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John Raymond Mireles

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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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The Neighbors Project in NYC is no more. My sadness in taking it down was consoled however by the outpouring of kind words and support from passers by. People told me about how much they enjoyed seeing the work every day. .
An older woman, speaking in a heavy Chinese accent, told me about how much she enjoyed the work and then said that I was a teacher. I corrected her by saying that “I’m only an artist.” She said “No, you teach us about the world.” Another man told me how he thought my work was more interesting than Christo’s.
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A woman in a wheelchair gushed about how she saw in the faces people from own hometown in Kentucky. Although we took the work down, the morning felt more like a celebration than a funeral. If nothing else it got me excited for the next one. 😃
#Neighborproject #neighborsportraits #publicart #streetphotography #newyorkcity #firststreetgreenartpark

I included this photo in the First Street Green installation because of how perfectly made up the subject is. To me, she represents this ideal of perfectly manicured beauty with nary a strand of hair out of place, impeccable makeup and perfectly accessorized.
That she appears so perfectly put together is no mistake. If you look closely, you’ll see a lavalier mic clipped to the V of her dress. This woman is a cohost for a morning TV program in Spokane, Washington. I was invited to the studio for a live interview but before it started I suggested that I could set up my studio in their studio and do a live portrait session.
The producer liked the idea so he gave me the thumbs up. During my segment, they asked me various questions about my journey across the country to all 50 states. At the tail end, I had one of the hosts stand in for a portrait. This was the result.
My suggestion was actually my sneaky way of getting the anchors to agree to a portrait. They’re usually busy so they wouldn’t take the time or be interested. I knew that if I made it part of the segment, I could get my portrait.
So there you have it ladies and gentlemen, one of my #neighborsportraits taken on live television. #neighborsproject #portrait #woman #anchorwoman #hasselblad #bluedress

I posted a selfie with this gentleman the day I shot it but I never posted the final result. I had spotted this young man from across the street and knew that I had to take his photo. He was walking to his citizenship swearing in ceremony.

I was shooting in downtown Phoenix Arizona at the time. It was right after Trump has made his comment about immigrants coming from “shit hole countries.” Brian is from Kenya and was wrapping up his undergraduate education with a dual major in mathematics and biology. The irony of Trump’s the prejudice and racism compared to the reality of the people we should be welcoming to the United States weighed heavily on me that day. #neighborsproject #neighborsportraits #red #redtuxedo #tuxedo #man #african #citizenship #hasselblad #portrait #streetportrait

This was one of the first #Neighborsportraits that I took outside of California. In 2015, I was traveling through #Ohio with the #culturunners crew as the traipsed across the country in an RV that I’d helped them to purchase the year before.
The itinerary was set by a Palestinian artist who wished to visit various cities in #America that included Palestine in their name. They’re sprinkled throughout the #Midwest so we ended driving long miles to get from one little town in Indiana to one on the other side of Ohio. As far as I know, the artist never created any work based on the concept (although I recently saw a piece of his work at #MOMA). Other than the camaraderie between us and some occasional photos that I took, the trip was a waste.
I wasn’t planning on shooting portraits but when we stopped in the town of East Palestine near the border of Ohio, I couldn’t help myself. Sitting outside a house next to our street side parking spot loitered a group of young men and a women drinking their afternoon beers. Seeing their rough looks and shirtless bodies, I knew they’d make for some good portraits. My traveling companions were a little incredulous when I walked right up to them to ask them to pose for my camera.
At the time, I was still working on the final style of portrait that would eventually come to define the #neighborsproject. Most of the other portraits from this session didn’t quite fit in with the others, but this one worked so it made it on the fence in #nyc. For my original installation in San Diego, I shot mostly tight headshots. Later I switched to more formal 3/4 body shots such as this one.
This woman bears a tattoo on the back of her arm which reads “weeze going chicken hunting.” At the time I had no idea what it meant. Later I looked up and found out that it’s a lyric from a song by insane clown posse. It means we are going hunting for rednecks. I guess that’s what I was doing that day. #portrait #lesbian #tattoo #beerdrinker #hasselblad #girlswithshavedheads

In April of 2017, my assistant Zach and I cast off from San Diego en route to crossing the US along its southern border. First we stopped in the lonely New Mexico towns of Deming and Lordsburg then we worked our way through Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, the Florida panhandle before we made it to a city I'd heard so much about but had never visited: Miami.

