15

It wasn’t long after I moved here from Chicago that I started noticing young Latinas exiting churches wearing what appeared to be wedding gowns. Gradually I learned more about the tradition of the quinceanera, the Mexican coming-of-age celebration for 15-year-old girls. The three photographed here represent the first part of an ongoing project prompted by my fascination with ceremonies and customs. I’m interested in people and places with a connection to the past that I can explore visually.

Last year I put word out at the Animo Inglewood Charter High School that I was looking for quinceaneras to photograph for free. My first three volunteers determined that it was worth the risk of hiring an unknown in order to avoid paying the customary $1,000 to $2,000 for a photographer. I chose to begin with Inglewood because I like the sense of community there, as well as the intermittent introduction of large airplanes into my compositions as they make their way to and from LAX.

From preparation to ceremony to reception, a quinceanera is very like a wedding without a groom. There is the full formal gown, in white or pink; the tossing not of a garter but of a doll, the last plaything of girlhood; the father-daughter dance; the cake. What distinguishes each day as unique are the choices the families make to show what is important to them. For instance, Valerie Corral is a singer, and placed a great deal of emphasis on the choreographed performance by la quinceanera and her court. Rocio Gamez and her closest friends took a side trip to Chuck E. Cheese’s after the traditional Mass before heading home for the big party. Bilma Ramirez’s family went to a photo studio specializing in quinceanera portraits. It is the differences that make otherwise formalized ceremonies interesting to photograph.

The beginning of this project coincided with a need to increase my level of comfort with the technically sophisticated features of a Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II. I am a traditionalist. Most of my projects are in black and white because of its ability to create a sense of ambiguity as to when an image was actually taken. This helps convey what I think is important about traditions and their connection to the past. But whereas my self-generated projects allow the freedom for experimentation, my assignment work increasingly requires digital results. I made the decision to explore the subject of the quinceanera digitally, so I could expand my technical knowledge and comprehension along the way.