San Diego, Chicano Park Photos

April 24, 2016

To view the photos from the 2016 Chicano Park Festival, please click here: https://johnphoton.smugmug.com/Neighbors/Neighbors-Chicano-Park-San-Diego/

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Occasional updates from the front lines of the struggle to produce and display art.

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Installing #neighborsportraits in #Barriologan on this fence this Thursday! Come hang out and grab a @barriodogg just a couple feet away. Watch the prints get hung and ask me a few questions about the project. Can’t wait to see how this looks. I can’t wait to connect with my friends and family in a neighborhood that means so much to me. #neighbors #neighborsportraits #work #photographer #wip #installation #contemporaryart #portraiture #fence #photography #photographer #sandiego #sd #california #socal #community #barrio

Sunday was one of those days when I knew what I needed to accomplish but only saw the dimmest of paths towards accomplishing it. I was close to throwing in the towel. Before despair completely kicked in, I rolled into the parking lot of the Sunrise Apostolic Church where I was greeted by Omar and Ruben, two of the leaders there. I ended up having a great morning photographing the parishioners outside the church. Great to feel so welcomed.
The Neighbors Project will be coming to Surprise Arizona in August 2018. Shaping up to be a great exhibition. :-) #neighborsportraits #surpriseaz #arizona #portraits #bts

Drove into #phoenix #arizona yesterday to spend the weekend photographing portraits for Neighbors. I couldn’t ask for a prettier day. #photographer #photography #portraits #neighborsportraits #neighbors #johnmireles #art #artist #contemporary #palmtree #desert #nature #beautifulday #happy

Light and shadow in a slot canyon. #anzaborrego #desert #blackandwhite #texture #hasselbladx1d

A study in shadows, texture and light at Fonts Point in Anza Borrego. #anzaborrego #desert #landscape #blackandwhite #travel #hasselbladx1d

At least once a year, I try to escape to the Anza Borrego desert just over the mountains from San Diego. I love photographing the ocotillo plants. I feel like I'm taking a portrait of this spiny plant that's neither tree nor cactus. Coming from the wet and cold of New York made this sunny, hot day all the more arousing. #anzaborrego #ocotillo #fontspoint #desert #landscape #blackandwhite #hasselbladx1d #travel

Happening NOW at my San Diego workspace/gallery. Come say “hi!” 🎨 #sandiego #artunites #youarenotalone #chill #poetry #contemporary #barriologan #loganheights #artists #performance #houseofart

Stopped in at the AIPAD photo fair in New York last night. Met a gentleman who assisted one of the great photojournalists of all time - W. Eugene Smith. He said that Smith would work for three days straight, drink all the time and the pass out on his floor. Smith called him a terrible assistant but he couldn't have been that bad as the man stayed with him for several months in New York. We took a selfie with a portrait on that he took of Smith behind us. Smith gave him 100 or so prints while he was working on his Minamata series in Japan. They're on display at AIPAD. #newyork #aipadphoto #photography #newyork #weugenesmith

Central Park on a day where spring seems like it might actually be on its way. #newyork #centralpark #lightpost #trees #cityscape

Union Square Park in the rain. #aprilshowers #newyork #unionsquare #manhattan #blackandwhite #skyline

Here we are in April and it's another day of cold and snow - enough to make me dream of the warm summer weather ahead with trips to eat hot dogs at Coney Island on warm summer evenings. #coneyisland #hotdog #newyork #blackandwhite #streetphotography #hasselbladx1d #summer

While I understand this point of view, I find it to be uninteresting. To me, the "why" of art is most interesting. Pretty pictures are worth far less than a dime a dozen these days. It's the "why" of a photo that elevates it above the masses of pretty-but-vapid images that permeate our culture. This quote is on the wall at the Eggleston exhibition at the Met. Less than stellar in my opinion. Felt like his B grade work. #art #photography #williameggleston #metropolitanmuseumofart