clara pérez medina

I work as an event photographer and filmmaker for the La Peña Cultural Center. My work contributes to their vast archiving efforts to preserve the work and heritage of the many culture bearers of dance, music, artisan craft, storytelling, political organizing and memory who grace La Peña's space.

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I have photographed nearly 30 events over three years and produced a short documentary film tracing the lineage and development of the new mural in their Community Room space.

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I thrive in documentary conditions, finding natural light, balancing the presence of a person's face, posture, and comfort with the elements of place that frame a particular story. Here below are portraits of artisan and craft sellers at La Peña's Tianguis Market. 2024 marks my third year photographing the street festival and La Peña's efforts to resource and showcase the local craft and artistic talent of color of the Bay Area.

An important part of my photographic and scholarly practice is archiving the political, memory, and collective care work of communities. Below are photographs from La Peña's commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the coup that gave rise to the Pinochet dictatorship, the disappearance of countless dissenters, and the refusal of their communities to forget their memory. I approach community events with sensitivity - no photograph is worth more than the way I make people feel with my presence and that of my camera.