9/12/09 Stephanie Abraham: Ricardo Romo at Witte

I noticed on the Fotoseptiembre website this week that Dr. Ricardo Romo, President of UTSA, had his photographs on display at the Witte Museum this month. I found that information to be surprising and was very interested to see what his work was all about. The photos exhibited were entitled “Small Town Texas.” I learned that Romo, a historian, and his wife, a sociologist, drove through more than 75 towns during the past year to photograph the remnants of a fading way of life. A letter from Romo at the Witte said he aimed to spend time appreciating and understanding the small communities one would pass through on their way to a bigger city of their destination and document what life was like. While I think the idea behind these photographs is awesome, I’m not sure that the photos really tell a story of what life was like in these towns. While most were still interesting, the photos were primarily lacking people in them. The few that did incorporate people involved them standing in front of structures for the photograph instead of going about their daily lives. I think it is hard to document the essence of a place without including something of the people who inhabit it. I felt like many of the photos were good and all remained on his topic but the work as a WHOLE was somewhat unconnected and failed to tell the story of his personal journey through Texas.

Sorry guys for the poor image quality. I only had my phone with me when I went to view.

P.S. Libby I emailed this to you last night before midnight because I misplaced the username and password and tried forever to figure it out. Someone in class got back to me this morning so I am posting now. Sorry.