📸 Mexico’s Border Stories, Julian Lennon's new exhibition, Queer|Art Giard Grant

ON FEATURE SHOOT

The Young Voices Telling l Through Photography

The “Chavalxs” project, spearheaded by artist Alejandra Aragón from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico teaches photography to 25 youths in areas like Gómez Farías and Guadalupe. The project offers an authentic view of life across the border, away from racism and xenophobia. We spoke to Aragón, Grantee of the Center for Cultural Power’s Border Narratives Project, about the project.

Beyond photography, what other skills have participants gained from their involvement in the Chavalxs” project?

“I am very proud to say that many of the kids involved got tools to manage their emotions and their psychological state since many young people are dealing with strong PTSD; many have experienced and seen very violent acts committed against their family members or community. So we spoke about our emotions and tried to use photography to convey them. For some, like Cristian Jasiel Garcia Archuleta, photography became a tool to go out of the house, walk, and understand he had a special perspective and talent. The workshop also helped insert him into a community since he lacked a support group.” —Alejandra Aragón

Read the rest of the interview with Alejandra on Feature Shoot.

EXHIBITIONS

‘Wake Up And Dream’ by Julian Lennon

What do you hope people will take away from seeing this exhibition?

“My ‘Wake Up And Dream’ art exhibition shows life as I see it in its many forms. The collection features two bodies of work: Intimate portraits and expansive skyscapes from my travels around the globe. It is my hope that observers of this exhibition both embrace the reverence of the images and recognize the empathy that’s needed to care for the planet we share.”—Julian Lennon

‘Wake Up And Dream’ is on view from April 11 through June 25, 2024 at Saint Joseph’s Arts Foundation, San Francisco.
Get tickets here.

'Only the Future Revisits the Past' by Carolyn Marks Blackwood

I love the "choose your own adventure" nature of the series. How did you come up with this idea?

“The idea came from posting on Facebook.  I had taken these mysterious photographs, and I started a story and asked others to finish the story- lots of people joined in, including Jerry Saltz, the art critic who was very encouraging of this series. It took a couple of years of processing this idea - how to present the story, how to frame the pictures with the beginning of the story- but finally I hit on the formula. I made them very large (64x54 inches) so that the person standing before them can actually feel like they can walk into the scene- walk down the road- and feel like they are there. I have actually seen people standing before some of the stories, crying as they personalize the story.

“The pictures and stories are very emotional to me and they seem to strike an emotional chord which is just what I was hoping for.  It has been very gratifying to see people in front of the photographs reacting so emotionally to them. I know what my stories are, but I have not imposed them on the viewer, I have left enough space for them to run with what is there.”

 What came first, the captions or the imagery?

“The imagery came first. Taken on moody days, stormy nights, and around my neighborhood, they reflect the news and politics of the day, my emotions about that news, and the world in general. My husband and I were coming back from the city one night, and it began to snow, and the snow was crazy in the headlights. When we got home, I asked him if he would drive me around while I shot pictures. We did it for a few hours, and I was so excited by these photos, which I originally called "Drive, She Said.”

“It changed when I started walking around the neighborhood in all seasons and weather, and thought there is life in these houses, I wonder what is really happening? The stories come from my imagination, and from my real life, and friends' stories and the news. I made the story subtle, so it could be personalized and continued by the viewer.”

'Only the Future Revisits the Past' is currently on view at Mattatuck Museum in Connecticut through May 12, 2024.

GRANTS 

Queer|Art opens applications for Giard Grant

Queer|Art’s first international grant provides an award of $10,000 for the winner and $1,250 for distinguished finalists to support the creation of new work by emerging LGBTQ+ photographers. Named in honor of photographer Robert Giard (1939-2002), a portrait, landscape, and figure photographer whose work focused on LGBTQ+ lives and issues, the grant focuses on supporting emerging LGBTQ+ photographers whose projects address issues of sexuality, gender, or LGBTQ+ identity.

The judges for the 2024 Robert Giard Grant for Emerging LGBTQ+ Photographers: editor-in-chief of Them Sarah Burke, interdisciplinary artist Jess T. Dugan, historian and curator Jacqueline Francis, and photographer Tommy Kha.

Learn more and apply here.