NU EVA LUZ
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photographic journal Winter Issue 1987
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NUEVA LUZ Vol. 2 No. 1, 1987
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photographic j o u r x) a 1 Editor Charles-Biasiny-Rivera Managing Editor Kitty Dawson Designer/Art Director Frank Gimpaya Translator Amaldo Sepulveda East Coast Distributors Total Circulation Services West Coast Distributors Cornucopia
Typography Ortiz Typographies Printing Expedi Press
Nueva Luz (ISSN 0887-5855) is a photographic jour nalpublished by En Foco, Inc. 32 East Kingsbridge Road, Bronx. New York 10468, (212) 584-7718. Single issue price is $4.00, yearly individual subscription is $12.00 in the U.S. In all other countries, yearly subscription is $18.00, institutional subscription is $30.00. Portfolios of at least 15 unmounted prints or copy slides may be submittedfor viewing. Ifmailed, the prints may be no larger than 11"X14". A selfaddressed stamped envelope and appropriate packaging must ac company all mailedportfolios to insure proper return. We do not assume responsibility for unsolicitedphotographs or manuscripts sent by mail. Photographers wishing to deliver portfolios in person must call our office to make ar rangements. For advertising rates and distribution contact En Foco. Inc.
Copyright © 1987 by En Foco, Inc. All Rights Reserved Nueva Luz is made possible withfunding by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Bronx Bor ough President, Fernando Ferrer, New York State Council on the Arts, Bronx Council on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
Editorial Pa6e
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eginning with this issue, Nueva Luz becomes a quarterly publication. Through the generous support from various agencies listed elsewhere in this issue we have been able to acquire a managing editor, Ms Kitty Dawson who will expedite the magazine and establish our new quarterly schedule. We welcome her to the Nueva Luz family and look forward to her vitali ty, energy and professionalism. As this years end approaches, it brings a sense of attainment and gratification that we have firmly estab lished the magazine. Subscriptions have almost doubled and the attention it has generatedfor our published ar tists is very promising. Museum curators have selected exhibiting photographers from our issues andphoto graphic residencies have even been attained through the presentation ofpublishedportfolios in Nueva Luz. When we originally set out to produce this maga zine one of our intentions was to introduce our pho tographers to a wider audience, to get the work to peo ple that were not acquainted with artists ofcolor. We strove to develop a consciousness ofan artistic percep tion that was not Eurocentric. I applaud those editors, curators, museum direc tors, galleries and collectors who feelfree enough to re spond to the talents found within our pages. I celebrate with realjoy and rejoice at the strength, purpose and integrity ofthese photographers. I wish all the readers ofNueva Luz a new year of insight, good health andpleasure oflife.
partir delpresente numero, Nueva Luz se convierte en una publicacion trimestral. Gracias al generoso apoyo de varias agendas (mencionadas en otra parte) hemos logrado conseguir un editor a nivel gerencial, Kitty Dawson, quien se hard cargo de expeditar la revista y concretar el nuevo plan trimestral. Le damos la bienvenida en la familia de Nueva Luz, esperando con placer anticipado su vitalidad, voluntad y profesionalismo. A medida que este ano concluye crece en nosotros una sensacion de logro y satisfaccion al saber que hemos plantado firmemente la revista. Las subscripdones casi se han duplicado y el interes suscitado por sinnumero de artistas es muy alentador. Conservadores de museos han escogido fotografos de nuestras pdginas para exhibiciones. Incluso residences de caracter artistico se han materializado con portafolios publicados en Nueva Luz. Cuando nos lanzamos a producir esta revista p6r •>primera vez nos interesaba, entre otras cosas, presentar a nuestros fotografos ante un publico mas amplio, que nuestro trabajo alcanzara personas que no estaban al tanto de artistas “minoritarios. ” Nos esforzamos por desarrollar una cierta conciencia de una percepcion artistica que no era eurocentrista. Celebro aquellos editores, conservadores, directores de museos, galenas y coleccionistas que gozan de la libertad necesaria para corresponderle a los talentos que contienen nuestras pdginas. Celebro de todo corazon la fortaleza, determinacion e integridad de estos fotogra fos. A todos los lectores de Nueva Luz les deseo un ano nuevo de lucidez, saludplena y verdadero jubilo.
