OUR COMMON HUMANITY

GROUPS OF LIKE PEOPLE

Chicano Park Barrio Logan skate crew
San Diego, CA  ©  Jud Burgess 2016

6 months later Laurie and I are on the other side of the country in San Diego and I asked this young group of Latino skaters to sit for a portrait.  Surfing concrete under concrete.  

Portrait of ballers shooting hoops under I-10 overpasses

César Chávez day at Lincoln Park
El Paso, Texas, March 25, 2018   ©  Jud Burgess 2018

A group of Filipino nuns waiting to get into an art fair in Austin, Texas

©  Jud Burgess 2017

Portrait of Barrio Duranguito protectors.  

El Paso, Texas, September, 2017   ©  Jud Burgess 2017

SAL and CARA VIDA

Have you ever met somebody and within the hour you feel like you've known them for years?
That was the case when I was exploring solo and came upon a very interesting building and it's occupants.
Meet Sal and Cara Vida. I was invited into their lives and home.
Both in their 70s. Together for 45 years. Not married. They love New Orleans the way I love San Francisco. Sal is half Filipino and half Mexican. Sal has crazy dreads and speaks with a very mellow voice. He brags on Cara Vida and her art. He talks about the garage they bought decades ago and converted to a home. 
Cara Vida is an artist. She is a stand-up comedian. A spoken voice poet. She calls me by my first name almost immediately. She is a Buddhist with a wonderfully filthy mouth. Has a puff of shocking pink hair just to the right of her head. She is a fortune-teller.
They made me feel right at home.

Monumental Pistachio
Alamogordo, NM    © Jud Burgess, August, 2016

American Couple
Times Square, New York City, NY    © Jud Burgess, August 21, 2016

Map of the World
New York City, NY    © Jud Burgess, August 20, 2016

ST. ANTHONY’S LABOR DAY BAZAAR SERIES

Gorditas, Cascarones, Cerveza, Enchiladas, Paletas, Churros, Juegos, Gente, Sorpresas, Alegría, Cultura!

Latino culture in all it's glory over a three day period just up the block. 

I've been going to this bazaar since I was 7 years old. Happy faces everywhere I look, including my own. 

This relatively quiet historic Seminary becomes a riot of sound, laughter, music, color and smells every year and people from all over El Paso come to take part and help keep the tradition alive.

With I-phone in hand, I look for those moments that best reflect the variety of human interactions that take place at any given time.

Portrait of the spinning wheel woman
St. Anthony’s Seminary, El Paso, Texas    © Jud Burgess, September 4, 2016

Target practice
St. Anthony’s Seminary, El Paso, Texas    © Jud Burgess, September 4, 2016

Young couple
St. Anthony’s Seminary, El Paso, Texas    © Jud Burgess, September 4, 2016

Nun embroidering in the shade
St. Anthony’s Seminary, El Paso, Texas    © Jud Burgess, September 4, 2016

Girls just wanna have fun
St. Anthony’s Seminary, El Paso, Texas    © Jud Burgess, September 4, 2016

Snacks
St. Anthony’s Seminary, El Paso, Texas    © Jud Burgess, September 4, 2016

MEET GILBERT FLORES

I just met this 33-year old man on Texas Street. He was slowly hauling his cardboard and aluminum cans on his pushcart in his quest to earn income and accomplish small things with the money earned.

Small things like buying groceries, bus fare to go visit his daughter.

He tells me he is disabled and is usually in a wheelchair, but this routine is his therapy as it keeps him on his feet, while also his daily way of staying busy and scraping up whatever dollars he can make.

I asked him if we could make a deal—

“Let me take some photographs of you and I'll give you what's in my wallet.”

He obliged me and I had him stand in front of a white wall. I rattled off maybe 10 photos and then we resumed our conversation.

He mentioned that he really needed the money because he was going to visit his daughter after which he would go to see his younger brother who had just graduated from the Border Patrol Academy. Gilbert wasn't quite sure how that was going to happen.

Earlier in the morning, a woman saw him and walked up to him and handed him a dollar bill. He told me he was grateful to God for the way these things were happening to him today.

It may not sound like much, but to Gilbert they mean the world.

Next time you're driving down the street and see Gilbert or someone struggling to get through the day, pull over, say hello and slip him or her something to make the day go by a little easier.

Connect with the human family.

Gilbert Flores
Texas Street, El Paso, Texas.  September 29, 2016    © Jud Burgess

Tattooed wrists
Texas Street, El Paso, Texas.  September 29, 2016    © Jud Burgess

Gilbert Flores wearing a rosary lanyard
Texas Street, El Paso, Texas.  September 29, 2016    © Jud Burgess

From my photo series of people I met during my run for City Council District 2

Salvador and his 1957 Chevy. Salvador, 82 years old and living at his home in District 2 for over 50 years. He was out in his front yard making tea from some leaves of his thriving orange tree. Salvador is a lifelong voter. He gets a couple of offers for his classic every month, but he’s not ready to sell.

