FEATURED PHOTOGRAPHERS
Alexandra Merkulova
Angelina Flores
Ariana Perez
Brooke Kamille
Esmeralda Estrada
Paola Jaime
Sofia Kartite
Stephanie Gutierrez
Wendy Cubillo
Digital Promotoras:
Resilience
“Digital Promotoras: Resilience” asked students to reflect on their role in their post-quarantine community and highlight stories which personify resiliency in the face of adversity. Central themes explored in these images are those which have arisen in the beginning in the pandemic and continued through this year; from struggles and challenges that small businesses have faced to the strength and beauty of family, and how resiliency can be built across generations. The Digital Promotora’s work also symbolizes what community means and how it is reflected in nature, how the self is incorporated into our environments and landscapes, and how images capture a moment in time that can be meaningful to its community.
Having delved not only into the technical side of photography, but into the ethics of photography as well, students are aware of the vulnerability that is needed and the commitment they have to accurately portray their communities. In thinking critically about their everyday surroundings the images that our students have produced offer accounts of the many forms and sizes of community and the need to preserve and amplify their voices and values through the lens of social justice and inclusion.
TEACHING ARTIST
Makeda Flood
MENTORS
Alicia Ramirez
Carolyne Corelis
Leah Choi
Megan Pennings
Piper Sellers
Raquel Natalicchio
Alexandra Merkulova, age 16
About me: Alexandra Merkulova was born in Russia, Moscow, and moved to the US 2.5 years ago. Now, she is a junior in high school. Alex is an aspiring actress. She has been in the drama department in her high school for three years now, and is in her 2nd year of play production. She also does varsity cheer and has done gymnastics for many years. Alex is also taking French classes outside of school. She first became interested in photography when her friend from Las Fotos Project told her about it, so she decided to join and is now in her second semester. Alex has learned a lot about photography and camera usage since her first semester. She had never done professional photography before LFP. A fun fact about Alex is that she loves to learn new languages and wants to learn Japanese in the future.
High School Cheer vs. Covid-19
My project focuses on Covid-19 and its impact on high school cheer-leading, providing my own experience; my project also spreads awareness about the pandemic itself.
Angelina Flores, age 16
About me: Angelina Flores is a 16 years old female who is a junior in high school. She loves to capture the lowrider community because it has greatly impacted her life. Angelina thinks of herself as a creative person. Her goals in life include being a great photographer, becoming a respiratory therapist, and traveling the world. One accomplishment that she is proud of is that her images have been on public display three times. It has been inspiring to know that people enjoy looking at her work. One thing that made her want to participate this semester was getting the chance to learn more about photography and to receive feedback on her work to help her improve. Somethings Angelina hopes to strengthen are her portrait skills and how to master lighting. When it comes to photography, Angelina considers herself as a hobbyist; meaning some pictures are worthy of being printed and hung, but not all. She hopes to become a better photographer so that one day her work will be featured in a well-known art show.
BikesontheBlvd
After being in quarantine for a year, the lowrider community gathers together at the annual BikesontheBlvd event to show off their Lowriders and Lowrider bikes. In the first picture Joey is representing his bike club. He is proud to be a member of a club that can bring people together after being apart for so long. In the second picture you see Jessy, Leilanie, and Sammy holding the trophies that they are presenting to the winner with the most detailed Lowrider bike. At these events not only do people represent the bike club or car club they’re from but they also represent their culture and what communities they are from. In the third picture you can see one of the members of the lowrider community with a Guatemalan flag on his bike to show how proud he is to be from there. Overall the Lowrider community shows how we are able to stick together even through the tragic experience that has been Covid-19 and how after being inside for so long we have not forgotten how much we love and appreciate each other as a community and have hopes to do good things for the next generations.
Ariana Perez, age 15
About me: Ariana Perez is a 15-year old high school sophomore. Her passions include music, art,literature, and especially science. She is currently learning cyber security, specifically the system Linux. She likes to write poetry, take photos, and create films that tell a story. She loves Las Fotos Project and has enrolled in other summer programs to supplement her knowledge and help her become an artist in multimedia.
Through the Cracks
“Through The Cracks” is a photo study of weeds survival and resilience and features weeds in the city. The study took place in Orange County, CA during the months of October and November of 2021. I wanted to focus on the ability of weeds to grow and survive in the most unlikely and uninhabitable areas. I have concluded that weeds do this as a means of survival.