Once situated, we bee-lined it for bikini town USA aka South Beach. We settled in at one of the many beachside restaurants hawking sickly sweet cocktails in oversized brightly colored glasses. From our street-side table, we enjoyed the never ending parade of tanned bodies mixed with pink-skinned midwestern tourists all hoping to see and be seen.
Of course it made for a perfect setting for portraits, so the day after our day of sand, sun and ocean, we returned to South Beach and set up my studio just off the main street, in an alley where we weren't blocking traffic. After awhile, we moved our setup around the corner to be closer to the action.

Around that time, a bedazzled man drove by in an equally dazzling Lamorghini, the top down as he followed along the slow moving line of more mundane vehicles. Thinking quickly, I chased after him. I ran up to his car and quickly explained my project. With barely a second thought, he pulled out of the line of cars and into a commercial loading zone.
A supercar like that attracts attention and this man looked the part of somebody famous, so, as I began photographing him, a crowd quickly gathered. As I began taking my photos, I became aware of the onlookers around me doing the same. It was all rather new and surreal as typically passersby do their best to ignore me.

My subject was friendly and appreciative of my project. Turns out he's a rapper, of what renown I haven't a clue. Rap wasn't and isn't my thing. Nor is fame for that matter. My portrait sessions only last for a few minutes. This one was no different. When he left, so too did the crowd and back I returned to my anonymity. #neighborsportraits #southbeach #portraitphotography #portrait #neighborsproject #rapper #gold #bling #black #tattoo #hasselblad #cigar

After leaving Witchita, Kansas, I set off to the north into Nebraska as I worked my way to South Dakota. Since Kansas and Nebraska abut each other, I didn’t think the drive would be too long. The map may be small, but this country is not. After a long, tedious day driving through corn country on mostly back highways, I arrived in the late afternoon in North Platte, Nebraska, the midwestern sun raking it with long shadows.
As is often the case, I knew little about the town that I’d just pulled into - other than it was a convenient looking point on the map. North Platte‘s claim to fame is that it’s smack in the middle of the country. I quickly learned about the massive freight train rail yards but knew there was no chance of me gaining access to them on short notice.
I drove from one end of town to the other, eventually bumping into the railway tracks that serve as the towns reason to be. I turned to follow them and see what homes and businesses might lay alongside them. Eventually I spied a man standing out in front of what at first glance appeared to be a bar.
Upon pulling over my RV, I saw that it was an FOE clubhouse. FOE stands for fraternal order of the eagle, a private club which is mostly a bar with pool tables and, of course, people drinking themselves into a nice buzz. I got out of the RV and introduced myself to the gentleman and asked to take his photo and soon gained an invite into the members only bar.
There I did my best to make friends with the patrons by offering to take group photo of a gathered birthday party. The folks were friendly and welcomed me warmly. Once in their good graces, I explained my quest and asked if I could set up my little studio outside.
On receiving permission, I attempted to pluck the patrons from the inside and bring them outside to be photographed. Most quickly grew shy, but a few agreed. This woman came out with her friends. She had enjoyed a few drinks and wasn’t much in the mood to stand still as I generally insist upon for my portraits. Instead, she defiantly flexed her arm - and I snapped this frame. #neighborsproject #neighborsportraits #nebraska #portrait #muscle #hasselblad #woman #strength

In the summer of 2016, I was driving my RV along a highway outside of the rural town of Stowe, Vermont. As ambled along, I noticed a farmer perched atop a slow moving tractor and heading in the opposite direction to me. As I zipped past him, I caught just enough of a look at him to think “I wanna photograph that guy.” Unfortunately, the road was fairly narrow and lacked any turn outs for me to pull my oversized vehicle into and turnaround. I had to drive a bit before I could find a driveway able to accommodate my RV. After I finally made my u-turn, I sped up to catch the tractor man. I quickly found myself at the tail end of a long string of slow moving cars that were stacked up behind the plodding tractor. The line of backed up cars was so long that the tractor was lost from my view among the gently rolling landscape and curving road.
After a few miles of giving chase, I eventually realized that the tractor had left the road and was nowhere to be seen. Again I turned around and frantically peered up and down the driveways that led off from the highway into farms and picturesque properties. I thought I’d lost him until I caught site of what appeared to be his freshly parked tractor. As quickly as I could, I removed my ungainly RV from the highway and onto the long dirt driveway leading to the tractor.
Nervously, I pulled up and went looking for the driver amidst the complex of old barns and strewn-about farm gear. On finding him in a cow barn, I explained my quest and asked if I could take his portrait. He was fine with it so long as his boss gave the okay. The boss was a friendly, likable man, albeit a few years younger. He had no problem with me setting up shop on his property but he did have a request: he wanted me to photograph his prize cow. Though I’m not really in the farm animal photography business, I said “sure, bring her on!” I photographed the cow and the owner and another man, but the photo I was after was my man on the tractor. He’s a gentle soft spoken man and this is his portrait. #neighborsproject #neighborsportraits #stowevermont #stowe #vermont #farmer #portrait #plaidshirt #oldman #hasselblad #rural

