Nueva Luz Vol 3 Issue 4 • Mentor Issue

N U E VA L U Z

a

$5

photographic j o u r i) a 1 Vol. 3 No. 4

ff> ST

N U E VA L U Z Vol. 3 No. 4

a

photographic journal Editor Charles Biasiny-Rivera Associate Editor Betty Wilde Designer!Art Director Frank Gimpaya Translator Maria Balderrarna East Coast Distributors Total Circulation Services Ubiquity

Typography Ortiz Typographies Printing Expedi Press

Nueva Luz (ISSN 0887—5855) is a photographic jour­ nalpublished fry En Foco, Inc. a not-for-profit national visual arts organization. 32 East Kingsbridge Road. Bronx. New York 10468. (212) 584-7718. Single issue price is $5.00, yearly individual subscription is $25.00 in the U.S. In all other coun­ tries. yearly subscription is $35.00. institutional subscription is $40.00.

Portfolios of at least 15 unmounted prints or copy slides may be submittedfor viewing. Ifmailed, the prints may be no larger than 11" X 14". A self-addressed stamped envelope and appro­ priate packaging must accompany all mailed portfolios to insure proper return. We do not assume responsibility for unsolicited photographs or manuscripts sent by mail. Photographers wishing to deliver portfolios in person must call our office to make arrange­ ments. For advertising rates and distribution contact En Foco, Inc.

Copyright © 1992 by En Foco, Inc. All Rights Reserved Nueva Luz is made possible withfunding by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Bronx Borough President, Fernando Ferrer and theBronx Delegation of the City Council.

New York State Council on the Arts. The National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, and The Andy Warhol Foundation.

All rights reserved. Nothing may be reproduced orpublished in whole or in part without the uritten permission ofthe publisher.

En Foco. Inc.

Editorial Pa £ e

T

E

his is the first of our mentor issues which we will pe­ ste es el primer numero sobre mentores que periodicamente riodically devote to one photographer who we feel has achieved dedicamos a un fotografo que ha alcanzado el nivel de MENTOR. No solamente derivado de fama y the level of MENTOR. Not solely derived from fortuna, un mentor a menudo prefiere efectuar un fame and fortune, a mentor often prefers to effect a seguimiento limitado pero dedicado. Los mentores no smaller yet more committedfollowing. Mentors are not son solamente maestros. sino personas only teachers, but extraordinary individuals who, by extraordinarias, quienes por ejemplo, crean un example, create a sense ofdedication and involvement sentido de dedication y envolvimiento que acaba which become inspirational. They serve as guides, siendo inspirador. Elios sirvende guias, ayudandoa helping to direct the artistic journey towardfruition dirigir la carrera artistica hacia una fruicion y ana and maturity. Lastly, as an added phenomenon, no madurez. En conclusion, como un fenomeno anadido. one ever studies to be a mentor. nunca nadie estudia para ser un mentor.

Eighteen years ago when I first metJack and Hace dieciocho anos cuando conoci a Jack e Irene Delano in Puerto Rico, he projected afew ofhis Irene Delano en Puerto Rico, el enseno unas FSA (Farm Security Administration) slides taken in diapositivas de la FSA (Farm Security Adminis­ Puerto Rico. I was so impressed by their stature I tration) que tomo en Puerto Rico. Me impresiono nearly cried. It was the first time / had seen photo­ tanto el calibredesus fotografids que casi llore. Era graphs taken by a non-Puerto Rican ofPuerto Ricans la primera vez que veta fotografias tomadas por un that were not demeaning. They werefull ofpersonal no-Puertorriqueno sobre Puertorriquenos en las dignity and caring. Jack photographed with compas­ cuales no los desmerecia. Sus fotografias estaban sion and integrity without exploiting the humility llenas de dignidad y carino. Jack fotografiaba con andpoverty that surrounded him. compasion e integridadsin explotar la humildady la I have selected twenty-eight photographs from pobreza que le rodeaba. the early period for publication in this issue. The He seleccionado ventey ocho fotografias de su level ofhonesty, directness and respect that is evident primer periodo para su publication en este numero. El inJack Delano's work is also reflective ofa period of nivel de honestidad. rectitud y respeto que es evidente history which is passing all too quickly. en la obra deJack Delano es tambien como un reflejo Jack Delano 's work touches upon the culture Ponce. Puerto Rico. 1946 de un periodo de historia que estdpasando demasiado with great respect and. in turn, the culture has rapidamente. embraced him. The work itself is much like the Jack Delano incide en la cultura con un gran respecto y a su vez la Puerto Rican culture because of the humanity of it. I am very honored to be able to share this outstanding body of work with our Nueva Luz cultura lo ha aceptado. La obra misma es como la cultura Puertorriquena debido a su humildad. Me honra compartir este excelente conjunto de readers. fotografias con los lectores de Nueva Luz. Charles Biasiny-Rivera Charles Biasiny-Rivera Editor Editor

Table of Copteptj Editorial..........................................................

