Photography show features works by local Latino immigrants
A collection of photographs documenting the experiences of Latino immigrants in the Saratoga Springs area will be on display at Skidmore's Case Center Gallery Sept. 13-27. An opening reception will take place on Monday, Sept. 17, 4:30-6:30 p.m., at the gallery, on the second floor of Case Center.
The show, titled Estamos Aqu ! ( We Are Here!), presents black and white photographs taken by participants in the English as a Second Language classes offered by the Saratoga County Economic Opportunity Council. The classes are part of the EOC's Latino Advocacy Program.
Eleuterio Martinez Ramirez with self portraits
(photo by Alan LaBrecque)
In preparation for their photo shoots, backstretch workers and local Latino families attended a series of photography workshops led by local photographer Skip Dickstein. The workshops, funded in part by Saratoga Arts, offered a series of lessons on both the technical and editorial aspects of photography. Participants learned everything from composition and the rule of thirds to the importance of subject and content. "In addition to good composition, the photograph has to say something," Dickstein told the group.
Among the featured photographers is Julio Gondola, originally from Panama, who worked this past summer as a hotwalker at the race track and was formerly an athlete who competed in the Central American Games. Also featured is Saratoga Springs High School student Eleuterio Martinez Ramirez, originally from Mexico, who shares his dreams and experience as an immigrant youth through a series of introspective self-portraits. Likewise, parents used the photos to share their hopes and dreams for their children and families.
The photographs for the show were selected by a jury made up of Michelle Paquette, associate director of academic programs and residencies at Skidmore; photographer Robert ParkeHarrison, associate professor of art at the College; and Tanya Tobias-Tomis, associate director at Saratoga Arts.
The Estamos Aqu ! photography project i s funded in part by the Saratoga Program for Arts Funding (SPAF), a component of the Decentralization Program of the New York State Council on the Arts.