Going internationale! This morning I’m both excited and humbled to have my Neighbors installation listed in The Guardian’s list of best public art for the summer. As with most artists, I generally toil away in relative anonymity and with little reward. To receive acknowledgement on this scale is gratifying and little bit of pinch-me-am-I-dreaming?

$Of all the portraits that appear in my Neighbors Project, this one is the oldest. I shot it back in 2013 during one of my visits to North Dakota to document the oil boom taking place in the Bakken oil fields. At the time, I wanted to mix my documentary work with theatrically lit, staged portraits. I had experimented with this lighting style and look for my editorial work but I’d never put it into practice on a wide scale and so far from home. It was also on this trip that I first began to inhabit gas stations and grill bars, campgrounds and roadsides with my camera. I became part hustler part hooker in my quest for subjects. This portrait came to be through hard work, luck and pluck. To gain access to an oil drilling site is nearly impossible: to get a camera onto a drill or frack site is harder than getting a bomb on an airplane. By shooting good work, getting to know the right people and taking advantage of the situation, I managed to photograph at several work sites around the town of Williston. I’d photographed at a couple of frack sites - locations where the well has already been drilled and now they’re fracturing the underground rock to release the oil - but hardly at a site where crews were actually drilling the four miles of pipe deep into the Earth. Finally, on one of my last days in the area, I managed to drive my RV into a working drill site. The massive platform towered over the trailers that housed men and their bosses offices. The workers - drillers, roustabouts and roughnecks - toil away for 12 hour stretches, either from 6 am to 6 pm or vice-versa. The work never stops at a drill site. This roughneck had just finished his 12 hour shift and was looking forward to sitting down to a hot shower, a meal and a TV show. His trailer sat just yards from the drilling operation. For two weeks at a stretch, this was both his live and work space. It was a warm evening with the sun shining brightly as I took this photograph. At first, this man evaded my camera but his coworkers brought him around and I got my photograph. #neighborsportraits #neighborsproject #bakken #bakkenoilfield #portraitphotography #oilfield #worker #dirty #tired$

It was a warm - almost hot - day in Kona, Hawaii when I walked into the UPS store in a strip mall not far from the ocean. Standing in line as I waited to ship my package of rented camera gear back to New York, the heat and some afternoon hunger conjured up visions of a tasty ice cream cone. As my mind played with idea of how perfect such a treat would be, out walked an employee from the store with an ice cream bar in hand. Sadly, it wasn’t for me; she ate it fairly quickly. Still, it gave me reason to share my ice cream fantasies with her.
Though she wore the usual nondescript uniform polo shirt of the chain, I was struck by the tattoos that ran down her arm and her friendly eyes. I mentioned my portrait project and asked if I could photograph her later. She agreed and, after a few texts back and forth, I arranged to meet her at her church the coming Sunday.
On arrival, I checked in with the pastor and then set up in the parking lot of the office park that housed the small congregation. I photographed a number of the church goers - who greeted me warmly and had me feeling right at home. Finally, Christina arrived with her family. Right away, I knew I had my portrait. Every detail about her was perfect. After photographing her, every portrait in Hawaii was extra in my mind.
A few days later, I set up my portable studio at the Pine Trees beach not far from Kona. As I stood at the edge of the road near the sand waiting to accost passers by, a woman in a passing pickup slowed to say hello. It was Christina! Turned out her extended family was set up not 20 feet from me. She introduced me to her family - who I photographed. They in turn welcomed us with freshly caught fish that they’d prepared. Her husband, a muscled man, shared with us stories of the native peoples from the island.
As the sun set over the ocean later that day, I felt truly fortunate and honored to have experienced first hand the friendliness and ohana spirit of Hawaii. That I came away with some no shortage of strong portraits didn’t hurt either. #neighborsportraits #neighborsproject #kona #hawaii #portrait #woman #tattoo #ink #inkedgirls #nativehawaiian #streetportrait