The look of Latinos The look of Latinos (March 05, 2004)

Local photographer captures 'Americanos' on film

By Katie Vaughn

It was a mix of talent and good fortune that shaped the career of Mountain View photographer Curt Fukuda. Fortune lured him into the field, and then talent made him part of a nationwide traveling exhibition.

"Americanos: Latino Life in the United States" opened in 1999 at the Smithsonian Institution and is now on display at Santa Clara University's Saisset Museum. The exhibit uses over 100 photographs to explore the cultures and experiences of Latinos in America.

Fukuda has been a photographer since 1980, but started on a different artistic path. He studied filmmaking at San Jose State University and worked in the field before becoming interested in still images.

He started out as an assistant to a food photographer, and even a job in advertisement writing led to photography work. He later opened his own studio in Mountain View. But Fukuda said he never intended photography to be his career path.

"It was purely by accident. I couldn't have planned it," he said. "I felt like it was all temporary."

Fukuda's interest in Latin culture was also unplanned. In the early 1980s, he became fascinated with Mexican folk art, particularly pieces inspired by the annual Day of the Dead celebration. He traveled to Oaxaca to view its art and traditions and returned many times over the next 10 years.

"I was so moved by the Day of the Dead celebrations that I began taking photographs, which eventually became a vehicle for a body of work," Fukuda said.

Painter Lissa Jones accompanied him on many of his trips, and they created several exhibitions on the Day of the Dead.

In 1998, while working in his studio, Fukuda received a call from Edward James Olmos, an activist and actor whose credits include "Stand and Deliver" and "Selena." Olmos was part of a committee organizing the "Americanos" project and wanted Fukuda to contribute photographs.

"He had heard I photographed indigenous people," Fukuda said. "He was hoping I had photographs ready to go."

While the other 29 contributors -- all of whom were photojournalists -- had already submitted their works, Olmos gave Fukuda two weeks to create his for the show.

"All the other photographers had months and months to do it," he said. "All I had was a couple of weeks."

Olmos wanted Fukuda to shoot close-up portraits of Latinos with indigenous, almost Asian features. These photographs, alongside the other photographers' images, would help showcase the variety of Latino facial aesthetics.

Due to the assignment's time constraints, Fukuda scoured his hometown of San Jose for subjects, taking hundreds of photos. He visited restaurants, flea markets and fields where people worked.

"I went out for the next two weeks and just photographed," he said. Fukuda brought with him an assistant who spoke Spanish and could explain the release form his subjects were required to sign.

The "Americanos" project was one of the last Fukuda worked on with a film instead of digital camera. And he didn't get to see any of his photos before the show's opening. He was required to send his film away to be processed, a part of the exhibition procedure no photographer would likely enjoy.

"That was the most nerve-racking part," he admitted.

In his "Americanos" photographs, Fukuda created simple headshots of his subjects. Because he had to submit his film, he had no say in which images, if any, the show's editors would choose to display.

"When I went to the Smithsonian, I wondered if any of my photographs made it into the exhibit," he said.

Not only were several chosen, but one was also blown up into a gigantic poster tacked to the side of the museum. The photograph was of a young boy, Louis Guinac Pathe from Quetzattenango, Guatemala.

Other photographs chosen for the exhibition were of Maggie Castellon, a San Jose State University student who worked at her parents' fruit stand on weekends, and Hector Lopez, an employee at San Jose's redevelopment agency.

Fukuda said he likes how the photographs show the diversity of his subjects.

"Latinos don't always look one certain way and, like everyone else, they have all kinds of jobs," he said.

Five years after the "Americanos" exhibit began, Fukuda is still taking photographs, but not commercially. He closed his studio and has begun other projects including freelance technical writing; he produced a user guide for Adobe Photoshop, the digital photography software he now uses on most of his images.

Fukuda is also working with another photographer and a designer on a book and CD-ROM about San Jose's Japantown. And a book he created with an anthropologist on Oaxaca's Day of the Dead will be published this summer.

And Fukuda is focusing on a different subject -- he's taking a hiatus from work to spend time with his two-year-old son.
Information

"Americanos: Latin Life in the United States" is on display at Santa Clara University's Saisset Museum through March 14. The museum is open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and is located at 500 El Camino Real in Santa Clara. Call (408) 554-4528 for more information.

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