Introduction byJack Delano..........................

Introduction.....................................................

Biography ofJack Delano..............................

Jack Delano Photographs...............................

Commentary by Dr. Arturo Morales Carrion

...... page 1 ...... page 2 ...... page 3 ....... page 4 pages 5-31 .....page 32

Comentario.......................................................

.....page 33

Cover Photograph:Jack Delano. Rio Piedras {vicinity). Puerto Rico. Wife of an FSA borrower. Jan. 1942.

Silver Gelatin Print. 14" Xll"

1

Introduction or most people interested in the history of photography the words “Farm Security Administration” or “the FSA ” are likely to evoke images ofdesperatefarmfamilies fleeing the dust storms of Oklahoma, ofdespair on thefaces ofmen, women and children in the migratory labor camps ofCalifornia or ofblack sharecroppers living in shacks on the cotton plantations ofthe South, but not of Hispanic sugar cane workers toiling under a tropical Caribbean sun. Yet in 1941, I spent three months in the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico as an FSA photographer on an assignment that produced over 2000photographs and changed the course of my life.

In November of 1941, I was working in Greene County, Georgia, when Roy Stryker, the Director ofthe FSA photography project, calledfrom Washington to ask if I would be interested in an assignment in the Virgin Islands. “The gov­ ernor down there is requesting the services of a photographer, ” he said, “and while you're there you might stop by in Puerto Rico where there is an active FSA program of aid to poor farmers. What do you say?” I had no idea where the islands were located but I immediately said yes, and went looking for a map of the world.

My ignorance was not unusual. Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands were, in those days, simply overseas U.S. territories administered by the Department of the Interior. Few people knew (or cared) about their existence. Even many years later when I visited the Library ofCongress to see my Puerto Rico pictures, I found them not in the FSA files but in another part of the building together with photographs from Pakistan, Peru, Portugal and other countries that began with a “P”! Only when I pointed out that the islands were under the American flag and their inhabitants American citizens were the pictures moved to join the main body ofthe collection.

On November 27, 1941, l sailed offfor the “unknown” on the steamer SS Coamo, expecting to return in a couple of weeks. Four days later I was greeted at Pier Number One in Old SanJuan by the public relations representative ofthe local FSA office who escorted me to the Palace Hotel, afew blocks away on Tetuan Street.

In the evening Ifound myselfin the mountains near the town ofCorozal at a party given by a farmer to celebrate the purchase of his smallfarm with a loan from the FSA. Far into the night the tiny house reverberated with country music such as I had never heard before while outside, in the darkness of the woods, invisible little creatures contributed their cacophony to the festivities. People danced, sang, deliv­ ered dramatic speeches and recited impassionate poetry. I was a complete stranger and didn't understand a word ofSpanish but somehow I was made to feel as one of

earnest throughout the country, photographing sugar cane workers, tobacco farms, schools, hospitals, coffee haciendas, housing conditions, Christmas parties, church services—all aspects of the peoples lives.

Everything seemed exotic and fascinating to us: the Hispanic culture, the vibrantfolk music, the exhuberant vegetation and the people, especially the people. I n spite of the dire poverty everywhere, what impressed us most was the quality of the people, their warmth and hospitality, their generosity, their gentleness, their dignity and self-esteem. Whether in the flimsy shacks of the sprawling urban slums or the thatch-roofed huts of the countryside, people welcomed us with old world courtesy and offered us, ofcourse, coffee (I had never had so much coffee in my life before!). If we happened to admire any object in the house—a flower or the little wooden image of a saint—it would be offered to us as a gift. No one was ever impressed by our being Americans orfrom a different social and economic background. Their natural pride and dignity made it clear that we were being accepted simply as equal human beings. And when people would say, at our departure, “Recuerdense. Esta es su casa. ” (“Remember. This is your house, ”), there was no doubting their sincerity.

