Nature:Double Exposed

Volume IIBoyle Heights Meets The San Gabriel Mountains

c 2012 Las Fotos Project

Nature:Double Exposed

Volume IIBoyle Heights Meets The San Gabriel Mountains

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Liz Rojas was selected to participate in the first San Gabriel Mountains Forever Leadership Academy. An empowerment and volunteer training program, Liz learned about civic engagement, community organizing and how to protect, through legislation and stewardship, Los Angeles’ remaining wilderness, the San Gabriel Mountains. The Leadership Academy funds each student to organize and execute a community project that is relevant to her or his community as well as highlights the urgency to protect the San Gabriel Mountains and rivers. For her project, Rojas created this book, Nature: Double Exposed.

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Over the summer of 2012, Las Fotos Project student photographer, Lizbeth Rojas conducted a series of workshops with youth from Girls Today Women Tomorrow in Boyle Heights, CA. The workshops focused on reconnecting with nature and exploring their imaginations and creativity through the medium of photography.

Each student received an analog camera and one roll of 35mm film, as well as instruction and guidance on how to create photographs using a technique known as double exposure, in which film is exposed through the camera twice, creating unexpected juxtapositions and layered effects. The students photographed the natural world during a hike through the San Gabriel Mountains, then reloaded the film and took the cameras home to document their friends, fam-ily, and community members. The resulting images depict loved ones intertwined with flow-ers, trees, and other natural forms. Students then used their double exposed photographs as inspiration during a Las Fotos Project Creative Writing workshop and created haikus, acrostic poems, and imaginative titles for each of their favorite images. Nature: Double Exposed is a culmination of the girls’ photographs and self-expressive words.

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Alma, age 18I, Almanet Romero, was born on April 29, 1994 at the most beautiful place, Montebello, CA. I have always loved taking pictures that show different expressions from sad, to happy, to excited or even scared. It is memories you could hold and take it anywhere from a wallet to the wall of your house. Where you could reflect on your journey and see that you are not alone even if you do not have them in person, because they would always stay in a photo and your heart to keep moving your forward. Therefore taking many pictures of your journey would show you the beauty of life.

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Ana, age 17Ana is seventeen years old. She recently graduated from James A. Garfield High School. Ana will be attending Cal State LA in the fall and will be majoring in criminal justice. Ana has been involved with the program Girls Today Women Tomorrow (GTWT) since the second semester of her junior year and wants to continue being involved with the program in college. She was introduced to Las Fotos Project through GTWT.

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Angelica, age 17Hello, I am Angelica Serrano, commonly known as Angie. I am a senior at Roosevelt High - ESP. I enjoy taking pictures of things that capture my attention. I love taking long walks in the park because it helps me think and appreciate what I have. I believe we should love, appreciate, and take care of our surroundings. We are simply borrowing our lives as well as earth. Since we are borrowing valuable things we should return them as they were given. I enjoy playing golf when I’m bored as well as reading and listening to music. I like to sing and embrace my culture by doing Aztec Dance. I am a friendly, charismatic, and cheerful person. I like being involved in my community and my goal is to exceed a higher education in order to come back to my community offering my help to those in need.

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Claire, age 15My name is Claire Isabel Cruz and I am a 15-year-old sophomore at San Gabriel Mission High School. My favorite things to do are exercise, read, learn, spend time with friends, and watch movies. I also love being able to see my Dad and hang out with him. I plan to go to college at Harvard University and major in medicine, even though it will be very challenging. Anyways, I really enjoyed taking these pictures with Las Fotos Project and I hope that you like them and enjoy them too. :)

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Cristina, age 16Although I don’t remember the day, I was born on September 3. From that day on I have developed a series of hobbies. To start of I love playing sports like basketball and softball. I also like to do nails and be in an Aztec dance group. But besides that some other things I like are cartoons like TMNT which I enjoy watching with my younger brother.

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Leslie, age 14My name is Leslie Badillo. I was born in April 11, 1998 at White Memorial Medical Center. I am currently 14 years old. Before I was born my family and I moved to Bell Gardens. At age 4 my family and I moved to San Fernando Valley. I live there for 5 years. When I was 9 we moved back to Boyle Heights. I went to Langdon Avenue School from kindergarten – 4th grade. I finished 4th – 6th grade in Second St. School. I culminated in 2010 from Second St. I did 7th and 8th grade in Hollenbeck Middle School. I culminated this year from middle school (woo class of 2012!). I can’t wait ‘til summer ends and I go to high school. I’m currently going to go to Mendez Learning Center. My favorite colors are turquoise, black, green, pink, and grey. I would look forward to graduate from high school in 4 more years. I plan to go to college/university. I always wanted to go to USC or ELAC. Maybe I can start at ELAC and then transfer to USC. In the future I want to become a veterinarian to cure, save, help, and protect animals.

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Lizbeth, age 17I have many interests in school such as math and science, however art is something that I didn’t quite grow interested in until now. This fall I will be attending Loyola Marymount University as a freshman and I will study Engineering. All my life I have worked my way through school in order to achieve my goal of attending a private university. My family is proud of me for being the first in our family to go to college and break the traditional expectations. I hope to succeed in college and become an Engineer so that one day I may come back to my community and give back to others the same way I was helped throughout my high school years. My interest for art grew as I began to take pictures of nature mixed with the life in the city. Both Las Fotos Project and San Gabriel Mountains gave me an opportunity to grow an interest in art and become more of a leader. My pictures represent the importance of my family and community in my everyday life, also the importance of the existence ofa beautiful nature to surround us.