In real estate, you hear the phrase, “Location, Location, Location” but with weeds, it should be noted that they grow anywhere, given the basics of soil, light, and water but they tend to do best in remote areas where they do not need to compete with other plants and are undisturbed by animals and humans. The theme of the study is resilience, defined, “as the ability to absorb or avoid damage without suffering complete failure, to bounce back and survive.” The definition includes “the ability to respond, absorb, and adapt to, as well as recover in a disruptive event. To be able to resist an extreme event with minimal damages and functionality disruptions during the event; after the event, it should be able to rapidly recover its functionality similar to or even better than before”.
I thought of looking at weeds and how they are perceived in our society. We are told that weeds are bad and should be killed. However, no matter how much weed killer is poured on them they find a way to come back. Actually, the use of herbicides only causes a small percentage of surviving weeds to mutate at the genetic level and promote new weeds that are resistant to the previously used herbicide, thus making weeds stronger. Herbicides, also commonly known as weedkillers, are substances used to control unwanted plants. Selective herbicides control specific weed species. Thus, because weeds are so resilient and life finds a way to survive, we are in a constant race to update and change the formula to the adapting weeds so that it remains effective.
Even though society tells us that weeds are considered undesirable, one must appreciate the ability to adapt and survive as a resilient species. What makes a weed bad and a flower good is the aesthetic appearance of the viewer, and beauty is objectified. However, there are certain species of weeds that people use for medicinal purposes, like dandelion and marijuana. In our current society, we are having more open-mindedness and I thought of the movements to support body positivity. Maybe we should have a second thought at weeds before we reach to pull it, does it really need to be removed or can it be appreciated and allowed to survive?
Brooke Kamille, age 17
About me: Brooke Kamille is a young experimental photographer who is pursuing photojournalism as a career. She attributes her passion for this new found form of self-expression to her mentor, Bretton Boyd, and her best friend, Lola Barbieri.
Brooke began experimenting with film photography, using point and shoots, spending her paycheck to buy film and excitedly getting her images developed. This then led her to become an editor of her school’s yearbook team. Brooke’s interest quickly grew and she then joined the Campus News team at her high school. Boyd took her under his wing and taught her about project-based work.
Growing up in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles, home has always brought a diversity of individuals from different walks into Brooke’s life, opening her eyes to all that’s out there. Of the many individuals in Brooke’s life, the person who has impacted her the most is “Momma.” Her mother has shown Brooke the value and importance of education, hard work, and surrounding yourself with those who will uplift and support the positive decisions being made. Momma is the apple and inspiration of Brooke’s eye.
Coming Home
'Coming Home' follows Brooke Kamille on her personal journey of reemerging from the COVID-19 pandemic and into her last year of high school and in-person learning. During quarantine, she rekindled her passion for photography and found Las Fotos Project. LFP has given her the opportunity to capture her second to last semester in high school.
Esmeralda Estrada, age 17
About me: Hi, my name is Esmeralda Estrada. I am 17 years old. Some adjectives that describe me are quiet and picky. A fun fact about me is that I am a Virgo. Growing up, I was always collecting cameras. Since then photography has allowed me to create memories that can last a lifetime. Photography has also given me the chance to get my mind off of things taking place around me. Photography brings me peace. I get a lot of inspiration from my mother. She is a single mom, works hard, and plays two key figures in my life. She has sacrificed a lot for my sister and I, and we love her for that. She pushes me to be better, so one goal that I’ve set for myself is to strengthen my portrait photography skills.
Sola
Sola is a project about how I felt during the COVID-19 pandemic. Being inside my house with nothing to do and nowhere to go made me feel like I was a bird locked in a cage. Feeling isolated was the hardest part about this whole experience. I felt so empty being in a room with just myself and my thoughts. Sometimes I had nothing to do for days so I laid in my bed. The days I did get up, I had no physical contact other than my family and my cat. My days kind of mushed together. Staring out my window is how I would spend my days and most nights. I didn’t sleep because I knew the next day would be the same. I feel like I lost all my social skills and I didn’t contact any of my friends. Once I was able to step out of this cage I had a hard time adjusting to society again. Making friends was way harder than it was before. When school opened up it was hard to mingle with the other students. It felt really weird to talk to someone face to face. My scenery changed so fast. I went from being around friends and people I would see on my way to and from school, to being home alone all day, sitting at my computer, then going back to bed. So when I finally was able to talk with someone face to face, and not virtually, I really started to miss some things about being isolated.
Paola Jaime, age 19
About me: My name is Paola Jaime, and I’m a 19-year-old Latina living in the heart of Boyle Heights and currently studying political science at East Los Angeles College. Through photography, I have been able to break out of my shell of shyness and insecurity and express myself and the needs of my community. I utilize photography to tell a visual narrative about the cultural richness and everyday realities of the world around me. One of my favorite things to do is to explore my neighborhood and curiously observe the space around me. I’ve walked down practically every street in East L.A. at this point, but I find that there is always something new to discover. Everything that exists in Boyle Heights has a unique story worth highlighting in my eyes — every person, every business and every street. I hope to capture and elevate the stories of my community in my future photography work.
