Posted on Sun, Mar. 06, 2005
Nick Wilson
The Tribune
EACH YEAR MARIA CAMPOVERDE - an 18-year-old senior at Paso Robles High -- goes back to visit family at her parents' native village of San Juan Nuevo Parangaricutiro, Mexico.
She enjoys her trips, citing "more liberty, more parties, more discos, more tradition." The Michoacan village is also home to an ancient culture handed down from the indigenous P'urhepecha Indians.
Everyone seems to know each other in the tight-knit community, one that is very familiar to Campoverde. But when the teen returned this winter, she gained a new perspective -- one gleaned from behind the lens of a camera.
"I learned how to take pictures and see things in a different way," said Campoverde. "I didn't really know how to take pictures before this project. I learned a lot about what to look for."
A group of 12 teens and young adults with ties to San Juan are back after shooting about 6,000 black-and-white photographs from their families' native village.
The photographers -- who include teens and two adults in their 20s -- are among an estimated 100 to 150 families from the village who have immigrated to the North County.
The group -- led by Pedro Arroyo -- received a $30,000 grant from the California Council for the Humanities, one of five awarded statewide, for the photojournalism project. The project will open April 23 at the Oak Park Recreation Center in Paso Robles from 4 to 8 p.m. and then travel to other locations around the county, including Cal Poly.
The group spent two weeks in Mexico capturing intimate portraits of family members, churches and cultural events. From the photos, the group will decide on 40 images for the show, called "With Our Eyes/Con Nuestros Propios Ojos." Photos from Mexico will be paired with ones shot locally of Mexican-American life.
"The pictures they took are amazing," said Arroyo, who joined the group on the two-week trip during school winter break. "I had hoped they would capture certain aspects of life there, but I didn't tell them what to shoot. They got images I never imagined they would."
The photos include cooks peering over steaming tamales, wedding processions down the main street, and the landmark church, a replica of one destroyed in a 1943 volcano that buried the old town. The new town was built 18 miles away.
Participants said going back to the village is like stepping into another world. Weeklong gatherings and cultural events are often tied to the religious calendar. Traditions include men delivering candy to women before dances and weekly attendance at church that is strongly encouraged.
"I took pictures of things I knew, like the schools and the girls that take care of the church," said Mariano Aguilar, 14. "Everything is so different there compared to here."
Being able to fit in immediately in the community helped produce strong images, said project photography director Steve Miller -- who taught the group how to use cameras before the trip.
"It was easy for them to have access down there because everyone knows them," Miller said. "There was one girl who shot in the middle of a wedding procession and everybody looks completely natural in the photo. There is no expression of 'What is this person doing?' "
Between now and April, the project leaders and photographers will decide on which photos to include. They will meet weekly to examine slides and discuss lessons from the trip.
Campoverde said her parents encouraged her to participate because "it was a chance to learn something new." She said her mother, a restaurant employee, and her father, a construction worker, came to the United States for a better life.
"They say they want me to have a good job," she said. "So I don't have to work so hard like them."
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