Color is the new eponymously titled book from the legendary street photographer, co-written (if not co-titled) with Robert Shore. It chronicles Meyerowitz’s early exploration of color film.
Joel Meyerowitz has been shooting street photography before the term was coined, establishing himself as an icon of the genre. He has been documenting life in the US for over 58 years, influencing many of the styles seen by modern artists and photographers.
His work has been exhibited in over 350 museums and galleries all around the world, and in 2017 was awarded a place in the Leica Hall of Fame while being dubbed “The magician of color”. But how did Meyerowitz get this moniker at a time when color photography was preserved for holiday snappers?
The book showcases Meyerowitz’s first foray into color film photography, a journey of exploration through experimental images. The book delves into the industry-changing introduction of colored film, and how that impacted not only Meyerowitz’s work but the social and photographic landscape in the US.
At a time when the only ‘serious’ photography was in black-and-white, Meyerowitz started to experiment with both. When going out to take photographs he would take two cameras, one with black and white monochrome film, and one with the recently introduced color.
He would capture a scene with both film stocks, often not knowing which one was which. Once developed, Meyerowitz was left with two copies to choose from. He could not understand the resistance to taking color photography seriously, asking “But why? When the world is in color?”
This attitude led to Meyerowitz being recognized, along with Saul Leiter and William Eggleston, as one of the great color photographers.
Along with the beautiful photographs, there is also a conversation between Joel Meyerowitz and Robert Shore, an author of several books on contemporary art and photography. This conversation provides us with a detailed insight with a written personal account of Meyerowitz’s practice and life at the time, as told to Shore.
Joel Meyerowitz: A Question of Color is published by Thames & Hudson and is scheduled for release on November 13 2023 in the UK and Australia, and on January 09 2024 in the USA. The book includes 194 images and will be priced at $25 / £20 / AU$47.75. It can be preordered at Amazon US as well as Amazon UK.
You might be interested in the best books on photography, along with the best coffee table books on photography. You can also check out where Meyerowitz ranks among the 50 best photographers ever.
P.E.I photographer handcuffed, fined after taking pictures of Quebec City’s iconic Château Frontenac
A professional photographer from Charlottetown, P.E.I., has been fined $230 for “loitering” while he was taking pictures of Quebec City’s iconic Château Frontenac hotel.
John Morris says he was standing on a sidewalk opposite the U.S. consulate near the famed hotel around noon on Tuesday, waiting for some clouds to arrive to get the perfect shot, when police officers approached him and told him to leave.
“[They] said, ‘You can’t be standing outside for 30 minutes,'” he said.
Morris said he did not understand what he was doing wrong.
“It’s a public sidewalk,” he said. “I’m not disturbing anybody. I’m not blocking any views. I’m out of the way.”
He said he refused to provide his identity unless the police told him what offence he was committing. He said at one point, he took out his phone to film the interaction, and that’s when police handcuffed him.
He said the officers only explained that he was loitering and issued the fine for it after he was put in the back of a police cruiser.
“It’s absolutely crazy that you would be given a fine for waiting for clouds on a public sidewalk. I’m a professional photographer. I do this for a living,” said Morris, who produces books, calendars and jigsaw puzzles with his photographs.
Morris said he has pleaded not guilty and plans on contesting the ticket.
“It kind of does make you question, like what are the rules of being on a public sidewalk in Canada anymore if that’s what happens.”
Consulate allegedly ‘afraid’ of being photographed
Morris said police told him those at the U.S. consulate were “afraid that I could see inside their building and take photos.”
Morris said a guard from the consulate did approach him earlier that day to ask him to leave, but he refused.
“I said, ‘Well, it’s a public sidewalk, and I’m allowed to take photos on a public sidewalk.”
Quebec City police spokesperson Sandra Dion confirmed that police received a 911 call shortly after noon on Tuesday about “a suspicious man that was near the American consulate.”
She said when the police officers arrived, they determined that the individual was breaking a municipal bylaw and asked him to provide his identity, but he refused, so they arrested him.
Dion confirmed the person was fined but declined to confirm his name or what bylaw he broke.
Dion also declined to say under what circumstances police will arrest someone who is taking pictures near the consulate.
“What I can tell you is that it’s not every day that we get 911 calls about a suspicious person [near the consulate],” she said.
Not every day, but it’s not unheard of. In fact, it has already happened five times this year.
Dion also would not say whether the consulate controls the sidewalks or the park near its building.
The U.S. Embassy in Ottawa declined the CBC’s request for an interview. It also would not say if its personnel made the 911 call.
“We take seriously the safety and security of our personnel and visitors to our facilities. We do not comment on U.S. Consulate General security protocols,” it said in an email.
What is considered loitering?
Quebec City’s municipal bylaw says that is “prohibited for a person, without a reasonable motive … to loiter, wander or sleep in a street or a public space.”
When asked under what circumstances Quebec City police will arrest or fine someone for loitering, Dion said “it’s on a case-by-case basis,” and “it’s up to police officers’ discretion.”
