Between March and June 2020 Galeria Senita in Art de la Vida – Tucson, Arizona hosted my 50th Anniversary Retrospective Exhibition of documentary and street photographs made between 1969 and 2019. There were forty three framed photographs on the walls, my artist’s statement and a rack of my postcards in the gallery. An outside window display devoted to my seventeen years of documenting humanitarian aid efforts in Sonora and Arizona featured my new book Along the Migrant Trail plus my other two books, a variety of related publications and several migrant...»More

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In late April, I returned to Cuba to participate in the 13th Annual May Day Brigade. 263 participants from 31 nations including Brazil, Viet Nam, Chile, Scotland and the United States attended. During our stay we traveled to the Che Guevara Memorial in Santa Clara and to the city of Camiguey. Highlights there included the world renowned Camiguey Ballet plus a performance of indigenous and Afro-Cuban singing and dancing by Danza Folklorica. Back in Havana we were treated to VIP seating at the International Workers Day Parade in Revolution Square on May 1st...»More

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In 2012 I made my first trip to photograph in Havana, Cuba with a Witness For Peace delegation. Our highly recommended educational tour there included visits to medical facilities, artist's studios and museums, lectures on the economy, organic farms, vocational schools and cultural events. I was inspired to go to Cuba by stories my mother told me about the time when my parents and I lived in Havana for 5 months during 1947. She was appalled by the extreme poverty, illiteracy and lack of healthcare for most Cubans. Years later she gave verbal support to the revolution...»More

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In the summer of 2016, health leader Domingo Alvarez Ajanel, Guatemala Project founder Ila Abernathy and I drove from Tucson to Guatemala to deliver a donated Jeep and medical supplies for indigenous Guatemalan communities. Other than minor car trouble and striking teacher’s roadblocks, our one week drive through Mexico was mostly uneventful. Once in Guatemala, we quickly made our way to Guatemala City and the office for the Guatemala Project. It is there where Ila, Domingo and others coordinate healthcare assistance... »More

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Photographs in this portfolio express my continuing interest in the psychological conditions and symbols of mankind that represent the nature and values of our time. I comment here on life as it is, from Aztec Dancers to the innocent play of a child at a desperate time for her culture, from the assertions of an Iranian protester to the questionable influence of advertising, and a whole lot more.

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Despite the blood-for-drugs and slaughter of migrants news coming from Mexico in 2010, I found much to celebrate in central and southern Mexico that illustrates the good intentions of the Mexican people and pays tribute to their beautiful land and customs. During two trips I learned how a home for disadvantaged and orphaned boys has provided care and education since the mid-1950s. Secondly, I experienced how the Café Justo (Just Coffee) cooperative is transforming the lives of coffee growers so they can make a living...»More

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Photographs in this series were made, in association with geographer Juanita Sundberg, for a New Cultural Landscapes grant funded by the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. These shrines are located along migrant trails. As migrants pass through the southern Arizona desert, they interact with and transform the landscape in small, yet significant ways through the shrines they create and the things they leave behind. At these shrines we find Virgin of Guadalupe bandanas, photographs, books, rosaries and prayer cards, coins, candles and more. The presence of Guadalupe here...»More

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The limited edition box set, Along The Migrant Trail, was commissioned by the University of Arizona Special Collections, associated with The Center For Creative Photography in Tucson, Arizona in May, 2005. The set contains thirteen gelatin silver prints sized 4" x 5" displayed in a jewel box with a cover sleeve, list of photographs, and a booklet describing the work illustrated with three more photographs, all made between 2003 and 2005. Shown here are five images from the set. Others in the box... »More

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In October 2002 I began documenting the efforts of Humane Borders, the volunteer organization that places water stations in the desert to help prevent migrant deaths, and lobbies for a more humane border policy. During this period I was invited to photograph Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument west of Tucson on the U.S./Mexico border for the Desert Places book series published by the University of Arizona Press. In August 2004 the book Organ Pipe - Life On The Edge was published. It includes the photograph Humane Borders Volunteer - Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument (2003)...»More

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In 2004 I was invited to photograph the humanitarian work of Samaritans, and then the efforts of the No More Deaths coalition when it formed. Since 2002 Samaritans have provided water, treated severe sprains and other injuries, bandaged blistered feet (life-threatening on a long desert walk), called Border Patrol Search & Rescue units for severely dehydrated persons, offered blankets during cold winter nights, helped non-migrants in distress, and worked to reinforce a sense of human dignity for those less fortunate. No More Deaths is a no...»More

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By carefully looking into these photographs of migrant artifacts, one can more fully understand the plight of desperate people seeking to improve their lives in America. Even though it may cost them their lives trying to get through our desert, they are willing to risk it all to find work that pays much more than wages back home. This is the current reality of global economics. Aside from common trash that gets left behind, one often finds personal items that raise questions about the lives of migrants in general. These artifacts suggest a...»More

