Our Latina Lens Podcast: Recent Episodes
Monika Aldarondo-Lugo
Who is your favorite Latina or Latine photographer? Latina/e photographers have been contributing to the visual narrative of the United States for over a hundred years. These stories are rarely known. Our Latina Lens Podcast, hosted by Monika Aldarondo, elevates the work and stories of accomplished US-based Latina/e photographers across genres.
Each photographer will be featured in two episodes. The first episode will explore their creative process and journey with photography. In a second episode, photographers delve deep into their most significant images. They share the political, historical, and/or personal context of the creation of their images and why, out of their archive of thousands of photos, they chose these photographs as their most significant.
See images discussed at: https://ourlatinalens.com/podcasts/s1e13-nalani-hernandez-melo-image-tour-annie-gonzalez-mr-cartoon-la-curandera/
Nalani Hernandez-Melo an LA-based photographer, studio owner, gallery director and healer shares about significant images she has taken during her return to Los Angeles and entry to its photography community. She describes how she came to take what she considers one of her iconic images of Mexican-American actor Annie Gonzalez. She recounts the opportunity she had to photograph one of the artistic icons of her youth on an assignment for one of the biggest brands in LA. And she delves deep into her inner self to share an image from her self-portrait series Las Cuatro Direcciones and why it is a return to a path she started on as an art school student.
This is the last episode of season one of Our Latina Lens Podcast. Thank you for listening and join us for season two.
Annie Gonzalez https://www.instagram.com/annieggonzalez
Mr Cartoon https://www.mistercartoon.com/
Seen exhibit at Altura LA https://altura.la/exhibitions
Artist links
Photography Website | https://nalanihmelo.com/
Studio Website | https://www.storyandimagestudio.com/
Personal IG | https://www.instagram.com/nalanihmelo/
Studio IG | https://www.instagram.com/storyandimage/
Altura LA | https://www.instagram.com/altura.la/
Connect to Our Latina Lens Newsletter | https://bit.ly/ollnewsfloInstagram | https://instagram.com/ourlatinalens Ourlatinalens.com | https://ourlatinalens.com
Support OLL’s work: Buy Me a Cafecito ☕ https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ourlatinalens
Shop our Bookshop affiliate link with books by and about Latina Photographers | https://bookshop.org/shop/ourlatinalens
Want to sponsor episodes of Our Latina Lens?
Contact us at ourlatinalens@gmail.com
Credits Produced, edited and hosted by Mónika Aldarondo-Lugo logo by Tumpa Mistrymusic by Mattijs Muller
additonal music from Blue Dot Sessions
Nalani Hernandez-Melo is a multi-faceted artist, curator and healer. Her photography journey began at an arts high school and took a winding road through film, the early days of visual curation for social media, and editorial photography and videography. She shares how her love for her culture and community led her to found her own studio, Story and Image Studio, and to join the team as Gallery Director and Marketing Manager at Altura LA.
Links to Nalani's Work
Photography Website | https://nalanihmelo.com/
Studio Website | https://www.storyandimagestudio.com/
Personal IG | https://www.instagram.com/nalanihmelo/
Studio IG | https://www.instagram.com/storyandimage/
Altura LA | https://www.instagram.com/altura.la/
Connect to Our Latina Lens Newsletter | https://bit.ly/ollnewsfloInstagram | https://instagram.com/ourlatinalens Ourlatinalens.com | https://ourlatinalens.com
Support OLL’s work: Buy Me a Cafecito ☕ https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ourlatinalens
Shop our Bookshop affiliate link with books by and about Latina Photographers | https://bookshop.org/shop/ourlatinalens
Want to sponsor episodes of Our Latina Lens?
Contact us at ourlatinalens@gmail.com
Credits Produced, edited and hosted by Mónika Aldarondo-Lugo logo by Tumpa Mistrymusic by Mattijs Muller
In this Image Tour Josie Lepe, a photojournalist with 20+ years experience and a specialty in Sports Photography takes us behind the scenes of three of her most significant images. She opens with an image that came through preparation, luck, and her playing her part of the team, no matter what. Her historic image of how the 49ers won their last game at Candlestick Park rightly became one of the 100 memorable images of Candlestick Park. Then Josie takes us to her strength, hockey. First with an image from her first solo travel assignment to photograph the San Jose Sharks in Detroit, and then Tomáš Hertl’s iconic introduction to the NHL. You can view the images on our website at ourlatinalens.com/podcast Josie Lepe Website: https://www.josielepe.com/index
Josie’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/josielepe/
Josie’s work at the San Jose Mercury News: https://www.mercurynews.com/author/josie-lepe/
Support future journalists through Mosaic. Their focus is on reaching young Latinos, Asian, and Black youth to be inspired to be future journalists. https://www.mosaicjournalism.org
Support Our Latina Lens Patreon | Buy Me a Cafecito | Shop our Bookshop affiliate link with a list of books by and about Latina Photographers
Want to sponsor episodes of Our Latina Lens? Contact us at ourlatinalens@gmail.com
Ismelda “Josie” Lepe began as a lab tech at the San Jose Mercury News and went on to capture some of the iconic moments in San Francisco Bay Area Sports as a Sports Photographer. She discusses her journey into photojournalism, the challenges she faced as a woman in sports photojournalism, how her culture and background influenced how she approached her work and why she chose to pursue a Master’s in Fine Art photography after a twenty plus year career in photojournalism.
