On Nov. 9 Delta College’s Horton Gallery hosted an art showcase for the opening of Carlos Javier Ortiz exhibition “We All We Got.” The exhibition features photos of families and neighborhoods that Ortiz took in Chicago over a ten year period.
“I started[to] really think about telling a story in different ways in the way of family and love life, life after death … and how families celebrate life,” said Ortiz.
After leaving Chicago for a brief period, Ortiz cited an incident that occurred while he was living in Philadelphia that had an important influence on his work. Ortiz said he was robbed at gunpoint.
“It made me really think about what should happen to him, he just got out of jail he didn’t have a job … it made me think about this in a different way … I wanted to think about these stories in a different way and not be judgmental,” said Ortiz when talking about the gunman.
Photography professor Kirstyn Russell was responsible for bringing Ortiz to Delta.
“I met Carlos while on sabbatical from Delta College and he was doing a lecture in the middle of the day… and I just sat there in the room and heard him talk and I was like, I would love for him to come to Stockton,” said Russell.
Toward the end of the showcase, guests were treated to a spoken word poem by Tama Brisbane. Brisbane’s poem “Roses Piece by Piece” about equality in the world.
Brisbane said this is one of her favorite poems.
“Because of the structure of it, because of the impact of it. And because it felt right,” said Brisbane.
Ortiz’s “We All We Got” showcase runs through Dec. 15.
