The Latinx Photography Project is a bilingual documentary film that explores how a creative practice like photography can succeed at cultivating leaders who are grounded in community cohesion. With photography as their medium, the participants in this project carve a path in a community that years ago was foreign to most immigrant farmworkers.
This film encourages the viewer to think about questions like:
How can libraries use art to challenge equalities?
How are public spaces and projects accessed by immigrants or other underrepresented groups?
Veronda Pitchford is the Assistant Director of the Califa Group, nonprofit library membership consortium representing 230 libraries in California committed to unleashing the impact of libraries. Veronda serves on the Library Advisory board at Point of View, a documentary series that airs on PBS. She has participated on many ALA Advisory Committees and Boards including United for Libraries and the Center for the Future of Libraries. She was named a Library Journal Mover and Shaker in 2005 and was awarded the 2018 American Library Association Cathleen Bourdon Service Award for her outstanding service and sustained leadership for her ebook work. She has a master’s degree in library and information science from North Carolina Central University, a historically black college in Durham, North Carolina. Veronda is one of the partners of poweroflibraries.org -a website committed to the power of libraries in ebook delivery.
Sara Jones was named the Nevada Library Association’s Librarian of the Year in
2012; served as Nevada’s American Library Association (ALA) Council Delegate
for four years; coordinated ALA National Library Legislative Day for Nevada for
12 years; served as the Nevada Library Association president; was an active
member of the Western Council of State Libraries serving as both vice president
and president; and served on the University of North Texas Department of
Library and Information Sciences Board of Advisors for over 10 years. She was
awarded the ALA Sullivan award for services to children in 2018. She is
currently a member of CALIFA, a nonprofit library membership consortium.
Alejandro Palacios, producer and director of the film, lived in West Marin for nearly ten years. Shortly after moving to the area, he learned of a group of farmworkers that were studying photography and exhibiting their work in the local gallery. The project was unique and provided a space to people that would not normally have an outlet to learn and exhibit their work in a gallery space.
Alejandro is an artist who works in responsive installations and interactive media design. He uses video, photography, installation, and mixed media to explore the complexity of human experiences such as immigration and identity.
Alejandro was born and raised in Mexico, his family moved throughout the country as he grew up, allowing him not just to experience but most importantly, to develop an appreciation for different cultures within Mexico. After living, working, and attending school in Tijuana, BC, Mexico, Palacios moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in November 2009. His work has been selected to participate in festivals and exhibitions in Canada, Germany, Ecuador, Mexico, Spain, and the USA.
