Luz
Elena Castro ~ Photojournalist
After
receiving a Bachelors Degree in Journalism from the Universidad Pontificia
Bolivariana, Medell’n, Colombia, Luz Elena Castro began her career as a staff
photographer for El Mundo Newspaper in
1979. This led to a position as a photojournalism instructor for the Mass
Media Career Department of Bolivariana University in 1985, and freelance assignments
for many different magazines and newspapers.
In
1986 she won a scholarship from Navarra University in Spain. She worked as a photojournalist for the EFE News Agency, Madrid,
Spain, provided a weekly commentary for the BBC while in London, and was the
European correspondent for El Mundo Newspaper, Medellín. In
1988, she was department director, lead photographer, and graphic editor for
El Tiempo Newspaper, Bogotá.
Personal
photographer for Cˇsar Gaviria during his 1989-90 presidential campaign, she
served the next four years as director of the photography department and head
photographer for the Gaviria Presidency. Following a year as graphic editor
of Cromos Magazine, she resumed her work as a freelance photojournalist.
Throughout
her career she has shown her photos in the most prestigious Galleries and
Museums in Colombia. In 1994 she represented Colombia in the Fifth Biennial
of Art in Havana, Cuba, was chosen to participate in an exhibition at the
Ludwing Forum Museum, Aachen, Germany, and served as a judge in several Salons
of Photography in Colombia. Living and working in California since 1996, she
documents life through people, always looking to
catch the human drama of features, character, and environment.
In January of 2002, she began to document the homeless
Sonoma County seniors. Her exhibit that poignantly captured the new face of
homelessness in an economically rich area opened in December 6, 2002, at the
Cultural Arts CouncilÕs Gallery in Santa Rosa, CA.
In
her “Lejos del Hogar” project, she gave cameras to members of
West Marin’s Latino community, and taught them how to take photos used
in weekly English lessons. An exhibition of Luz Elena’s documentary
work opened March 28, 2004 at Gallery Route One in Point Reyes, CA. Serving
as a bridge between the Latino and American Communities; she developed a second
project in 2005 called “Who Opens the Doors of the Town in the Morning.”
The students learned how to be photojournalists, and exhibited their work
at Gallery Route One. The impact of their photographs made a profound impression,
and demonstrated the talent and creativity of eight Mexican immigrants that
live and work in West Marin, CA. The third phase of this Photography/Literacy
class was called “Bridge Builders.” It is a photo essay depicting
members of the Point Reyes Mexican community and people whose work in Pt Reyes
bridges the divide separating the Spanish-speaking and English–speaking
communities, was displayed at Gallery Route One in the fall of 2006.
"Since the beginning of my career,
I have felt a special connection with the forgotten people of the world. They are a very important part of my work.
With photos of their faces, dramas, and daily life, I have tried to call peopleÕs
attention to them. In spite of
their situation, poverty, abandonment, and misery, there is a strength that
comes out of their spirits. I
strive to capture it."
www.luzelenacastro.net ~ (415) 747-0043