Family, lowriders, urban farms and architecture in downtown.
These are a few of many parts of Santa Ana photographed by ten young Orange County residents and over 50 Santa Ana residents that offered a view of their local reality as part of a visual art exhibition on June 8.
The Santa Ana Visual Voices Photo Exhibition, hosted by Santa Ana Building Healthy Communities (SABHC) in collaboration with photographer and arts educator Lucas Gordon, featured photos taken on disposable cameras by local residents and by ten youth photographers that received training in photography through a youth photo class.
“Art and Culture is one of our organizing values, this project allowed community members to tell their own story through photography,” said Ruben Barreto, Communications Director with SABHC. “We are all storytellers, and photography is universal in capturing images that sometimes don’t need any explanation. Yet, there’s a story behind every photo. We integrated some themes around social justice, civic engagement, and community engagement.”
“These photographs also serve as a time capsule of what Santa Ana is now and what changes will happen in the future,” Barreto said. “This is more impactful as we consider displacement and gentrification changing communities over time.”
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An image taken by Celina Olivares, one youth participant in the Santa Ana Visual Voices Photo Exhibition. Credit: Courtesy of Lucas Gordon and Santa Ana Building Healthy Communities -
An image taken by Evan Moreno, one youth participant in the Santa Ana Visual Voices Photo Exhibition. Credit: Courtesy of Lucas Gordon and Santa Ana Building Healthy Communities -
An image taken by Heavynn Granados, one youth participant in the Santa Ana Visual Voices Photo Exhibition. Credit: Courtesy of Lucas Gordon and Santa Ana Building Healthy Communities -
An image taken by Jennifer Morales, one youth participant in the Santa Ana Visual Voices Photo Exhibition. Credit: Courtesy of Lucas Gordon and Santa Ana Building Healthy Communities -
An image taken by Oscar Hernandez, one youth participant in the Santa Ana Visual Voices Photo Exhibition. Credit: Courtesy of Lucas Gordon and Santa Ana Building Healthy Communities -
An image taken by Ariana Pacheco, one youth participant in the Santa Ana Visual Voices Photo Exhibition. Credit: Courtesy of Lucas Gordon and Santa Ana Building Healthy Communities -
An image taken by Camila Miguel, one youth participant in the Santa Ana Visual Voices Photo Exhibition. Credit: Courtesy of Lucas Gordon and Santa Ana Building Healthy Communities -
An image taken by Jenny Hernandez, one youth participant in the Santa Ana Visual Voices Photo Exhibition. Credit: Courtesy of Lucas Gordon and Santa Ana Building Healthy Communities -
An image taken by Maylene Diaz, one youth participant in the Santa Ana Visual Voices Photo Exhibition. Credit: Courtesy of Lucas Gordon and Santa Ana Building Healthy Communities -
An image taken by Nevyn Lee, one youth participant in the Santa Ana Visual Voices Photo Exhibition. Credit: Courtesy of Lucas Gordon and Santa Ana Building Healthy Communities
The project and exhibition were supported through the California Creative Corps Artist Grant, funded in part by the California Arts Council.
“The project has given an opportunity for people to connect with their community in a really unique way because it gave them photography and allowed them to document their stories in a way that often they don’t get to do,” said Gordon.
“It’s really unique to be able to use photography, because it’s such an expensive medium,” he added.
Images from the exhibition will be submitted to the Santa Ana Library Archive to save for future reference.
Camila Miguel, 13, focused on Santa Ana’s architecture in her photographs.
“I felt like the cultural differences that the architecture has really has an impact on what Santa Ana is today, and how every building has a different style, but it just makes sense in a way,” Miguel said. “They all blend together.”
Other photographers focused on downtown.
“I focused on downtown Santa Ana primarily, because I like the vibe there and I feel so at home there,” said Jennifer Morales, 23. “Even though I’m from Fullerton, I feel more at home here. I just like the atmosphere.”
“Seeing their art was very inspiring to me because it highlights their lives as residents of Santa Ana,” said Morales of her nine peers that participated in the youth photo class alongside her.
Some chose to capture their surroundings at home.
“I spend most of my time at home, and lived in the same house growing up,” said Celina Olivares, 25, who is a born-and-raised Santa Ana resident. “My grandparents bought it when they migrated here from Mexico, and they’ve had it since.”
“Being creative didn’t feel like an opportunity to me, because I felt like if I wasn’t good at photography, that I’m too old to try and pursue it, and too old to invest in a camera and learn how to use it,” Olivares said.
“I feel like this program made it easier for me to see that I have the ability and that so much is within my reach.”
The youth photographers participated in an 8-week photography class, during which time they received a free Canon Rebel to practice with and keep after the program ended.
“It was a fun experience, I mean it gave me somewhere to be every Saturday, and usually its places I wouldn’t have gone to on my own, like downtown Santa Ana, the farm opportunity and it’s just let me be more creative,” said Oscar Hernandez, 16, of the youth photography class. “It’s given me an outlet to kind of, get those creative juices flowing and not only was it independent, but I also had nine other people to have that experience with, so it was pretty fun overall.”
“Lucas was very detailed with teaching us how to work the camera, how to get the shot that we prefer, and how to connect to our community through photography, whether it be Santa Ana or other cities that we live in,” said Heavynn Granados, 19.
“I liked that every class, everything was different. It pushed me outside of my comfort zone, and now I feel like I have more freedom to take the pictures of everything I want to now,” said Miguel.
Erika Taylor is a Voice of OC Tracy Wood Reporting Fellow and photojournalist. You can find her on Instagram @camerakeepsrolling or email at etaylor@voiceofoc.org
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