The Latinx Photography Project

-Nature is always beckoning you to take her picture.

When I take a walk, I see the sunrise and sunset, I see the bay change color, and I think... "What a photo!"

"What a photo!"

[ Owl hoots ] You know it when you take a good photo.

You think, "That's it!

That's the one."

[ Birds squawk ] You see a new dimension of the world.

You start to see people, nature... and everything else around you in a different light.

I always wanted to keep studying.

I finished middle school in Mexico, but my dad didn't let me stay in school.

I got married, but I still had the itch to study.

I wanted to keep bettering myself.

[ Kettle whistles ] But we got in an accident... and my husband nearly died.

I told myself that if things improved, and my husband eventually recovered, I wanted to go back to school.

So there I was -- [ Laughs ] every morning I'd be rushing around to send my kids off to school, and drop the little ones off at daycare.

That's where I began to learn about... early childhood education.

[ Camera shutter clicks ] Here's my tombstone.

Etch my name here when I pass away.

Nancy called and invited me to a meeting at her house.

She told me about the project they had in mind... and she thought I'd be a good person to help her group expand... their reach in the community.

When the project started to take off, and I saw the women begin to blossom... I realized that I wanted to join too.

But I felt like I couldn't because my role was separate.

One day, I shyly raised my hand and asked Nancy... "May I join?"

She said, "Yes, Ana Mara!"

Wow.

Maybe some sneaky poison oak is down here.

The project blew open new possibilities.

But we had no idea just how far it'd go.

[ Indistinct conversations ] -When you hold a camera... it becomes a shield that lets you cross borders... ...go new places, and enter someone's personal life.

All this while you're behind the camera.

The camera makes it possible for you to be nearly invisible.

I try to teach them this... When you're working, the camera is your protective shield.

They realized that this shield also empowers them.

With this shield, they can bring their thoughts to life.

With this shield, they can go to new places.

They also find the strength to become leaders.

They can proudly say, "We're here and we're fluent in the language of photography.

We're also learning English so we feel seen and respected.

So we feel accepted.

We matter."

Their children also feel this sense of empowerment.

They're no longer just ranch kids.

They're in town and in school, they're kids who participate in the cultural life of Point Reyes.

They're part of the larger community.

-I didn't know anything about photography, but the project helped me learn camera and photo editing skills.

It helped me see things in a different way.

In my own town, I'd see pretty scenery... ...but I didn't value it.

Photography has helped me appreciate nature.

It offers a different way of seeing life.

-[ Whistles ] -Whenever I go to Mexican ceremonies, I take photos half of the time and the other half, I dance.

That way I do both things I enjoy.

I've been dancing for about eight years.

We dance to give thanks to the Earth.

Dancers come from Mexico as well as from around here.

Being far from your country makes you want to learn more about your culture.

In Mexico, you see the dancers and you think it's nice, but you can't imagine what you can learn from this tradition.

[ Cawing, mooing ] -Coming to the U.S., you experience... things that scare you.

Especially when you cross the border.

And if you arrive scared, you avoid the police or interacting with anyone.

The more you can hide, the better you feel.

You're always looking over your shoulder.

I'm a bit introverted.

I used to struggle when I was in a group.

But I started to feel different with the camera.

Photography has helped me feel more open to approaching people.

I feel good with the camera.

Photography shows you... how to claim what was already yours.

You find your voice.

-At first, I felt embarrassed to take photos because people know me.

Everyone knows me from my job at the Community Resource Office.

So when I stood up to take photos, I felt like the whole parish was watching.

But I don't feel that way now.

Being seen is part of life.

Photography helped me feel more confident in myself.

It's helped me so much.

[ Beep, click ] -For me, the Latino Photography Project really opened up the space for others to do different types of work developing the Latino voice, making sure that that voice was being heard.

Being sure that it was authentic, it wasn't a voice that was imposed upon people.

I think art has a way of creating that space, in a way that no matter how we tried or train or build capacity... that you can't quite do that.

Our efforts since then, I think, really come from other Latino leaders, who really were part of a struggle to be heard, a struggle for equity, a struggle for some respect and dignity.

And I think the Latino Photography Project really just took that and created a pathway... to greater leadership opportunities and empowerment opportunities.

and greater exploration and curiosities.

[ Bell toll ] -This book... is from when we started... going out into the community... to interview people.

At the time, most of our group... ...was from the town of Jalos.