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I have been photographing the people of Mexico for over 35 years. Since 2002, when I began photographing the Migrant Trail series, I have spent considerable time in Nogales, Altar, Agua Prieta and Sasabe. At BorderLinks' Casa de la Misericordia (House of Mercy) in Nogales two photographs shown here were made during the annual Posada celebration. Close to 1,000 children from the impoverished Colonia surrounding the Casa came for lunch... »More

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From 1986, when I moved to Arizona, to 2000 I mainly made casual photographs of my family while concentrating creatively on my radio show ROUTE 66 and then the Classic Railroad Songs series. I didn't quit photography, just took an extended break. The hiatus ended in mid-1999 as I began seeing the outside world photographically again, and most importantly, finding the inspiration and drive once again to go deeper than the family snapshot. These ten photographs are good examples of my eclectic interests, from the portraits of my children Brenden and Lucinda - Disneyland...»More

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One of my earliest and most favorite subjects to photograph was musicians. While a student at Moorpark College in California in 1969 I photographed the anti-war movement and the folksingers around campus, including Dan Wheetman, now a famous producer of musicals and member of the band Marley's Ghost. During my trip to Ireland I photographed The Boy Scouts following their performance at an anti-nuclear demonstration (see Ireland portfolio). Upon my return to Los Angeles I began photographing The Plugz, one of Hollywood’s seminal punk rock bands. Around that time, new... »More

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Following my trip to Ireland in 1979, where I was introduced to the punk rock scene there and in England, I began documenting the Hollywood scene. The first band I photographed was The Plugz at The Starwood. Then I made a formal portrait of The Plugz at the Olympic Auditorium when they opened for PIL. The image was used to promote upcoming Plugz shows and on a large silkscreen poster by Richard Duardo. Richard created the Punk Prom poster seen in the John & Exene - Hollywood photograph seen here. John and Exene saw the poster and asked me to photograph X. My first portraits...»More

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In 1979 I spent a month traveling around Ireland and on June 7th I photographed the European Parliament voting process in the town of Bandon. See Portfolio Bandon, Ireland Election 1979. Thirty years later, in 2009, I returned to Bandon to photograph the new face of immigration and the election process once again. I also hosted an exhibition of my photographs from 1979 at the library in Bandon. This portfolio contains a couple of election related images as well as others from my travels around the island.

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I went to Ennis, Ireland in May 1979 for the Fleadh (pronounced "flah"). Fleadh is the annual festival of traditional Irish music. I wanted to attend the festival first and then hitchhike around the island during the rest of my one month stay. Due to unforseen circumstances I missed most of the festival but got to go to Tralee instead where I met a member of Ireland’s all-women punk rock band The Boy Scouts. Over Guinness I learned a lot about the new punk music scene emerging in Ireland and England. I also...»More

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During May and June of 1979 I spent twenty-two days in The Republic of Ireland photographing a wide variety of subjects, including local and European Parliament voting day in Bandon. The election was held on Friday, June 7th and was the first direct election for constituents to the parliament. Ireland was one of nine member states in 1979. As I traveled around Ireland prior to June 7th I became aware of the importance of the election and decided to spend voting day photographing at the polling station Bandon. What I observed there was a colorful display of political posters and...»More

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In 1975 the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board (ALRB) was formed to ensure peace in the fields by guaranteeing justice for all agricultural workers and stability in agricultural labor relations. But on April 3, 1976 the ALRB was shut down following the refusal of grower-friendly legislators to continue its funding. Recognizing the importance of the board, Cesar Chaves and the United Farm Workers gathered 719,000 signatures to place Proposition 14 on the November 2nd ballot. The goal of the initiative was to restore the shut-down ALRB and prevent amendments weakening...»More

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I had the urge to go live in Boston for some time and finally did in October 1972 where I held various jobs, including short-order cook, delivery boy and photographer for the East-West Journal. My favorite place to photograph was in the Italian neighborhood called The North End. It was like being in Italy with its vegetable stands, butcher shops and old-world charm. The adults spoke Italian and the men passionately debated every subject in the current news. It was easy to photograph around the parks and on the playgrounds where no one seemed to notice me. Or perhaps I'd...»More

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I began photographing on Skid Row in Los Angeles in 1972 in an effort to understand why my alcoholic grandfather kept going there, and then again after returning from Boston in 1974. It was then that I had the opportunity to work on a documentary film that Charles Pavlich was making about two residents of the Chapman Hotel on the corner of 5th and Wall Street. One of them was Leonard Graham, a chain smoker and heavy drinker, who did great imitations of country music star Hank Williams. During filming I meet and photograph many of the other hotel residents, including Torchy...»More

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My interest in photography began in 1968 after seeing the work of Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange and Henri Cartier-Bresson. Upon completion of a basic photography course at Moorpark College, I landed a job making photographs to illustrate the college catalog. The library there had a good selection of Aperture magazines. I spent hours looking at them. Then I attended a peace march in Venture where I made what I consider my first good photograph. Not that the tonal range is so great; after all the sky...»More

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