*Los Héroes del Brill*o © Federico Estol

Shine Heroes, a three-year project in which photographer Federico Estol worked with Bolivian shoe-shiners, frames resilience to social and economic discrimination as a foundation for solidarity.

Federico Estol’s Los Héroes del Brillo, or “Shine Heroes” encapsulates the artist’s three-year collaboration with Bolivian shoe shiners living in La Paz and El Alto. The multigenerational urban tribe, as Estol describes them, scratches out a living while facing rampant social and economic discrimination. Ski masks, worn to protect their identities from family, friends, and strangers, mark them simultaneously as Other and as members of a marginalized economic class that typifies hustle.

Working with a local NGO that supports shoe shiners through newspaper sales, Estol organized a participatory workshop for shiners to visualize their stories. Drawing on the visual language of comic books and graphic novels, shoe-shiners portrayed themselves as heroes, not outcasts, whose work is both honorable and valuable.

Shine Heroes was recognized as an outstanding series and presented as the Critical Mass 2021 Exhibition at Portland’s Blue Sky Gallery earlier this year. Humble is pleased to highlight Estol as one of our ten standouts from the 2021 Critical Mass Top 50 finalists. See the others as we write about them HERE.

(PS - registration for Critical Mass 2022 opened July 7th! Click here for details on how to submit)

Federico Estol in conversation with Roula Seikaly

PostedJuly 4, 2022

AuthorRoula Seikaly

Categoriesinterviews, Artists, Art News

Tagsphotolucida top 50, photolucida critical mass, Federico Estol, staged photography, documentary photography, collaborative photography, photographer interviews, photolucida2021HAFtop10

The Photographer and Aint-Bad Editor In Chief's personal work and editorial leadership balances representations of joy, struggle, beauty and resilience.

Drawing on the warmth she experienced growing up in Louisiana beauty salons, Emerald Arguelles uses photography to reflect the past and envision a bright present and future for Black Americans. This comes across in a range of approaches and subject matter, from straightforward yet emotive black and white photographs of beauty salons to portraits that highlight the poetry of human gesture. And in her role as Aint- Bad’s Editor In Chief, Arguelles sees an ongoing opportunity to close the cultural gaps that still loom in contemporary photography.

I spoke with the photographer and editor to learn more about her personal work and gaze forward.

Jon Feinstein in conversation with Emerald Arguelles

PostedAugust 24, 2021

AuthorJon Feinstein

Categoriesinterviews, Artists, Portfolio

TagsEmerald Arguelles, Aint-Bad Magazine, New Photography, contemporary photography, photographer conversations, photographer interviews, contemporary portraiture, empathy in photography

Fresh Meadows Cranberry Farm © Gene Dominique

Gene Dominique’s Still Here - African American Farmers in the 21st Century shows Black farmers of all ages and experience levels contributing to a backbone of American industry, despite numerous hurdles.

In March 2021, it was announced that roughly half of the $10.4 billion dollar portion of the American Rescue Plan earmarked for agriculture relief will go to Black farmers. Aid in the form of debt relief, grants, training, education and other assistance will help historically disadvantaged farmers acquire land and build or supplement existing farms. The news is welcome, and tainted by a lawsuit filed by disgruntled white farmers who insist that the Biden administration’s strides toward equity are biased.

While the case winds its way through this country’s labyrinthine legal system, the farmers portrayed in Gene Dominique’s long form documentary project Still Here - African American Farmers in the 21st Century will continue working. Inspired by his family’s south Louisiana agricultural legacy, Dominique captures the love and labor of working the land in images that easily rival the storied work of Farm Security Administration photographers.

I’ve known and admired Gene’s work for a few years now. It was a pleasure to learn about the series’ origin, how it started and who participates, and how he plans to pursue it as Covid-related restrictions are slowly lifted.

Roula Seikaly in conversation with Gene Dominique

PostedAugust 5, 2021

AuthorRoula Seikaly

TagsBlack farmers, African American farmers, american agriculture, agricultural photos, Gene Domininque, Roula Seikaly, photographer interviews, documentary photography, photojournalism

Fazilat Soukhakian's portraits of LGBTQ+ couples in Utah show the conflict between religious and sexual identity and the pursuit to be treated as "normal."

When Fazilat Soukhakian moved from Iran to Utah, she was surprised to find similar cultural discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals. While there are clear differences – the Iranian government still punishes queerness with the death penalty – the shared experience of suppression, alienation, and banishment struck a chord.

Soukhakian observed the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' pervasive cultural power in Utah, which creates deep dilemmas for LGBTQ+ individuals with Mormon backgrounds who struggle between maintaining their faith and acting on their desires.

“Despite the church’s teachings,” she writes, “they are determined in their pursuit of love, each taking their own path by either enduring through the scrutiny of their surroundings or taking a step away from the church.” Many of these individuals have a complicated relationship reconciling both identities.

Soukhakian’s new series Queer In Utah aims to normalize LGBTQ+ relationships in a religious and cultural landscape that won’t have them. Playing off family portrait tropes found in the households of many Utah heterosexual couples, she highlights each couple's pursuit of love and joy within a culture that wants to suppress them.

After meeting at PhotoNola’s annual portfolio reviews in December, I contacted Soukhakian to learn more about her work.

Jon Feinstein in conversation with Fazilat Soukhakian

PostedJanuary 19, 2021

AuthorJon Feinstein

CategoriesPortfolio, Galleries

TagsFazilat Soukhakian, Queer in Utah, homophobia in the Mormon chuch, religion and sexuality, Contemporary Portraiture, new photography, Utah photographers, photographer interviews

I can’t remember when or where I saw Jennifer Georgescu’s work for the first time. Since that auspicious moment, her image of a moth held over an infant’s eyes has bounced around my mind, appearing in dreams and nightmares alike. In that image, and across the project Mother Series, Georgescu captures dualities that define childhood and motherhood: vulnerability, strength, joy, exhaustion, the potency of identity as it forms during childhood and its temporary loss during early motherhood.

Through lush and highly choreographed vignettes, Georgescu works through her experience of raising two children to better understand both the universal and deeply personal aspects of parenthood. This work is a visual feast, and best seen in person.

If you can, check out Georgescu’s work in the group exhibitions Trust the Story (Baldwin Photographic Gallery at Middle Tennessee State University) or the Joyce Elaine Grant Exhibition (Texas Woman’s College) and Oceanside Museum of Art Auction Exhibition, and her solo installation at the Cornel/Henry Art Gallery (San Diego).

Roula Seikaly in conversation with Jennifer Georgescu

PostedMarch 5, 2020

AuthorRoula Seikaly

CategoriesArtists, Portfolio

TagsJennifer Georgescu, Photography and motherhood, womenphotograph, photographic tableaux, photography and art history, photographer interviews

Heroic Photographs of Bolivian Shoe Shiners in La Paz and El Alto

Emerald Arguelles Celebrates Beauty, Community, and a Bright, Sparkling Future

Still Here - Gene Dominique Photographs African American Farmers in the 21st Century

A Struggle Between Faith and Love

Jennifer Georgescu's Dark, Yet Joyous Portrait of Motherhood