Para Mi Papa
My project focuses on the resiliency of family and legacy after a loved one’s death. In honor of my dad and his passing, I utilized photography to capture his life, our family’s grief, and how we continue to stay connected with him. The complexly difficult process of grief is one that we are all destined to go through at some point in our lives and during this time, we are all brought together by family, love, faith, and strength. Our loved one’s legacy, virtue, and life lives on. We honor them with our pursuit of our hopes and dreams, and this is my act of honoring my dad.
Sofia Kartite, age 14
About me: Sofia Kartite is a 14-year-old freshman in high school at Westridge. Of Mexican and Moroccan heritage, Sofia was born in California and lives in Altadena. Sofia’s plays the cello and she is also an avid reader. She is interested in the film industry and filmmaking. Sofia became interested in photography after hearing stories about how her mom used to take photos in high school and college. She was eager to learn something new and to explore how to express herself through photography. Sofia specifically enjoys taking pictures of nature because she has always been surrounded by it and likes to capture the different plants around her.
A New School: Behind the Mask
My project is about the resilience of students during the Covid-19 pandemic and how it has affected all of us. Being at a new school during the pandemic brings about many new experiences. We have to distance ourselves from each other, take Covid tests each week, and wear masks. Many things aren't the same, like dances, sports games, school events, even school lunch! It's hard to be at a new school, let alone in the middle of this pandemic - it is definitely an experience I won't forget. In the future, I hope that I can hang out with friends without having to worry if any of us have Covid, have more school events not get canceled, and have school plays in the auditorium, and not outside. I hope that we can try to get back to some kind of normal.
Stephanie Gutierrez, age 18
About me: Stephanie Gutierrez is a first-generation Mexican-American photographer born and raised in East Los Angeles. She is currently 18 years old and is majoring in Journalism at California State University, Long Beach.
Stephanie’s photography journey began at a young age. After finding comfort and fun in taking candid pictures, she joined the community-based photography program, Las Fotos Project. Through this program she began learning technical photography and practicing photojournalism.
Although Stephanie shoots a variety of different styles, she focuses primarily on community advocacy. Her photos typically capture and convey individuals’ personal stories. Stephanie hopes to continue learning and using photography as a storytelling and advocacy outlet throughout her college years.
Maximo's Resilience
Maximo Bonilla was born and raised in Puebla, Mexico. The second oldest in a family of ten siblings and one single mother, Max became the household’s primary source of income during his early preteen years. Now 69, Max resides in Los Angeles, California with his only daughter and her family.
When thinking about resilience I instantly thought of my grandfather Max. My grandfather migrated from Mexico to the U.S after losing his wife to cancer, falling short on money, and losing his shop. However, even now at an older age my grandfather continues to work, persevere, and embody resilience. My project is an homage to him and his character.
Wendy Cubillo, age 17
About me: Wendy Cubillo (b. East Los Angeles, California in 2004) tells stories related to identity, activism, and pride. Shifting through the different lenses of her people, Wendy uses photojournalism to highlight the day-to-day lives of the Los Angeles community. She aims to capture every unique story, taking her camera everywhere she goes. Sprouting from a confrontation with body image, Wendy created a Magazine brand named Eonagapi. Its purpose is to spotlight the accomplishments of the Angelino youth, centering around passions, talents, aspirations, and social justice, hoping to provide a visual microphone with which our voices can be heard. Wendy regularly interviews and photographs local subjects for Eonagapi. She also coordinates photoshoots, writes and edits profile stories, and publishes posts on social media showcasing what she likes to call “the definition of beauty that dictionaries can’t” (which is what led her to fall in love with photography and its change-making power). Wendy aspires to become a creative director and continue bringing Eonagapi’s vision to life. Right beside Vogue!
With a Mind of Sonder
Sonder - noun. The realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as our own—populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and inherited craziness—an epic story that continues invisibly around us. As a society, we have gotten so used to navigating through life looking straight ahead, with ourselves at the center. However, the reality is that if we allow ourselves to stop, observe, and listen, we realize the subtle hints of strength that are found in the stories around us. Shining a light on environmental and social justice, local Mexican-American businesses, mesmerizing performing arts, and spontaneous moments, this photographic series uplifts and focuses on the resilient narratives of my community of East Los Angeles and Boyle Heights, capturing its voices, passions, and pride. It incorporates its humility, hardships, and the strength that never stops rising.