The print version: La Gente Común / Everyday People

It is finally in print. I made the book for two reasons. One so that I could feel as though the project had reached a conclusion (because the recovering journalist in me still needs to see things in print) and so that I might give a copy to the Comedor.

You’re welcome to buy one too ofcourse.

La Gente Común…

Comedor Los Pibes,…

By fotografí­a por Ca…

Book Preview

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La Gente Común – a working title?

Walter Valda, 36

I still use the WordPress hosting for this blog, so my options for slideshows are limited because I can not embed java script (unless I move my blog onto my own server and admin it, which I plan to do when the new website goes up). I had toyed with the idea of creating a movie using Final Cut Pro, but then realized I didn’t have the disc space to assemble 204 photos and iMovie makes a blurry mess out of photos, so I was stuck with one of the three options WordPress allows.

This is the one I chose.

With that explanation over, let me get to the project. This is about 9 months of work. Hanging out, talking, photographing, going to the comedor, going to marches, and protests. It has been an interesting 9 months. Of the overwhelming plethora of photos I have taken, I edited down to 204. About 90 of them are portraits and the others are working, protesting, etc…

I’ve posted the portraits before, but the plan is as you see here. To mix context with portraits that lack context. To see the environment and to see the people.

There is no title as of yet. Maybe something like La Gente Común. Not that they are common people, but everyday people. I am fascinated by people. Thoughts, lives, views of the world. Perhaps that is why I am currently torturing myself by living in a foreign country (or so it feels at times, but I say this with all the love of someone who would have it no other way).

But why care about gente común? That question was haunting me, the purpose, the ‘news’ catch, the heart jerker, the reason why you should look, but more personally, the reason why am I photographing these people?

I went back to one of my idols for inspiration:

It’s about reacting to what you see, hopefully without preconception. You can find pictures anywhere. It’s simply a matter of noticing things and organizing them. You just have to care about what’s around you and have a concern with humanity and the human comedy. ~Elliott Erwit

That quote answers both questions above. Why am I photographing these people and why should you look. First, I delight in noticing simple things, in discovering the world through different eyes, different views, political or otherwise. The subtle message of a dirty screen used to make T-shirts for the Ministry of Health, the scribbling of a name on a table in ink, the concentration of people at work, the laughter and reaction when standing in-front of a camera for a portrait, and more.

Shooting the portraits was particularly satisfying. I chose to give little direction. I sometimes waited a bit as someone stepped onto the white cloth, looked up at me and I watched as their body settled into a form, and identity, a person. A person with context of their lives embedded in their skin.

Look around long enough and there are plenty of things to notice.

Secondly, I think we could all benefit from a little more concern for ‘humanity and the human comedy.’ Whether they are like you, like us, like them, not like us, the same, different, politically opposite, rich like you, poor like you, on the same side, same team, same religion, foreign, alien, resident, or from “a small planet in the vicinity of Betelguise”.

But you get my point.

Maybe.

“It’s simply a matter of noticing things,” and it’s not the extraordinary we fail to notice.

So you’ve been warned. The slideshow has 204 images. It takes a while to view, but you can also look at the photos independently.

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Los Pibes – a portrait project, part 1 (ongoing)

Charlie a fanatic Boca Jrs. fan

Below are portraits of the people at Comedor Los Pibes, La Boca, Argentina. This is not everyone who works there and there are also a few children included and they either have parents that work there or attend one of the after-school studies.

The Comedor Los Pibes can best be described as a social organization. They began over 12 years ago with many other comedors (estimated @300 in the city at this time) as something akin to a soup kitchen. The main goal was to provide lunch and groceries to its members. Today the Comedor helps over 120 families in one of the poorest barrios in La Boca. Some families live off of nothing but a government plan of about $150 pesos (@50USD) per month. The Comedor is divided into several sections: the kitchen which makes the lunch and the other half that organizes and doles out groceries to members, the textile group which sews and does screen printing, administration which runs the Comedor and helps members with filing any government papers or obtaining a national identification card and organizing members for the protests the Comedor attends, and a public relations team.

I don’t particularly want to delve into the politics of the Comedor right now. I don’t believe I could do the conversation justice yet because I am still trying to formulate what I am told, with what I observe and what I think. I’ll bend a few brain cells to it yet.

I have, however, been thinking about what you should take away from seeing these images. I can spout about politics, poverty, humanity and any number of big idea themes, but I think what I keep going back to, why I keep looking at the images, is just to see the people. I may see something others do not as I have a history with many of these people. I’ve been hanging out, asking questions and observing around the Comedor for over 8 months now. You get to know people a little bit by then, even with language differences.

So what should you take away from this collection of images? Why look at them at all (which I certainly hope you take the time to do so)? Lets get back to humanity. Put aside the politics, put aside the cultural differences, stop and look at the people. Look at the clothing, the facial expressions, the eyes. A note: I would ask people over for the photo and I had set my portable studio up in the the Comedor, and then I would let them stand there for a minute or two. We might chat a bit or we might not. I wanted to give as little direction as possible. What you see is in obvious reaction to me. All engaged the camera. I am as much a part of each photo as my subject.

I welcome feedback and ideas. Another note, this one on technical issues: I shot both digital, Nikon D700 and 120mm film, Mamiya 645afd. The images you see come from the Nikon. It is much faster, easier and cost effective to get those online. I am working on having the negatives scanned, but my budget only allows so much at one time.

cheers,

Cate

ALL IMAGES ARE COPYRIGHT ©2008, 2009 Caitlin Margaret Kelly, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PLEASE DON’T STEAL IMAGES. ASK ME BECAUSE IF YOU’VE GOT A GOOD CASE I’M MOST LIKELY TO LET YOU USE THEM.

Charlie a fanatic Boca Jrs. fan

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