Josie Lepe Website: https://www.josielepe.com/index
Josie’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/josielepe/
Josie’s work at the San Jose Mercury News: https://www.mercurynews.com/author/josie-lepe/
Support future journalists through Mosaic. Their focus is on reaching young Latinos, Asian, and Black youth to be inspired to be future journalists. https://www.mosaicjournalism.org
Photogrpahers Josie mentions:
Richard Wisdom https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/04/16/richard-wisdom-longtime-mercury-news-photographer-dies-at-81/
Marcio Sanchez https://www.instagram.com/marciojsanchez/?hl=en
Karen Borchers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_T._Borchers
Our Latina Lens
https://ourlatinalens.com
Support Our Latina Lens Patreon | Buy Me a Cafecito | Shop our Bookshop affiliate link with a list of books by and about Latina Photographers |
Want to sponsor episodes of Our Latina Lens? Contact us at ourlatinalens@gmail.com
See Karina's Images here: https://ourlatinalens.com/podcasts/s1e9-karina-mora-image-tour/
Karina’s Tours to Mexico https://karinamora.com/mexico2023
Karina Mora Photography site https://karinamora.com/ IG: https://www.instagram.com/karinamora_prints/
Elevating Culturahttps://www.elevatinglacultura.com/ IG: https://www.instagram.com/elevatinglacultura/
All images shared with this episode were created by Karina Mora and used with permission.
Theme music was composed by Mattijas Muller. Logo designed by Tumpa Mistry Produced and hosted by Mónika Aldarondo-Lugo.
Our Latina Lens
Support Our Latina Lens Patreon | Buy Me a Cafecito | Shop our Bookshop affiliate link with a list of books by and about Latina Photographers
Want to sponsor episodes of Our Latina Lens? Contact us at ourlatinalens@gmail.com
Karina Mora shares how she built a successful wedding photography business and then pivoted to elevate her culture and communities in Chicago and Mexico through photography and entrepreneurship.
Karina Mora karinamora.com
IG: @karinamora_prints
Elevating La Cultura website
IG: @elevatinglacultura
Other links mentioned:
Veronica @goldenmeanboudoir
Jasmine Lopez @authenticadventureco
Our Latina Lens
ourlatinalens.com
Support Our Latina Lens
Patreon | Buy Me a Cafecito |
Shop our Bookshop affiliate link with a list of books by and about Latina Photographers
Want to sponsor episodes of Our Latina Lens?
Contact us at ourlatinalens@gmail.com
Cinthia Jaimes Image Tour S1E7
You can view the images for this episode at https://ourlatinalens.com/podcasts/s1e7-cinthia-jaimes-image-tour/
Portrait and boudoir photographer Cinthia Jaimes, known as Cin, shares three of her significant images. These images represent different milestones in Cinthia’s creative journey. The images include a path not taken and how she found genres that allowed her to live her values in a different way than she expected.
Image tours are an opportunity for photographers to share some of their most significant images and take you behind the scenes. This can include why or how they made the image, its personal significance and/or the social or political context of the image. She is the owner of Cin Photos Studio in the Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas, Texas.
Content Warning: we discuss the following in this episode: Gun violence, Racial Trauma
Website: https://www.cinphotos.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cinphotos/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@cinphotos
Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@cinphotos?lang=en
Collaborators for Día de los Muertos Campaign Cadena Collective https://www.instagram.com/cadenacollective Jordan Crenshaw https://www.instagram.com/jcrenshighmaintenance/ Rosey Pears https://www.instagram.com/roseypears
Our Latina Lens https:ourlatinalens.com
Support Our Latina Lens Patreon | Buy Me a Cafecito | Shop our Bookshop affiliate link with a list of books by and about Latina Photographers |
Want to sponsor episodes of Our Latina Lens? Contact us at ourlatinalens@gmail.com
Persephone and Aphrodite musical tracks were used from https://www.fiftysounds.com
Cinthia Jaimes is a Portrait and Boudoir photographer based in Dallas, Texas. In this conversation Cinthia discusses her journey to Boudoir, her creative process and the effect that photographing women from a perspective of empowerment and body positivity had on her life. She is frank about her own struggles with mental health and how her mom encouraged her to live her life Sin Miedo, changing the trajectory of her journey. We talk about why the photography education world needs more diverse voices and her many collaborations with her local community.