Florence Boucher Cossette, a criminal defence lawyer who has worked on loitering cases before, says the legal definition of the offence is unclear and is used arbitrarily by law enforcement.
“Every day, every single second in this city, people are loitering. So why aren’t you arresting them?” she pointed out.
She said Morris likely has a good shot at winning his case, as people accused of loitering when they were sunbathing or drinking coffee on a bench were acquitted in previous cases.
“In terms of defence, he was doing something, he was not loitering and there without apparent reason,” said Boucher Cossette. “He was taking photographs.”
In the end, Morris never succeeded in getting his perfect shot.
“Lo and behold, when the clouds came, I was in the cruiser,” he said.
Marin gallery showcases work of local Latino photographers
More than 50 images of Marin County life captured by Latino photographers over the past 20 years are on display at Art Works Downtown in San Rafael.
The photographers captured moments that include spectacular views of Marin’s hills, vivid portraits of proud faces in feathered Aztec headgear and a painterly image of a white bouquet dangling from a woman’s raven hair. The collection also records simple moments of home life such as a child’s birthday celebration, a cutting board covered with diced vegetables and a cowboy-hatted singer crooning on a living room television.
Ruben Robledo photographed oyster farm workers standing above hundreds of shells after a long day’s work. Teresa Gutierrez took a close-up shot of elderly hands stitching a bright pink blanket. Three restaurant kitchen workers are described as “A Pride of Latina Princesses” in a portrait by Estela Macias.
The images are showcased in “Dos Decadas,” a retrospective of photographs from the Latino Photography Project, which primarily teaches photography to Latino immigrants in Marin County. This show began in late September and will have its final reception on Nov. 10. Art Works Downtown collaborated with Point Reyes Station’s Gallery Route One, which has been showcasing the project’s work since its inception.
“Right away, we wanted visitors to the exhibit to see a part of Marin that they might not see on their own, that they might not have access to on their own, or that they may not know exists,” said “Dos Decadas” curator Mabel Jimenez.
The Latino Photography Project started in 2003 when Gallery Route One members reached out to Latino immigrants in western Marin. The organizers offered to teach them photography and provide cameras so they could document their lives and community.
“My dearest wish is that other towns will try this,” project co-founder and coordinator Nancy Bertelsen said at Art Works Downtown. “It brought a lot of joy and connectivity.”
Bertelsen encourages viewers to connect with migrants. She said every town “has a group of immigrants who came to do some necessary work.”
“Why not get to know them? Why not connect?” she said. “It would also be wonderful to melt the xenophobia.”
The project’s photographs were displayed across the country and featured in a documentary film on PBS. In 2020, Jimenez worked with the project’s photographers on “She Inspires Me,” an effort to take portraits of women leaders in their community. Their pictures and essays were published in a book. An early show had portraits of Marin County’s Latino workers as part of the theme, “Who opens the doors of the town?”
Elisabeth Setten, the executive director of Art Works Downtown, recalled that visitors at the “Dos Decadas” show wanted to know why the photographers weren’t being widely publicized.
“The voices being represented are mostly Latinx farmworkers who are out in west Marin. They are the spine of the county with the work they do, and yet their stories are not shared as readily with the community,” she said. “These are not professional photographers, these are house cleaners, shop workers, agriculture workers who never had a camera before to take photographs and document their lives through their lens, and not have somebody else photograph for them.”
Art Works Downtown held a discussion online Wednesday with the Latino Photography Project’s founders and photographers.
Luz Elena Castro, a photojournalist and a project co-founder, said that she was originally asked by Bertelsen, then a Gallery Route One member, to photograph ranch families in western Marin. She instead wanted to enable them to become photographers.
“Why don’t we do something different like finding cameras and with the cameras we go and visit them, explain they can own the cameras?” Castro said.
She said the project’s organizers wanted to teach them how to see life through the camera lens.
Gisela Alvarado, a ranch resident who took classes with the Latino Photography Project, has a windshield-view shot of a fog-shrouded Golden Gate Bridge on display at the retrospective show. She described her love of capturing “magic moments” in her lens.
“I’ve been shooting magic moments like sunsets, I don’t waste moments to take those beautiful photos,” Alvarado said through a translator.
Juanita Romo recalled making tamales so she could raise funds to buy a better camera when she joined the project. She said she enjoys photographing events such as a first communions and quinceañeras.
Jacob Leyva, an Inverness resident who studied silversmithing in Mexico, photographed field workers in Bolinas and took a close-up shot of hands holding a cement bucket. He said the project empowered him to become involved in his community.
“It wasn’t a question about … your immigration status, it was just, ‘Do you want to learn how to take pictures?’”
Jimenez said the project’s 20 years of work is a repository of Marin County life, courtesy of the students.
“They created a visual, historic archive that’s like a little slice of Marin that we can now look back on, and generations can look back on,” Jimenez said.
“Dos Decadas: Una Retrospectiva del Latino Photography Project” ends Nov. 10. Art Works Downtown at 1337 Fourth St. in San Rafael is open from 1 to 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. More information is online at ArtsWorksDowntown.org.