Charles Biasiny-Rivera Editor
Table of Copteplj; Editorial................................ Jerry Bemdt.......................... Pablo Delano........................ Marilyn Nance...................... Commentary by David Vestal Comentario..........................
---- page 1 . pages 2-11 pages 12-21 pages 22-31 . .. .page32 ■ ■ ■ -page 33
Cover photograph: Marilyn Nance, “Grandma Anna's Funeral"', June 1979, Silver Gelatin Print, 6" x 9"
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Jerry Berpdt
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Jerry Bemdt grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A selftaught photographer, his work has appeared in most of the major magazines in this country. In 1979 and again in 1985, he was awarded Massachusetts Artists Fellowships. He has also received two Massachusetts Arts and Human ities Mass Production Grants In 1987 his book “Missing Persons, the Homeless”, from which the following pic tures were taken, received a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship. He currently teaches photography at the University ofMassachusetts, Harbor Campus, in Boston, and is working on a major essay about Haiti and Haitian refugees. His photographs are in the collections of: The Museum ofModem Art, N. Y.; The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Addison Gallery ofAmerican Art, Andover, Mass., and the University of Warsaw, Poland.
“In general, Ifeel most contemporary photo-journalism is too academic, too “slick”, to selfinvolved. I want to work towards a more compassionate view of the world, to use photography for change and understanding, to be un afraid of letting the pictures speak for themselves, at the risk of being labeled old style, or not fresh. "
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Jerry Berpdt
Downtown Hartford, Connecticut, 1986, Silver Gelatin Print, 8" x 12"
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Jerry Berpdt
Long Island Shelter for the Homeless, Boston, 1986, Silver Gelatin Print, 8" x 12"
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Jerry Berpdt
Mother's Day, Long Island Shelter, Boston, 1986, 8V2 " x 12"
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Jerry Berpdt
Easter Sunday, Long Island Shelter, Boston, 1986, Silver Gelatin Print, 8" x 12"
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Jerry Berpdt
Long Island Shelter, Boston, 1986, Silver Gelatin Print, 8" x 12"
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Jerry Berpdt
Olga, raped and herface set on fire, Long Island Shelter, Boston, 1986, Silver Gelatin Print, 8‘A" x 12"
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Jerry Berpdt
7:00a.m., leaving the Long Island Shelter, Boston, 1986, Silver Gelatin Print, 1986, 8" x 12"
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Jerry Berpdt
Long Island Shelterfor the Homeless, Boston, 1986, Silver Gelatin Print, 63A" x 10"
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Jerry Berpdt
Frostbite, Long Island Shelter, Boston, 1986, Silver Gelatin Print, 12" x 8"
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Pablo Delarjo
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Pablo Delano was bom in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He graduatedfrom Bilingual High School and went on to at tend The New York Studio School in Paris where he studiedpainting with Wayne Thiebaud, Elaine de Koon ing and George Spaventa. Prom 1972 to 1976 he attended the Tyler School ofArt and graduated with a B.F. A. in painting. He then went to The Yale School ofArt from which he has an M.F.A. degree. Freelance photography began in the 80’s with work for the Metropolitan Opera Guild in New York. Solo and group exhibitions have followed at The Museo del Barrio and the Art Gallery at Hostos Community College; The Renwick Gallery, Washington, D.C.; The Wadsworth Atheneum, Hart ford, CT; The University of Puerto Rico; The Newark Museum; The FI Paso Museum of Art and the McAllen Museum of the University of Texas. Pablo Delano is a faculty member in the Art Department of Hostos Com munity College.
“Fast 149th Street cuts across the South Bronx from the Harlem River to the East River. Starting with the Bronx Terminal Market through the hub and past St. Ann's Parkway an incredible variety of businesses thrive along this commercial tborough-fare. ... In order to recognize the people who work on Fast 149th Street and make all these businesses function, Hostos Community College (CUNY), which is also located on Fast 149th Street, com missioned me to produce a series ofphotographs docu menting the working population and its immediate en virons, these photographs were exhibited at the Hostos Art Gallery in November, 1986 under the title, “On The Job Portraits ofFast 149th Street'.'
