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Photojounalist A. Dennis Gaxiola
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Evelyn
Cisneros
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Evelyn had already been photographed for the cover of the book "Gifted
Woman" by Howard Schatz. I was looking for a different type of photograph.
I walked into a rehearsal at the San Francisco Ballet. It appeared to
be more of a workout than a rehearsal, after a while Evelyn came over
to me and asked if I could wait a while until she finished the rehearsal
and promised that it wouldn’t be long. She came back perspiring and
her hair falling into her eyes apologizing for the delay. She said that
she would be right back after cleaning up. I said "no wait, this
is the shot that I want." I had to explain, "you weren’t
born a ballerina, you didn’t make it here solely because of your
talent, you’re here because of your work ethic. I want kids, who
see you perform and say 'I want to be like Evelyn', to also understand
the tremendous amount of work that goes into each and every performance."
With that, she immediately posed for the photo-shoot.
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Luis
Valdez
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Luis has a very strong personality and he is very comfortable in front of the camera. I made the lighting very obvious and dramatic for the purpose of creating a stage for him to perform. We were in his office at the Teatro Campasino, San Juan Bautista, California. His personality naturally came out for both the interview and the photoshoot.
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Janice
Garcia
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I hadn’t decided how I was going to take the first shot until I heard her interview, then it came to me. Initially, it was recommended to me that I place her in front of a wall with graffiti. "How cliché" I remarked, how many latinos are we supposed be paraded in front of a wall with graffiti. When Janice finally made the decision to leave the gang life, she also decided that she wanted to lead a middle class life. To her, this meant a family, a house, and a car. The photograph captures those things that she was able to attain because of the departure from her previous life. The cyclone fence is typical of every other in the barrio, the neighborhood that she chose for herself to live in. |
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Armando
Garcia
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Armando, a very amiable person, invited me to his very busy office. His
business is wholesale distribution. The product never leaves the box,
his modest office and warehouse is filled with boxes ready for shipping.
The photo was taken in the office with the unopened boxes in the background
which clearly depict the nature of his business.
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Dolores
Huerta
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Dolores was at the Farmworker Office in Salinas, California. Shortly after I arrived, I looked into a storage room and saw a lot of placards, one in particular caught my eye. The photo was taken in that storage room, because of the darkness, I had to take the time to set up the proper lighting. It had been recommended to me that I should take her picture in the fields, but I refused because that didn’t say anything. I left that afternoon for another meeting in San José at the Mayor’s office. Because of the travel time between Salinas and San José, I arrived late. To my surprise the meeting had not yet started, and I was further surprised to hear that Cesar Chavez had just passed away.
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I caught up to him at Hiram Johnson High School in Sacramento. The location was the only difference, otherwise, it was like walking onto a movie set and watching the movie being filmed. He is a very dominant figure. He does not tolerate excuses, you have to want to take his class or you will be excused. I got to his class early to check the lighting and observed his students arriving early, as well. His classroom was full of inspirational posters. His slogan is "start studying for next week’s test today" and he means it. The slogan had to become a part of the photograph. |
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