Truth with a Camera
Josh Melter in Guadalajara
Not content to simply conduct his research on documenting immigration, American Fulbright scholar, Josh Melter, fully threw himself into his new community in Guadalajara. Josh initiated a project to improve the lives of marginalized groups by bringing dignity through photography to urban, migrant, and indigenous Mexicans. In order to “bring us closer to what is around us and to what we see,” he first developed this program by distributing cameras to children who live on the street, teaching them how they could document their lives and their surroundings and creating a greater awareness of this art form.
The children received distributed cameras (which were donated by Truth with a Camera – a US based NGO) and, after an introduction to the techniques of photography, they set out to document their surroundings. Josh’s work was intended to counter the typical “kitsch” photography one sees of street-life and to open our eyes to the realities of urban indigenous lifestyles. The series of photographs taken by children from the streets of Guadalajara will be displayed at the Museo Regional de Guadalajara, with an opening reception on June 24, 2009 at 8 pm.
Josh also taught a course to students in the School of Fine Arts, Architecture and Design of the University of Guadalajara. The university students mounted an exhibition of their work at the University of Guadalajara Art Museum. In testimonies, they stated that their perspectives on photography changed after experiencing the course.
Josh Meltzer is a photojournalist, a graduate of Carleton College, and a recipient of the 2006 Photojournalist of the Year award from the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA). He has been in Guadalajara on a Fulbright scholarship for the 2008-2009 academic year. For more information on Fulbrights in Mexico, please visit the Fulbright Commission site: www.comexus.org.mx and to see more of Josh’s work see his site at: http://www.joshmeltzer.com
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