December 12 – January 11, 2008
PROJECT SPACE
La Vida: Trabajo y Familia (Work and Family)
Images of family life and hard work reflecting the way of life for many West Marin Latinos.
Photography by Juanita Gutierrez, Alejandra Macias, Betty Macias, Imelda Macias, Ofelia Martin, Maricela Mora, Juanita Romo, and Martina Roque
During a lively discussion among the photographers at the end of last year’s show, Yolanda Gutierrez, one of the original students now returned to Mexico, expressed a strong desire “to show how hard Latinos work.” A consensus emerged — to photograph Latino men and women in jobs the general public may benefit from but rarely see.
Photojournalist Luz Elena Castro, who teaches the photography class, suggested the seven women photographers produce a digital photo essay in black and white of their husbands at work. As always, colorful images of family and community life crop up amongst the assigned pictures. Some of these photos appeared in the West Marin Citizen as part of a series also titled, “La Vida”. Together these images of family life and hard work proved to be inseparable, as they reflect the way of life for many Latinos. No matter how many hours a Father works, when he comes home, he is instantly reabsorbed into home life, and on his one day off a week, the extended family will often gather in church or on a ranch to celebrate a sacred time of year or a rite of passage for one of its members.