By the time we were ready to leave, in March of 1942, we had made up our minds that if the opportunity ever presented itself we would return to Puerto Rico.

The opportunity came in 1946, when I was discharged after three years in the Army. It presented itselfin the form ofa Guggenheim Fellowship to produce a book ofphotographs on Puerto Rico. Planning to stay away for a year, Irene and I sublet our New York apartment and took off. A nine-hour flight in a propellerpowered plane left us at the Isla Grande Airport in SanJuan.

We were overjoyed to find our friends from FSA days, Ed and Louise Rosskam, who had arrived a year earlier. Ed had set up a documentary photogra­ phy project, someu hat similar to the FSA, attached to the Office ofthe Governor. He had organized a picture file for which both he and Louise, as well as some Puerto Rican photographers, had already produced numerous photographs. Charles E. Rotkin, an ex-serviceman who had stayed on in Puerto Rico after being stationed at an army base, had built an excellent photo laboratory for processing all the film. I postponed the Guggenheim Fellowship andjoined the project to continue the work I had startedfor the FSA. Getting to knou> the island by travelling and photographing the lives of its people was an extraordinary educational experience. It also enabled us to establish warm friendships with country people, friendships which have endured to this very day. In the years that followed, one exciting project led to another: film-making, television, musical composition and graphic arts. We never did get back to our apartment in New York.

All thephotographsfrom the 1946periodare today at the General Archives of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture in San Juan. The FSA collection was acquired Iry the Lil?rary of Congress after World War II. I think that the two collections represent the largest body of photographic work done on the Puerto Rico of the 1940’s.

In 1946, just as we were getting ready to leavefor Puerto Rico, I received a call from Paris asking if I was interested in joining a new photo agency called “Magnum. ” It was a tempting offer. I thought it over carefully with Irene and we agreed it would be wiser to go on to Puerto Rico, a decision we were never to regret.

the family.

Therefollowed days ofintensive work and travel in the countryside. Then on December 7, / entered the hotel to find an anxious group huddled around the radio in the lobby. They were listening to President Roosevelt announcing the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Back in Washington, my wife Irene was listening, too.

Concerned that we might be separated because ofthe war, she leftfor SanJuan in a convoy of rf eighters escorted by the Navy. For ten days they zig-zagged through the submarine-infested waters of the Atlantic before arriving in Puerto Rico. She had carried a little camera “to take pictures in case the ship was torpedoed. ” Now with Irene as assistant, critic and companion, we began traveling in

Jack Delano

2

Irjtroducciop

P

Ahora con Irene como asistente, critica y companera, empezamos a viajar seriamente a travez del campo, fotografiando trabajadores en los canaverales de azucar, terrenos, plantaciones de tabaco, escuelas, hospitales, cafetales, los medios de vivienda, fiestas de navidad, servicios religiosos y todos los aspectos de la vida de estas personas.

Todo nos parecia exotico y fascinante, la cultura hispanica, la vibrante musica popular, la exhuberante vegetacion y la gente, especialmente la gente. A pesar de una deplorablepobreza por doquier, lo que mas nos impresionofue la aristocracia de la gente, su calor y hospitalidad, su generosidad, su nobleza, su dignidad y su amor propio. Ya sea en las frivolas cabanas de los extensos suburbios urbanos o las chozas techadas con hojas en el campo, la gente nos dio la bienvenida a la manera del viejo mundo, y por supuesto nos ofrecieron cafe (nunca antes habia tornado tanto cafe!). Si por casualidad admirabamos cualquier objeto en la casa, una flor o la pequena imagen de un santo de palo, nos lo querian regalar. A ninguno le impresionaba que eramos americanos o que perteneciamos a diferente clase social o nivel economico. Su orgullo natural y su dignidad demostraba claramente que nos aceptaban como a seres humanos semejantes. Entonces la gente decia al despedimos “Recuerdense. Esta es su casa ” no habia duda de su sinceridad.

Cuando ya habiamos decidido de regresar en marzo de 1942, en ese entonces habiamos decidido que si se nos presentaria una oportunidad volveriamos a Puerto Rico.