Ramn Ramrez... Bety Villegas, Juanita Romo... Juanita Gutirrez... Martina Roque, and me, Yolanda.

And there's Nancy... Rosalyn... and Luz Elena... Luz Elena Castro.

We took snapshots of different people's lives.

Showing how they live... and what they do for work.

We'd take each person's picture... and write their story.

This is... the story that I captured.

Here's my name.

And here are pictures of my fellow groupmates.

This is a really nice memento.

-I've always been interested in photography.

But in the last five years, especially, six years, when my grandson... had a battle with very serious cancer and was in Stage IV, he had to go through a whole year of chemotherapy and radiation, and a huge amount of stress on our lives as family.

Part of what happened was that I needed something to actually center me and keep me sane.

And photography became... my tool of choice to actually get out there and be creative and help me charge my batteries so that I could deal with the issues that were going on with my grandson.

That opened up a whole new world for me.

It made me feel not only better about myself but actually it gave me something to share with others.

I'm very, very happy that I have ended up seeing myself as a photographer, seeing myself as an artist.

The arts are amazing... ...it's just an incredible way of sharing yourself, sharing the way you look at things.

I just think it's a great tool for development of each of us individually.

-Photography is more than just pictures.

It's the landscape speaking.

More than pictures, it's art.

I used to look at photos and think they were all the same.

But now I pay close attention.

When I edit photos, I think about what to crop or keep.

I took a photo of a caterpillar and a lady told me, "Hey, I bought your photo!"

She let me know she had my photo... in her caterpillar collection.

A caterpillar may seem ordinary, but look closely and you'll see beauty.

There's a butterfly that will fly one day.

We have to fly if we want to thrive.

-I knew the project would succeed because cameras are alluring.

Taking photos creates memories.

Everyone likes looking at photos, even of people they don't know.

People say, "Look at him!

And who's this?"

Family photos are even more exciting.

Like seeing family photos of Da de la Virgen de Guadalupe.

Photos generate a life all their own.

Photos are surrounded by celebration.

-The role of the arts in bridging difference is something to really look at and try in any community that has different ethnic groups coming together.

There's the old brain that goes into red alert.

Is there danger here?

Is there something to be afraid of?

Is something going to be taken from me?

But on top of those old ancient brains, we've got all these neocortex and prefrontal lobes that can make all kinds of decisions, different decisions, once that kind of xenophobic first reaction comes up you have a choice about what you do next.

Why not be curious and open?

-A lot of people go to our art openings and they want to chat with us.

None of us would've dreamed that we'd ever reach these heights.

It's incredible to chat with painters, sculptors, photographers, and other artists.

Being on that level of art opens a lot of doors for us.

-I wrote my own statements.

Thank you everybody.

I hope that you like our photos.

-It's very special, it feeds me.

So deeply in my heart.

Technical, I am big mess.

-Our culture... ...deeply values sharing our perspective with those around us.

That's why it's important to put the camera and microphone in our hands.

So we can reflect each other and better understand who we are.

That's incredibly valuable.

The community and future generations... ...benefit from this project because there will be a record of their community's history in this region.

It's so important for us to take the reins and not let anyone tell our story for us.

-[ Rhythmic shout ] [ Man singing ] -I am... really excited at seeing where this can go.

They gave birth to something I got to join in, and now where we're going, especially with our next show, "She Inspires Me," we're going to be photographing all the folks that our students find in this community the people who are their role models.

This is growing beyond what I originally thought.

It has a life to the way that the class is kind of growing outside of it.

Our students are doing things and they don't need my help.

That, to me, is the best.

I just see the photos afterwards and I'm going, I'm so proud of you.

That, to me, was the goal.

-We've been working on this special project for a whole year.

It's been inspiring and it gives us hope that our voice matters.

That in this vast country, we are not invisible.

This country belongs to everyone because we all help shape it.

We're living proof.

-Take each of these stories on its own and you only have one woman's story.

But bring these stories together and you have a piece of Point Reyes and West Marin history.

And twenty or thirty years from now, this will become the community's history.

Through photography they are documenting the history of our community, the Latinx community.

No one else is doing this.

And our Latinx community in Point Reyes and West Marin... will keep growing.

It will become even more established.

And these photographers' children and grandchildren... will look back on this era and realize these photographers helped establish our presence in the larger community.

They are doing more than taking photos.

They're documenting... an important part of history.

History that would be lost, if it weren't for them.