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Pablo Delapo
"Jerome Avenue Boxing Club�, 1986, Silver Gelatin Print, 9" x 13 lA "
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Pablo Delano
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“Hubcap City, East l49tb Street”, 1986, Silver Gelatin Print, 13‘A" x 9"
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Pablo Dclapo
"Centrifugal Casting, Tectonics Dental Laboratory, East 149th Street, � 1986, Silver Gelatin Print, 9" x 13l/* "
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Pablo Delapo
“Almacenes San Judas, Religious Articles Wholesale and Retail, Willis Avenue near 146th Street�, 1986, Silver Gelatin Print, 9" x 13l/2"
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Pablo Delarjo
“La Primadora-Bronx Gold and Diamond Exchange, East 149th Street”, 1986, Silver Gelatin Print, 9" x 13l/* "
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Pablo Delapo
“Truck Driver, Bronx Terminal Market", 1986, Silver Gelatin Print, 9" x 13 Pi "
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Pablo Delapo
“Manufacturer of Dentures and Bridgework, Tectonics Dental Laboratory, East 149th Street�, 1986, Silver Gelatin Print, 13V2 " x 91/*"
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Pablo Delapo
“Bakers Assistant, La Valencia Bakery, East 149th Street�, 1986, Silver Gelatin Print, 13 V " x 9"
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Pablo Delapo
“Undertakers Assistant, Funeraria La Paz, East 149th Street, 1986, Silver Gelatin Print, 13" x 9"
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Marilyn Napce
Marilyn Nance is aphotojoumalist based in New York Ci ty. A 1987 recipient ofa New York State Council on the Arts Individual Artists Grant, she has photographed the Black Indians of New Orleans, Appalachian folk musi cians, the funeral ofan Akan priest, an African village in South Carolina, and is currently organizing an exhibit of herphotographs on the religious andspiritual expressions ofAfrican Americans. She was the staffphotographerfor the North American Zone of 1Testae 77”, the African arts and culturalfestival held in Lagos, Nigeria. Nance’s work has been published in the Village Voice, Essence Maga zine, St. Louis Magazine, The City Sun, Womanews, Afterimage, and the Black Photographers Annual Vol umes III and IV. Marilyn Nance is the associate producer of “Voices of the Gods”, a film on the Akan and the Yoruba, two ancient African religions that are practiced today in the United States and served as Artist-inResidence at the Goddard Riverside Community Center in New York City under the New York Foundation for the Arts program that places practicing professional artists in educational, cultural, and community settings. She is a member of the Society for Photographic Education.
“These are photographs from Grandma Anna's funeral held in ]une of 1979 in Birmingham, Alabama. . . . When I took these photographs I knew that everyone I photographed was in my family. But, I didn't know who they were or how I was related. 1 wouldfigure that out. But, I do rememberfeeling sadfor all ofus that Grandma Anna had left behind. She had livedfor 93 years. We still had more to go. Our gathering was a testimony to ourper severance and continued struggle. Family gatherings are holy. ”
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Marilyr) Nai)ce
“Grandma Anna’s Funeral”, June 1979, Silver Gelatin Print, 6" x 9"
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Marilyn Napce
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“Grandma Anna’s Funeral”, June 1979, Silver Gelatin Print, 6" x 9"
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Marilyr) Napcc
“Grandma Anna’s Funeral”, June 1979, Silver Gelatin Print, 6" x 9"
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Marilyi) Napcc
“Grandma Anna's Funeral”, June 1979, Silver Gelatin Print, 6" x 9"
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Marilyp Napce
“Grandma Annas Funeral”, June 1979, Silver Gelatin Print, 6" x 9"
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Marilyn Napcc
“Grandma Anna’s Funeral”, June 1979, Silver Gelatin Print, 6" x 9"
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Marilyn Napce
“Grandma Annas Funeral�, June 1979, Silver Gelatin Print, 6" x 9"
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Marilyp Napce
“Grandma Annas Funeral", June 1979, Silver Gelatin Print, 6" x 9"
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Marilyp Napce
“Grandma Anna's Funeral”, June 1979, Silver Gelatin Print, 6" x 9"
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c o
c i) t ary
