My wonderful talented friend here in Ajijic, Kristina Morgan has some of the most talented, beautiful amazing children I have ever met. Her daughter Maya travels to Guadalajara every Saturday to translate for Alan and to learn about photography. I cannot wait to see the exhibition here in town this weekend.
“The photographs are stunning, no-one believes they were taken by kids,” says proud Lake Chapala resident Allan MacGregor. “There’s a strange innocence and street savvy that comes through. They see the world from a different angle. They’ve been on the streets for years.”
Many of the children are from the indigenous Otomi group and the photos selected for exhibition in Ajijic are taken from a trip they made with their families back to their hometown in the state of Queretaro for the annual fiesta.
A photo exhibition with a difference is being held at the Efren Gonzalez Art Gallery in Ajijic starting from March 5.
Says photographer Juan Jose Santos: “In the evening we went to the rides at the fair. I went with Pollo to tour around that night and we rode this ride. I took the shot for the memory and because of the colors.”
Since he moved down to Lake Chapala just over a year ago, MacGregor has traveled on the bus to Guadalajara every Saturday to give photography classes at Codeni (a children’s rights collective) to children aged from to 10 and 15. But these aren’t normal photography classes.
The Codeni center is like an after-school center that approximately 150 children, who mainly work on the streets, attend twice a week for psychological, educational and general relief from their economically and socially challenged lives.
Inspired by Josh Meltzer, a Fulbright scholar who gave kids a voice through his “Listen to my Pictures” program, MacGregor decided to carry on teaching the children how to become photographers after Meltzer’s scholarship ran out.
“It gives them discipline and they can begin to appreciate art and become consumers of culture,” says Maria Zuñiga of Codeni, who worked for years in New York in an immigrant outreach center.
“I saw a New York Times article entitled ‘Truth with a Camera,’” explains MacGregor. “Then I got in contact with Josh and he put me in contact with Codeni.”
The results of the meeting between middle-class, Boston-area native MacGregor and the working-class kids has spawned quite remarkable results.
Leslie Marquez, who lives in a small apartment near downtown Guadalajara with her mom, stepfather and three half-siblings, takes a photograph in a local market. She often helps her parents sell in the streets and takes care of her two younger siblings.
The colors are vibrant and the photos document Mexican internal immigration from the country to city that is rarely reported on. While the photos can be best described as stark human reality, seeing them from the children’s point of view gives them an added dimension. For example, don’t expect to see the standard family photo shot with mom, dad, sister and brother all with accompanying false smiles that adorn many households.
“I’ve become totally engrossed with the whole thing,” admits MacGregor.
A civil rights’ activist back in the 1960s, MacGregor says the work Codeni does is amazing: “One of the most impressive programs I’ve ever seen.”
MacGregor brings his fellow Rotarians to Guadalajara to show them around the Codeni facilities.
“They are always stunned at how polite and outgoing the kids are,” says MacGregor. “They can never tell they’re street kids.”
While back in the United States, MacGregor managed to raise 600 dollars from Rotarians from the Boston area to ship down more cameras for the children. He’s even brought Codeni staff and children to meet Rotarians in Ajijic, where they sold two photographs. Afterwards, MacGregor took them to Efren Gonzalez’s gallery and the idea to hold an exhibition aimed at the expatriate community took hold.
“It gives me a good feeling in my old age,” says MacGregor. “It’s been an amazing eye-opener for me.”
The exhibition opening is on Saturday, March 5 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Some of the young lensmiths will be in attendance at the Efren Gonzalez Gallery (Marco Castellanos 7, Ajijic).
Other exhibitions of the kids’ work is on display at the Chop café in Guadalajara (Avenida Mexico 2328) and at Las Cabañas del Capitan in Guayabitos. All the photos are for sale for 1,000 pesos. The money is split between Codeni and the child who took the photograph. According to Zuñiga, it helps them learn to value their work and how to manage money.
Other exhibitions of the kids’ work is on display at the Chop café in Guadalajara (Avenida Mexico 2328) and at Las Cabañas del Capitan in Guayabitos. All the photos are for sale for 1,000 pesos. The money is split between Codeni and the child who took the photograph. According to Zuñiga, it helps them learn to value their work and how to manage money.
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