On October 21st, 2006, the ARLIS/NA Texas-Mexico Chapter visited the Special Collections area of the Alkek Library at Texas State University in San Marcos Texas. As you have already read, we visited the entire Special Collections area which includes the Southwest Writer’s Collection, Special Collections Archives, and the Wittliff Gallery of Southwestern and Mexican Photography. Our hostess for this part of the tour was Carla Ellard, Assistant Curator of the photographic and book collection, which all focus on Mexican and Southwestern photography and photographers.
The day we visited, was the day before the Graciela Iturbide exhibition iofficially opened. The exhibition called Ojos Para Volar (Eyes to Fly With) is also published under the English title as a book (UT Press, 2006). The only things missing from the exhibition at the time our group viewed it were some of the quotes that Ms. Iturbide included with many of the photographs. The quotes were based on conversations she had with Fabienne Bardu.
The first quote, on the wall just as you enter the first gallery, was: I dreamed a sentence over and over: “in my country I shall plant birds.” This begins a series of images incorporating birds, some frenzied (Jaipur), some stark and solitary (Peros Perdidos).
The second quote, again to the left, walking into the second room, is “It was as though death was saying to me: you wanted to photograph me, here I am.” This was originally written for the first image to the left, called “La Muerte en el cementerio,” but speaks to the many unflinching images of death that follow.
The third quote, “There are many solitary moments when you are photographing, moments of constant reflection during the journeys,” sums up the exhibition for me. I know I wasn’t seeing everything the photographer saw, or even what she intended me to see, but it was very much worth the effort. The current exhibition is viewable in its entirety on a Web site created Tara Spies, librarian and member of the Alkek Library reference staff.
Gloria Selene Hinojosa