When the
Remarkable Meets the Remarkable
Bernard
Mendoza is a highly acclaimed and internationally recognized
reportage/documentary photographer. Yet all the accolades
cannot justly explain the sensitive response to moments
documented by this artist. It is only in experiencing
these works of art that the viewer gets the sense of moment,
time, life, personality, intimacy. Now, once again, the
works are again being exhibited. A show opening a
retrospective exhibition tour will open at The Gallery at
Round Top on May 19, 2007.
Mendoza
states, “What particularly appeals to me about photography
is its universal power as a language.”
As a
documentary photographer this brings significant
responsibilities with that fine line between the
documentarian and the propagandist. It is a constant
challenge to be open-minded, to record what I see and not
record what I want to see, to allow myself to be touched by
my subject and not the other way round.” And in this the
man is a master. He never seeks to overstate, only to
report the constant reality of life around him. His works
teeter on the edges of profound and sensitive, abstract and
real, but always artful and interesting.
“There is a
great quote from Rémy de Gourmont (1858 - 1915) that,
'Life is a series of sensations connected to states of
consciousness'.
“This is
what I tend to gravitate toward and want to capture, those
sensations and how we react to them. Not just pictures that
shock or are sensational, but rather Us in everyday
situations and how unique we are, even in the mundane.
Over the
years of making these photographic-documentaries I have had
the privilege of being invited into the lives and homes of
many people. Ordinary people who represent the majority in
this world, going about their lives the best way they know
how. These stories, that have ranged from Hassidic
communities in America to dance club hostesses; from dogs
and their owners to reclaiming the streets of Los Angeles
from drug dealers and gangs, constantly reminds me of Marcel
Proust’s words, ‘the real voyage of discovery lies not in
seeking new landscapes, but in seeing with new eyes’.
Much of
Mendoza’s work deals with social issues, such as his highly
acclaimed Portrait of a City Hospital, a photographic
essay on health care in America that is now part of the
permanent art collection for the City of Denver , and
anthropological subjects such as From Generation to
Generation a documentary on Hassidic communities in
America which is now held by the Museum of Fine Arts in
Houston. Vaya en Paz (Go in Peace) the story of a
community reclaiming its neighborhood from gangs and drug
dealers in East Los Angeles. The Projects are Dead, Long
Live the Projects an essay that documented the
demolition of the old gang ridden projects as the residents
move to newly built estates.
Occasionally his dry English humor comes out in his work and
is represented by some lighter essays including - Mutt ‘n
Man - a series of photographs made of dogs and their
owners. Benches - a look at the juxtaposition of
people sitting on bus benches and the adverts displayed.
El Prado - dance club hostesses at a little night club
in East Los Angeles.
Mendoza’s
work has been collected and exhibited in museums and
galleries around the world including, amongst others, The
National Portrait Gallery in London, The National Portrait
Gallery in Scotland, The Smithsonian Institute, The Royal
Photographic Society in the UK, The Museum of Fine Arts
Houston, The Denver Art Museum and Editions de la Tortue in
Paris.
His work
has been published in a variety of prestigious books
including the University of Michigan Quarterly Review, the
M.I.L.K. trilogy of books on Family, Love and Friendship,
The Art Directors Index to Photographers and the Denver
Confluence of the Arts.
|
Collected Works
from the
exhibition of photographic works by Bernard Mendoza at the
Gallery at Round Top, Round Top, Texas, opening May 19,
2007.
Twin Sisters - photos courtesy Round Top
Chamber of Commerce and The Gallery at Round Top
The Fixer - photos
courtesy Round Top Chamber of Commerce and The Gallery at
Round Top
Dance Club Hostesses -
photos courtesy Round Top Chamber of Commerce and The
Gallery at Round Top
Uncle Fred - photos
courtesy Round Top Chamber of Commerce and The Gallery at
Round Top
Dance Club Hostess -
photos courtesy Round Top Chamber of Commerce and The
Gallery at Round Top
Launderette Arkansas -
photos courtesy Round Top Chamber of Commerce and The
Gallery at Round Top |