Content Warning: we discuss the following in this episode
Gun violence 4:39-6:30
Thoughts of Suicide 32:47-34:42
If you are struggling with thoughts of suicide, please contact the national Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988
Cinthia Jaimes
Website: https://www.cinphotos.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cinphotos/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@cinphotos
Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@cinphotos?lang=en
Latina Businesses & Photographers Cin loves
Cadena Collectivehttps://www.instagram.com/cadenacollective
Luz y Tierra Artisanal Cazuelita Candleshttps://www.instagram.com/luzytierra_
CocoAndré Chocolatierhttps://www.instagram.com/cocoandre_chocolatier
Pinolo Blue- Tortillas https://www.instagram.com/pinoleblue
Fresa Thrifthttps://www.instagram.com/fresa_thrift
Photographers
Stephanie Rodriguezhttps://www.instagram.com/stephsphotographytx
Ariana Rodriguezhttps://www.instagram.com/arianarodriguezstudio/
Jude https://www.instagram.com/divinebrujeria/
Our Latina Lens
https://ourlatinalens.com
Sign up for newsletter: https://bit.ly/ollnewsflo
Support Our Latina Lens
Patreon | Buy Me a Cafecito |
Shop our Bookshop affiliate link with a list of books by and about Latina Photographers |
Want to sponsor episodes of Our Latina Lens?
Contact us at info@ourlatinalens.com
Credits
Producer, editor and host: Monika Aldarondo-Lugo
Logo: Tumpa Mistry
Theme Song: Mattijs Muller
Editorial and Commercial Photographer Amanda López immerses us in the process and context of creating three of her most significant images. She tells us about photographing Mexican actress Kate del Castillo, who she used to watch as a child with her family. Her experience photographing her grandmother and what her grandmother meant to Amanda’s family story, her creative journey and her own personal growth. Finally, a gorgeous image of Mexican actress Yalitza Aparicio Martínez.
Our Image Tours an opportunity for photographers to share some of their most significant images and take you behind the scenes. This can include why or how they made the image, its personal significance, and/or the personal, social, or political context of the image. I hope you enjoy Amanda’s image tour as much as I did.
View Images for this episode at our website: https://ourlatinalens.com/podcast
Amanda López
Website https://www.amandalopezphoto.com/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/snapshotlopes/
Twitter https://mobile.twitter.com/snapshotlopes
Kate del Castillo cover on Amanda’s IG
https://www.instagram.com/p/BT-bhmKDkPi/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Article in LA Weeky: https://www.laweekly.com/actress-kate-del-castillo-was-royalty-in-mexico-then-she-crossed-paths-with-el-chapo/
Image of Yalitza Aparicio on Amanda’s IG
https://www.instagram.com/p/BuRRCcrBb3t/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Article on Yalitza Aparicio https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/roma-made-yalitza-aparicio-a-star-now-shes-giving-a-voice-to-her-indigenous-fans/2019/02/21/d003f3da-2ef8-11e9-813a-0ab2f17e305b_story.html
Editorial and Commercial photographer Amanda López shares how she finds joy in her craft, how her 2nd and 3rd generation Mexican-American upbringing influences her subject matter and the role that mentors and creative community play in her artistic and professional growth.
In this episode, photojournalist Mabel Jiménez takes us into the circumstances when she created two of her images. The first is an image documenting a farewell ceremony for a mural in the Mission District of San Francisco. A ceremony that she shares encompasses so much more than just a mural. In her second images, a “Pinky Kiss” is a gesture of connection across the U.S.-Mexico border that is both a sign of intimacy between separated loved ones and symbolic of thousands of interactions that have happened at Friendship Park. A park whose closure is imminent, ending the possibility of even this tiny amount of physical contact.
Image Tours are opportunities for a photographer to share some of their most significant images and take the listener behind the scenes of the images. This may include why or how they made the image, its personal significance, and/or the personal, social, or political context of the image.
Shownotes
View Images at our website: https://ourlatinalens.com/podcast
Mabel Jiménez
Website https://www.mabeljimenez.com/
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mabel-jimenez-0a926b16/
IG https://www.instagram.com/mabeljmnz/
Article by Mabel for Tecolote about the Mission District mural
https://eltecolote.org/content/en/community-bids-farewell-to-iconic-mural/
Links about Friendship Park and to efforts to re-open and complete the vision for Friendship Park
https://www.friendshippark.org/
https://www.buildthatpark.org/
Video about Friendship Park
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhdUD3gORWI&t=2s
Our Latina Lens
https:ourlatinalens.com
Sign up for newsletter: https://bit.ly/ollnewsflo
Support Our Latina Lens
Patreon | https://patreon.com/ourlatinalens
Buy Me a Cafecito | https://www.buymeacoffee.com/ourlatinalens
Shop our Bookshop affiliate link with a list of books by and about Latina Photographers | https://bookshop.org/shop/ourlatinalens
Want to sponsor episodes of Our Latina Lens?
