Louis carlos bernal biography of williams county

Louis Carlos Bernal , a Chicano photographer born in the Arizona border town of Douglas in , invented a style of art photography that honored his Mexican American culture.

Louis Carlos Bernal captured the culture of barrio life in the Southwest in his photos.

In the process, he created an indelible record of life in Southwestern barrios — low-income, primarily Spanish-speaking neighborhoods — in the s and s. He died tragically in when he was just 52 years old. With his photographs in only a few museum collections, his legacy received little attention over the past three decades. Now, his powerful images are reaching new audiences through a bilingual book and exhibition of photographs.

In , his family donated his photographs, negatives, contact sheets, working materials and memorabilia, which allowed us to establish the Louis Carlos Bernal Archive at the center.

The talk explores how Louis Carlos Bernal implemented a highly saturated color photographic practice to emphasize the creativity, styling, and vibrancy of.

The exhibition, which runs from Sept. As a child, Bernal was given a camera and became captivated by making photographs. He enrolled at Arizona State University thinking he would become a Spanish teacher, but his fascination with photography won out. Bernal pursued various projects as he deepened his exploration of photography.

He created collages featuring iconic images of former president John F. Kennedy , who, as the first Catholic president, was particularly revered in the Mexican American community. Responding to the Watergate hearings, and interested in the impact of media on public perception, he worked on a series in which he instructed family members to hold a life-size mask of Richard M.

Nixon up to their faces. Emulating the work of one of his mentors, visual artist Frederick Sommer , he made abstract images using sculptural cut paper.