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he camera is a recording machine. What it records depends mainly on who takes it where, on what it's pointed at, and on just when the user presses the button. Different people, different places, and different times, and any combination of these, will naturally produce different pictures, and this is enriching and useful. While all of this is entirely self-evident, it needs saying be cause it's generally ignored. A few special individuals photograph things that need to be seen. Anyone who looks can see them, but not many people look, so they need to be shown. In the hands ofskilledpeople who understand what they record and care about it, the camera is the toolfor that job. Lewis Hine defined the job a long time ago: “There were two things I wanted to do. I wanted to show what had to be cor rected. I wanted to show what had to be appreciated. " Photographing what matters calls forjudgement—a working mixture of experience, intelligence, and a feeling for what's being photographed. This judgement must generally be acquired the hard way, and the three photographers in this issue ofNueva Luz have it because they've paid their dues. The work of jerry Bemdt, Pablo Delano and Marilyn Nance is straightforward, but that does not mean that any two of them work alike. Jerry Bemdt, who grew up in Milwaukee and lives in Massachusetts, is a self-taught photographer. He rejects most current photojournalism as academic, slick, and self-involved: “I want to work toward a more compassionate view of the world, to use photography for change and understanding, and to let the pictures speak for themselves. . . Bemdt is currently working on an essay about Haiti and Haitian refugees. His photographs of homeless people around Boston, from which this set was chosen, and his brief text, augmented by quotations from homeless people and some of theirfriends and enemies, were published in a 1986 catalogue, The Homeless: Missing Persons (Many Voices Press, P. 0. Box 71, Wollaston, Massachusetts 02170). Jerry Bemdt's photographs are those ofa witness concerned to change a bad situation — to help the people he portrays. Toward this end, he works in a photojoumalistic mode to dramatise the injustice and pain that these people suffer. He is a dedicated outsider whose aim is to stir the per son who sees his pictures into social action. Pablo Delano, whose photographs of working people on Bast 149th Street in the Bronx show much care for the dignity of the people in the pictures, is the son ofJack Delano, a distinguished photographer ofPuerto Rico and a veteran of the historic Barm Security Administration photo documentary project. It’s a reasonable guess that Pablo Delano learned about photography and life at home. His photographs are those of a friendly outsider who wants to show the viewer that the people on East 149th Street are men, women and children like them, living, playing and working with ordinary, understandable love and humor. He takes no sneak pictures: this photographer shows people as they want to be seen, in pictures that do not pretend to be unposed. Bollowing the documentary tradition of the BSA, Pablo Delano works with the consent and agreement of his subjects. Marilyn Nance, who lives in Brooklyn, New York, was in Alabama when her grandmother Anna died, and went to the funeral. The people in her pictures are members andfriends of her family. In a letter that came to Nueva Luz with her prints, she spoke of the pictures and the people in them but said nothing about herself. She was rather careful to refrain from speculative cultural anthropology. This seems characteristic. She is a modest and able person sure of her own worth and therefore unwor ried about it—and that's refreshing. “What a relief not to push or struggle or explain-just to do, " writes Nance. Her photographs are those of a deeply involved member of the family. Marilyn Nance is concern ed with clear communication, a sane attitude that contributes to her genuine artistry, which makes no pretenses and puts on no airs. She says she has been going to family funerals all her life and is at home with them. At this funeral, some of the relatives didn't know her; she introduced herselfby showing them family photographs that defined her relationships exactly. As her pictures show, these people respect death but accept it as a part oflife. In just that way, they accepted Marilyn's photographing: she is one of them. She understood what she was doing there: recording a serious, yet sociable, rite ofpassage. DAVID VESTAL
David Vestalpresently teaches in the Photography Department ofParsons School of Design. Formerly a photography editor for Popular Photography. Vestal is an author as well as a Guggenheim Fellow.