© Jud Burgess, March 2017

Dad with his tricked-out, chromed $2,000 lowrider bike and daughter with her $39.99 Walmart special enjoying a ride around the park.

Cesar Chavez Day at Lincoln Park
© Jud Burgess, Sunday, March 26, 2017

My name is James.  I’m a homeless man.
El Paso, Texas    © Jud Burgess, March 30, 2017

Lilia looking down.
Headstand, El Paso, Texas    © Jud Burgess, April 13, 2017

Climbing inflatable mountains
Grandview Park, El Paso, Texas    © Jud Burgess, April 23, 2017

Refresh
Grandview Park, El Paso, Texas    © Jud Burgess, April 22, 2017

She knows how to wear that dress
St. Anthony’s Labor Day Weekend Bazaar, El Paso, Texas    © Jud Burgess, September 2, 2017

LINCOLN PARK DAY CELEBRATION, El Paso, Texas

Sunday, September 24. 

A day where El Pasoans from all over the city and beyond meet under the painted columns holding up the freeway overpasses to celebrate Latino culture and heritage.

Lincoln Park is perhaps one of the most unique gathering places for Latinos in all America. 

A place where the stories of our heritage are painted for all to see and learn from. 

Parks, playgrounds, trains, car clubs, picnics, matachines, danza, folklorico, the drumbeat of a proud people.

A beautiful arm on a beautiful woman
Lincoln Park Day Celebration, El Paso, Texas    © Jud Burgess, September 24, 2017

Checking under the hood
Lincoln Park Day Celebration, El Paso, Texas    © Jud Burgess, September 24, 2017

Two children playing, one sulking
Lincoln Park Day Celebration, El Paso, Texas    © Jud Burgess, September 24, 2017

Lincoln Park blues
Lincoln Park Day Celebration, El Paso, Texas    © Jud Burgess, September 24, 2017

Colorful woman
Lincoln Park Day Celebration, El Paso, Texas    © Jud Burgess, September 24, 2017

Man and Demon (the pitbull’s name)
Lincoln Park Day Celebration, El Paso, Texas    © Jud Burgess, September 24, 2017

Barrio Duranguito vs. sports arena SERIES

One week in the life and death and life of El Paso’s First Ward.   September 11 - 16, 2017

I’ve been personally involved in this cause since the City first declared that a gargantuan “sports arena” illegally voted on during the 2012 Quality Of Life bond issue would be displacing resident and paving over El Paso’s oldest history, heritage, culture and legacy.

It is a battle between weak politicians and the wealthy downtown property owners and special interests who fund their campaigns against enlightened El Pasoans who understand the value of preserving our history and culture represented within this unique and singular neighborhood.

I’ve documented a dramatic week in the battle through my photography and a 14-minute mini-documentary that I produced including film, photographic images and interviews I conducted with well known activists Hector González of Lincoln Park Community Center and Dr. Self A. Chew, PhD.

September 11, 2017 – Resistance by the people

The City of El Paso is attempting to begin the demolition process of various historic buildings within Barrio Duranguito.  A legal battle waged between city leaders and historic preservationists and social activists protecting the neighborhood has been waged for several weeks.  After a day of legal trickery, the historic preservationists win an injunction that prohibits the City from proceeding with demolition.  

Dozens of Barrio Duranguito supporters, advocates and activists spend hours rallying on site where the City has placed chainlink and tractors at the ready for destruction as a psychological tactic to intimidate us.

The attempt falls short as people young and old banded to remove all the chainlink and call for removal of the tractors and 18-wheelers.

September 12, 2017 – Barrio Duranguito under assault

After the City issued a court order to stop demolition amid shouts of victory by the people, the slumlord owners of the building had a wrecking crew surreptitiously show up in the morning hours of Tuesday, September 12 and commence to violate the court order.  More than likely city leaders expected this would happen because of the pressure they put on the property owners to demolish their structures prior to closing the sale which would enrich them, much more than the fine levied for demolishing against court order.

The Bobcats punched major structural damage to supporting walls of each property in the effort to render them useless and effectively end the standoff between Barrio Duranguito and the City.

This day brought several dozen armed policemen, many in full riot gear to again intimidate neighborhood supporters and protectors.  While the city claimed they were there to protect the citizens, many of the officers threatened mass arrest.  Chainlink was once again setup around the perimeter to enclose all citizens there on behalf of the neighborhood.  People were allowed out but not in.  They would not even allow food to be brought to those who stayed.

September 13 - ?

Directly following the demolition assault, supporters and activists coordinated to take round the clock shifts on site to assure that wrecking crews didn’t show up again to assault the embattled historic buildings.  People have been supporting them by joining and bringing much needed supplies and sustenance.  There is a festive and brotherly atmosphere here at any time of the day or night, with people playing music, singing, dancing, Lotería, and building relationships under a common cause.