Archive Talks: William Camargo in conversation with Michelle Montenegro
Join us for a conversation between William Camargo and Michelle Montenegro, artist and co-curator of Fotos y Recuerdos: Guatemala in Los Ángeles.
William Camargo is a photo-based artist and educator born and raised in Anaheim, California. He is a lecturer in photography at UCSD, CSUF, and PCC. William is the founder and curator of Latinx Diaspora Archives, an archive Instagram page that elevates communities of color through family photos. His work focuses on gentrification, police violence, and Chicanx/Latinx histories. William has residencies at the Latinx Project at NYU, Light Work, TILT Institute in Philadelphia, Center for Photography at Woodstock, and Penumbra Foundation in NYC. William’s works are in several public and private collections, including S.F MOMA Library, Huntington Library, Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Harvard Library, and LACMA.
This conversation activates the Fotos y Recuerdos exhibition, exploring the importance of community image making and archives. The exhibition features over 100 personal photographs submitted by community members who are part of the Guatemalan diaspora in Los Angeles, the largest community of its kind outside of Guatemala. Alongside the community archive are original photographs, personal family archives and installations by Michelle Montenegro, an LA based Guatemalan American photographer and Las Fotos alumni.
Doors open at 6:30pm to see the exhibition before the event begins at 7pm. The conversation will include an audience Q&A.
About THE ARTIST:
Michelle Montenegro(she/her/ella) is a Los Angeles-based mixed-media artist. Her work is informed by the social and historical contexts that influence the various layers of her identity and experiences. In this approach, Michelle’s work focuses on issues relating to capitalism, migration, family ties, and intergenerational trauma within communities of color. Through honest storytelling and the photographic perspective, she aims to redistribute power to her subjects and communities.
Michelle is currently an undergraduate student at the University of Southern California majoring in Non-governmental Organizations and Social Change and minoring in Law and Public Policy. Her goal is to pursue a Masters in Urban Planning at USC’s Price School of Public Policy. She is a Las Fotos Project alumni and current mentor. In 2023, Michelle was recognized as the recipient of the Las Fotos Project Foto Awards’ Youth Advocacy Award for her use of photojournalism towards community advocacy and social justice efforts.
Event Details
Thursday, June 6, 2024
7 - 8:30 pm
Location: Oxy Arts
4757 York Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90042