Hispanic culture in Dallas, Texas has always had a strong and historical influence on the city’s overall character and culture.
For this series, I wanted to document Hispanic artifacts such as symbols, textures, styles, signs, and scenes found in Dallas. Specifically, the artifacts that reminded me of what I saw while living in Mexico. Generally, it seems that White people in Dallas act or speak as if Hispanic culture is a foreign culture. Instead, they should recognize it as an essential part of Dallas culture. For this series I wanted the viewer, primarily White viewers, to think they are looking at photos of a foreign country. Perhaps Mexico or some other Latin American country that comes to their mind.
I intentionally isolated people and elements of Hispanic culture in the photos to provoke those thoughts. I then wanted to reveal the truth that these photos are of their local culture here in Dallas. If you look closely though, you can see the presence of American culture in them also. Like if you look closely at American culture, you can see the presence of Hispanic culture.
I shot this series on black and white film with my Nikon FM2 and developed them myself. This is my first time creating a series of photographs on film. I immensely enjoyed it and also found it to be a frustrating experience. On a couple of occasions, I accidentally ruined rolls of film. I also shot an entire roll film while the film wasn’t actually advancing. I realized it after I “shot” 36 photos. Despite the frustrating experiences, the successful ones were extremely exciting and fun.