Contact us at ourlatinalens [at] gmail.com
What happens when you push back against journalistic objectivity? What role do community papers play? How does connection to community affect how you can tell a story? Photographer, photo editor and CatchLight Mentor Mabel Jiménez and host Monika Aldarondo discuss these questions and much more. Mabel shares her experience photographing asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border, her art residency documenting the COVID response in San Francisco and her family’s reaction to her choosing photojournalism as a career.
Show notes Mabel Jiménez https://www.instagram.com/mabeljmnz
El Tecolotehttps://eltecolote.org/content/en/
https://www.instagram.com/eltecolotesf/
CatchLighthttps://www.catchlight.io/
https://www.instagram.com/catchlight.io/
San Francisco Arts Commission Covid Command Center Artist Residency (includes video presentation by Mabel)https://sfpl.org/events/2021/07/15/panel-artists-embedded-sf-covid-command-center
San Francisco Library History Center- Covid-19 Time Capsulehttps://sfpl.org/locations/main-library/sf-history-center/digital-collections/covid19-time-capsule
Josué Rivashttps://www.instagram.com/josue_foto/
_____
Our Latina Lens
Sign up for newsletter: https://bit.ly/ollnewsflo
Support Our Latina Lens
Patreon | Buy Me a Cafecito
Shop our Bookshop link
Want to sponsor episodes of Our Latina Lens?Contact us at ourlatinalens [at] gmail.com
In this episode, curator and author Elizabeth Ferrer discusses her research, book and advice for aspiring photographers and curators.
transcript can be found at ourlatinalens.com/podcast
Elizabethferrer.net
IG @evferrer
Get Latinx Photography in the United States: A Visual History
Info on Luis Carlos Bernal show curated by Elizabeth
In this episode:
How did Elizabeth come to be a curator specializing in Latinx photography in the United States?
What did she find out about Latinx photographers in the 19th century?
Who are some of the photographers she has been most excited and intrigued by?
What were the barriers to access that she saw that resulted in fewer women photographers throughout the history of the United States?
What shifts are needed and are happening to create a more inclusive American Art scene and historical record?
What is her advice from a curator’s lens for aspiring photographers, curators and art historians?
Photographers and links mentioned:
Epiphania "Fanny" de Guadalupe Vallejo
Laura Aguilar
Laura Aguilar Vincent Price Exhibition
Karen Miranda Rivadeneira
Maria Varela
80s
Isabel Castro
Kathy Vargas in San Antonio
Deliliah Montoya
Maria Magdelena de Campos
1990s
Christina Fernandez - LA (Maria’s great expedition)
Elsa Flores (70s Chicano history)
Perla de Leon (En Foco) 80s-90s Bronx Street Photography
Susana Leval, director of Museo del Barrio
F stop gallery
Aperture Latinx issue
aperture webinars
Inside the "Latinx" issue with Pilar Tompkins Rivas and Elizabeth Ferrer
"Latinx" Conversation Series: Genesis Báez, Joiri Minaya, and Steven Molina Contreras
The Narrative Arc of Latinx Photography
Aperture Conversations: Celebrating Thalía Gochez and Las Fotos Project
Latinx Art Forum
Veterana y Rucas, Guadalupe Rosales
Nuevorkinos
Laura Aquilar image- Three Eagles Flying
Delilah Montoya
Casta Paintings
Maria Martinez Cañas
Martine Gutierrez
Our Latina Lens
Sign up for newsletter | IG @ourlatinalens
Patreon | Buy Me a Cafecito
Want to sponsor episodes of Our Latina Lens?
Contact us at ourlatinalens [at] gmail.com
Who is your favorite Latina or Latine photographer? Latina/e photographers have been contributing to the visual narrative of the United States for over a hundred years. These stories are rarely known. Our Latina Lens Podcast, hosted by Monika Aldarondo, elevates the work and stories of accomplished US-based Latina/e photographers across genres.
Each photographer will be featured in two episodes. The first episode will explore their creative process and journey with photography. In a second episode, photographers delve deep into their most significant images. They share the political, historical, and/or personal context of the creation of their images and why, out of their archive of thousands of photos, they chose these photographs as their most significant.
One photographer, two podcast episodes, an infinitely curious host and creative journeys that are often ignored by traditional media and the art world.