THE LIGHT CATCHERS SOCIETY – MARIANGEL CASTANEDA, ALFREDO GONZALES,
ASH SAN MIGUEL, KIMBERLY RUBIO, MARCOS MARTINEZ, MAYTE LARA (San Antonio, TX)
We Live Here
Curated by Francisco H. Cortés
FOTOSEPTIEMBRE USA 2021 Online Gallery

The Light Catchers Society was officially founded in October of 2016 by Francisco Cortes. In 2017, The Light Catchers Society and SA Heals began a collaboration to provide leadership workshops and guidance for students, while providing planning and sponsorship for annual end-of-year photography exhibits, in spaces such as: AP Art Labs, Centro de Artes, and Brick at Blue Star.

The Harvard Place/Eastlawn neighborhood where The Light Catchers reside, has been a community that has been historically under-resourced and shaped by policies that have had countless negative effects. Over the last five years, the Light Catchers Society has documented the positive and negative changes in the neighborhood, including: gentrification, mass incarceration, and the media portrayal of the community. The Light Catchers Society representation is significant in that elementary and middle school students have been able to develop a voice and represent the East Side in general. Through their bodies of photography work, poetry, panel discussions, and testimonials to the City Council, The Light Catchers Society has been able to shift the perspective of several officials, change the narrative of the East Side, as well as become a point of pride for many in their community.

We Live Here is an ongoing body of youth work that aims to change the negative narrative of the near East Side. While addressing social justice issues that directly affect themselves, Light Catcher artists interview and document a cohort of East Side community members that range from immigrants and law enforcement, to youth and leaders, to those with a difficult past. Through photography and storytelling, We Live Here gives insight into the complexity of a community that has been consistently represented as one-dimensional.

All Copyrights Light Catchers Society Photographers

Light Catchers Society
https://www.instagram.com/lightcatchers210/?hl=en