BC’s Outdoor Mural Project winner, Fernando Perez, brings the art of photography to the Bellevue College campus. More of Perez’s work can be found on his website! To view the rest of the project winners, click here.
Fernando Perez — “Determination”
Bio: The oral traditions of storytelling and music stoked my creativity as a boy. I was born and raised in Southern California to Chicano parents. The first time they took me to see Diego Rivera’s paintings at LACMA left a mark on my imagination. Years later, while in pursuit of an MFA at Arizona State, I came across the stirring images of my now favorite photographer, Graciela Iturbide. I began to learn about the relationship between poetry and photography; how both are solitary pursuits, how both have a job to frame an image for the viewer. Poetry taught me how to become a photographer. Today, I teach writing at Bellevue College and my first collection of poems, “A Song of Dismantling,” was published in 2018 with the University of New Mexico Press. It is only in these last few years that I have begun to share my photographs with the world.
Perez’s Artist Statement: Tepoztlán is a Mexican town south of Mexico City. The school girl photographed had energy behind each step. Her shadow cast against the wall reminds me of the parts of our culture and our family that we bring with us on this journey towards a higher education. This is also an image that tells us that every journey begins with our dreams and forward motion. The photo was taken over a period of living in and around Mexico City in 2019 using a Sony A6000 with a 35mm lens.
