30 years documenting the American Ghetto -The work of Camilio Jose Vergara
Chilean born documentary photographer Camilio Jose Vergaras has become a key figure in documenting changes to the landscape and architecture of American ghettos. His work spans over three decades and Vergara won the acclaimed MacArthur Genius award in 2002, which helped fund his travels to many of Americas most economically deprived and segregated ghettos and communities.
Chilean born documentary photographer Camilio Jose Vergaras has become a key figure in documenting changes to the landscape and architecture of American ghettos. His work spans over three decades and Vergara won the acclaimed MacArthur Genius award in 2002, which helped fund his travels to many of Americas most economically deprived and segregated ghettos and communities.
Vergaras images capture the changes both sociologically and physically in urban environments. His work is concerned with deterioration, dysfunction and urban issues and his images also capture a sense of religion and American values. Vergara has an almost methodical approach to photographic documentation by researching his chosen subjects and systematically returning to photograph and document them over time.
Images from the series "American Ruins" particularly interested me. Here Vergara uses shots of architecture in various stages of decay and deterioration to show the plight of people living in the ghetto. His images speak of the desperation and the hopelessness of a generation of people struggling to live in areas of vast economic hardship. Vergaras approach to his image making - returning numerous times to reshoot the same location shows the true price of fulfilling the America dream. The "melting pot" of a true multicultural society doesn't exist here - these citizens feel rejected by the white American community and are forced to live on the outskirts in absolute poverty.
"Bricks, signs, trees and buildings spoke more eloquently than peoples faces" Vegara, CJ - http://invinciblecities.camden.rutgers.edu/intro.html
Vergaras dedication to recording the plight of thousands of civilians in Americas largest minority groups and his view that the landscape can speak strongly about the changes felt by the whole community,give his work a startling sense of truth. The personalities of the people living this life are not represented in any way by Vergara - to him, the context and environment is far more important in depicting the dysfunction and deterioration of some of Americas largest ghettos. His work continues to this day and only through truthful depiction can we begin to understand the hard,uncompromising life of thousands of America's "unwanted population"
Link to Athens article -
http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/results/getResults.jhtml?_DARGS=/hww/results/results_common.jhtml.35
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