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conie plario
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a camera es una grabadora. Lo que graba depende mas que nada de quien lo hace y donde, de lo que se observa, y del instante preciso en que uno aprieta el boton. Gentes diversas, lugares diversos, momentos diversos, como tambien cualquier acoplamiento de los tres producird, como es natural, distintas imdgenes, cosa que nos parece util y valiosa. Pero a pesar de que esto es perfectamente obvio, nos vemos obligados a reiterarlo porque se sigue pasando por alto. Unos cuantos individuos peculiares suelen fotografiar coasas que nos hace falta que veamos. Cualquiera que este dotado de la mirada puede verlas, pero como la mayoria no andamos con los ojos abiertos se requiere que alguien las muestre. La cdmara es una herramienta ideal, mas aun si la manejan personas diestras que comprenden y que valoran lo que graban. Lewis Hine preciso la tarea hace mucho tiempo: “Yo lo que queiia hacer eran dos cosas. Queria mostrar lo que se tenia que corregir. Queria mostrar lo que se tenia que valorar. ” Fotografiar lo que es de importancia reclama juicio, buen juicio: una fusion en lo fundamental de experiencia, inteligencia, y una especie de empatia con lo captado. Juicio que se adquiere dando sus buenos tropezones. Los tres fotografos reunidos en este numero de Nueva luz ban sabido adquirirlo porque vienen desde muy lejos. Los trabajos de Jerry Bemdt, Pablo Delano y Marilyn Nance son, de cierta forma, transparentes, lo que no significa que esten cortados por la misma tijera ni mucho menos. Jerry Bemdt, quien se crio en Milwaukee y reside en Massachusetts, es un fotografo autodidacta. Rechaza la mayor parte delfotoperiodismo actual por parecerle academico, falsamente brillante y autopreocupado: “Quiero desarrollar una vision mas compasiva del mundo, utilizar la fotografia para el cambio y la comprension, y asi dejar que las fotos hablen por si solas. .. . ” Bemdt se encuentra preparando un ensayo sobre Haiti y los refugiados haitianos. Sus imdgenes de los desamparados en la ciudad de Boston (de las cuales publicamos una seleccion) y un texto suyo breve, ensanchado con citas de los desamparados y de algunos de sus amigos y enemigos, fueron publicados en 1986 en forma de catdlogo: The Homeless: Missing Persons (Many Voices Press, P.O. Box 71, Wollaston, MA 02170). Las fotografias de Jerry Bemdt acusan al testigo interesado por transformer situaciones inaceptables: por brindarle su apoyo a los retratados. De ahi su modo fotoperiodistico de acercarse a la vida, para dramatizar la injusticia y el dolor que lo confronta. Forestero solidario y decidido a conmover a su publico hacia la accion social. Pablo Delano, cuyas fotografias de personas trabajadoras que pueblan el este de la calle 149 del Bronx revelan un gran esmero por la dignidad del ser humano, es hijo de Jack Delano, distinguido fotografo de Puerto Rico e integrante del historico proyecto fotodocumental del Farm Security Ad ministration (FSA). Suponemos sin temor de equivocamos que Pablo Delano descubrio la fotografia y sus alrededores en su hogar. Las imdgenes de Delano son proprias de otro intimo forastero que insiste en que veamos a los habitantes de la 149 tal y como son: hombres, mujeres, ninos como nosotros, que viven, que juegan y trabajan nada menos que con amor y con humor. No se trata de sacar fotos a escondidas: este fotografo muestra los individuos como quieren ellos que los veamos, sin la ilusion de no haber posado para la cdmara. Afin a la tradicion documentalista del FSA, Delano trabaja con el consentimiento y apoyo de los sujetos retratados. Marilyn Nance vive en Brooklyn, New York, y se hallaba en Alabama cuando su abuela Anna murio. Nance asistio al entierro. Las personas que figuran aqui son parientes y amistades de su familia. En la carta que envio a Nueva Luz con su trabajo fotogrdfico hablaba de todo esto menos de si misma. Se notaba que no queria pecar por descuido de algun tipo de antropologia cultural especulativa. Esto parece ser una de sus claves. Nance es modesta, hdbil, muy segura de si y, por lo mismo, serena. Algo sin duda refrescante. “Que alivio el no tener que batirme con nadie ni imponerme ni darle explicaciones a nadie, simplemente hacer lo que tengo que hacer, ” nos dice en su carta. Fotografias de alguien intimamente ligada a su familia. A Marilyn Nance le interesa una comunicacion cristalina, actitude sensata que contribuye a su artisticidad genuina, carente de poses y vanidad. Senala que ha estado en cantidad de entierros familiares a traves de su vida y que para ella son algo natural. En el entierro particular de estas fotos, sin embargo, algunos de sus parientes no la reconocieron, de modo que ella se iba presentando con fotos precisamente de los parientes olvidadizos. Como podrdn apreciar, estos individuos acatan la muerte por entender que es un eslabon de la vida. Asimismo, accedieron a ser fotografiados por Marilyn porque ella forma parte de ellos. Nance comprendio su mision: grabar un rito de transito, terriblemente serio pero socializador. DAVID VESTAL
David Vestal es professor en el Departamento de Fotografia de Parsons School of Design. Anteriormente un redactor de fotografia por la revista Popular Photog raphy, Vestal es un autor asi como un Guggenheim Fellow.
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