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.