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Micaela, age 10Hello my name is Micaela Hillary Garcia. I go to Saint Thomas More and I’m in 5th grade. I have been in Girls Today Woman Tomorrow for 5 years. I like fairy tales and my favorite colors are sea green and dark blue. I like kittens and puppies because I think they’re so cute! I enjoy reading, roller-skating and taking pictures. I hope you enjoy my poems and nature pictures!

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Raquel, age 16I never used a professional camera until I worked with Las Fotos Project and it was fun. I think everyone is a photographer even if you’re taking a profile picture for Facebook. It was fun being able to mix nature with my family and community. Thank you Las Fotos Project for allowing me to be a part of this amazing project. It was a great experience.

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Victoria, age 14Hello my name is Victoria Rose Hillary Cruz and I am fourteen years old. I previously attended St. Thomas More School, from fourth to eighth grade. I graduated from eighth grade on June 14th, 2012. Earlier this year I was a part of the 12th Annual Fashion Show (awesome!) for Girls Today Women Tomorrow. I was also accepted by both all-girl Catholic high schools I applied to, Ramona Convent and San Gabriel Mission High School (I was the only girl in my class to be accepted by both). I decided to attend San Gabriel Mission High School, because my older sister is going there to and I received three scholarships from them. I started school on August 15th, 2012 as a freshman.I hope you enjoyed my art and my autobiography.

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San Gabriel Mountains ForeverSan Gabriel Mountains Forever is a coalition of over 150 individuals, businesses, non-profit organizations, faith-based groups, civic leaders, and elected officials working to protect Los Angeles’ San Gabriel Mountains and create a National Recreation Area for the San Gabriel Region.

The San Gabriel Mountains provide 70% of Los Angeles’ open-space and one-third of the region’s drinking water. Every year, over 3.5 million people flock to the mountains to escape the city. Visitors, the majority of whom live within 50 miles of the San Gabriel Mountains, annually spend $66 million in the local economy.

Many endangered species call the San Gabriel Mountains Home, including: Nelson’s Bighorn Sheep, California Condor, Mountain Lion, Spotted Owl, and the Mountain Yellow-Legged Frog. The San Gabriel Mountains defends against climate change, retaining carbon gases within its forests, instead of emitting them into the atmosphere.

Through an act of Congress, San Gabriel Mountains Forever is seeking wilderness protection for 36,000 acres of unprotected land in the San Gabriel Mountains, Sheep Mountain, and Cucamonga Wilderness. Once land has Wilderness designation, it can never be developed, built upon, or used for activity other than low-impact recreation. The coalition is also working together to establish wild and scenic river designation to protect 44 miles of creeks and rivers in the San Gabriel Region.

To further support public use, enjoyment, and recreation in the San Gabriel Mountains and river, San Gabriel Mountains Forever is also building support for a National Recreation Area for the San Gabriel Region. The envisioned National Recreation Area would see public and private co-management of wilderness, rivers, and areas within the San Gabriel valley. A National Recreation Area could bring much needed financial support for wilderness maintenance, education, and recreation activities in the San Gabriel Mountains and region.

Along with wilderness preservation, wild and scenic river designation and the creation of a regional National Recreation Area, San Gabriel Mountains Forever is working to support and create public lands stewards, especially among youth and the diverse communities of color that make up the San Gabriel Valley and the Los Angeles-region.

The process to achieve wilderness preservation, wild and scenic river designation, and a National Recreation Area is arduous and time-intensive. It requires the support of local, state, and federal elected officials, multiple federal agencies, as well as the local communities whom enjoy the San Gabriel Mountains. United States Congresswoman Judy Chu, originally from the San Gabriel Valley, and United States Senator Barbara Boxer are working to build support among elected officials. Congressman David Drier, of San Dimas, put forward a bill in January 2011 that would protect wilderness in the San Gabriel Mountains. A National Recreation Area must be recommended by the National Park Service following a lengthy study, which includes public input. United States Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis ordered the National Park Service Study when she was a congress person from the San Gabriel Valley.

While many local elected officials support San Gabriel Mountains Forever and its goals, coalition members are constantly working to earn greater community support. This includes relying on residents, like you, to contact your representative in city council and Congress as well as other organizations to formally endorse and support preserving Los Angeles heritage – the San Gabriel Mountains and river. For more information, visit www.sangabrielmountains.org

This Las Fotos Project workshop was made possible in part by the

Special thank you to:Las Fotos ProjectEric V. Ibarra, Project ManagerBrenda Martinez, MentorSarah Martin, MentorAngela Mejia, MentorDiana Lizardi, MentorTy Leyva, Book Layout

San Gabriel Mountains Forever | The Wilderness SocietyGeorge Sánchez-Tello, Associate SpecialistDaniel Rossman, Regional Associate

Girls Today Women TomorrowMolly Robertson, Program CoordinatorVanessa Lozano, Case Manager

Las Fotos Project, a project of Community Partners, is a nonprofit, community-based photography program with a mission to bring about positive change for young Latinas facing adversity. Workshops include one-on-one mentoring, photography instruction and assigned

field projects that are structured to stimulate and develop the students’ imagination, encourage critical thinking, refine cognitive and creative skills, and help build self-confidence.

To support or learn more visit www.lasfotosproject.org.

Prepared by MagCloud for Las Fotos Project. Get more at lasfotosproject.magcloud.com.