the day was long. i had been walking for hours in the Mexican countryside capturing images and engaging with people. i even had a dead battery and had to wait on a desolate road until an elderly indigenous couple in a rickety old truck stopped to help me
arriving back to where i was staying at nightfall , i saw a gathering of people swelling by the hour into the 100's. it was an indigenous protest lasting until the wee hours of the morning and continuing to the next day.
of course i ran and got my fast lens for the darkness and stayed up talking w everyone, proudly utilizing my growing spanish to understand and give support.
eventually i had to get going. it was very late and i got a call to make my way home , that my dad was sick , in the hospital and might not pull through. i made it home the next day, he did not pull through and i was at home with him and the rest of my siblings for his passing
but... meanwhile as i went to my hotel room to sleep for an early departure i noticed all the men and women were not leaving, but would remain in protest in this square and went to bed on the sidewalks and patches of green.
the whole experience had my heart pumping... their fight for social justice and them standing firm, and bedding in place, which led to this image
between the experience of this protest and the last few nights of my fathers life i will never forget taking this image.
so it is an honor and i'm pleasantly surprised to see my photo here for the opening Creative Portrait exhibition at LACP, with Juror Aline Smithson