La oportunidad se nos presento en 1946, cuando me dieron de baja despues de servir tres anos en el ejercito. Me dieron una beca para hacer un libro defotografias de Puerto Rico. Planeando de ausentamos de Nueva York mas o menos por un ano, Irene yyo subalquilamos nuestro apartamento y partimos. El viaje duro nueve horas en un avion a helices, hasta el aeropuerto de Isla Grande en SanJuan.

Estabamos contentisimos de encontrar nuevamente a nuestros amigos de los dias del FSA, Edy Louise Rosskam, que habian llegado un ano antes. Ed habia empezado un proyecto de fotografia documental, algo parecido al de la FSA, colegado a la oficina del Gobemador. Ed habia organizado un archivofotografico para el cual el y Louise, como tambien otros fotografos, ya habian hecho numerosas fotografias. Charles E. Rotkin, un ex-militar, quien se habia quedado en Puerto Rico despues de haber estado destinado en una base del ejercito, habia construido un excelente laboratorio fotografico para revelar peliculas. Yo pospuse mi beca Guggenheim y participe en el proyecto para continuar la tarea que habia empezado para la FSA. Viajando por la Isla y fotografiando las vidas de estas personas fue una extraordinaria experiencia educativa. Tambien nos diofa posibilidad deestablecer afectuosas amistades con la gente del campo, amistades que aun perduran hasta estos dias. En los anos venideros un proyecto interesante nos llevaba a otro como por ejemplo: hacer peliculas, television, composiciones musicales y artes grdficas, Nunca mas regresamos a nuestro apartamento en Nueva York.

Todas las fotografias del periodo de 1946 estan ahora en los archivos del Instituto de Cultura Puertorriquena en San Juan. La coleccion de la FSA fue adquirida por la Biblioteca del Congreso despues de la Segunda Guerra mundial.

Estoy covencido que estas dos colecciones representan la coleccion mas grande de fotografias realizadas en Puerto Rico durante los anos cuarenta.

En 1946 cuando estabamos preparandonos para dejar Puerto Rico, recibi una llamada de telefono desde Paris y me preguntaban si me interesaba en hacerme miembro de una nueva agenda fotogrdfica llamada “Magnum ”. Fue una oferta tentadora. Lo pense bien con Irene y convinimos que seria mejor quedamos en Puerto Rico, una decision de la cual nunca nos arrepentimos.

Jack Delano

ara la gran mayoria de las personas interesadas en la historia de la fotografia las palabras “Administration de la Seguridad Agricola, ” conocida tarnien como la “FSA ” (Farm Security Administration) probablemente evocan imdgenes de desesperadas familias de agricultores huyendo de las tormentas de polvo en Oklahoma, expresiones de desesperacion reflejadas en los rostros de homlms, mujeres y ninos en los campamentos de trabajos migratorios en California, o las de los medianeros que viven en cabanas en las plantaciones de algodon en el Sur, pero no la de los hispanos que trabajan afanosos en la zafra bajo el sol tropical caribeno. Mas en el ano 1941, pase tres meses en las Islas Virgenes y Puerto Rico trabajando como fotografo de la “FSA " en una tarea que genero mas de 2000 fotografias y que cambio el curso de mi vida.

En noviembre de 1941, estaba trabajando en el condado de Greene, en el estado de Georgia, cuando Roy Stryker, director del proyecto de fotografia de la FSA, me llamo desde Washington y mepregunto si me interesaria un trabajo en las lslas Virgenes. El me dijo: a ver que te parece “el gobemador de esas islas esta pidiendo los servicios de un fotografo”, “y mientras estas alii, talvez puedes ir a Puerto Rico, donde la FSA tiene un programa activo de ayuda para los agricultores pobres. Yo no tenia idea donde estaban situadas estas islas, pero immediatamente dije que si, y fui a consultar un mapa del mundo.

Mi ignorancia no era insolita. En ese entonces Puerto Rico y las Islas Virgenes se consideraban simplemente territorios de los Estados Unidos administrados por el Departamento del Interior. Poca gente sabia de ellas o mejor les importaba poco su existencia. Aun muchos anos mas tarde cuando visite la Biblioteca del Congreso para ver mis fotos de Puerto Rico, no las encontre en los archivos de la FSA, sino estaban en otra parte del edificio catalogadas conjuntamente con fotografias de Pakistan, Peru, Portugal y de otros paises cuyo nombre empezaba con la letra “P”. Entonces solamente cuando les hice notar que las islas estaban bajo la bandera americana y que sus habiantes tambien eran ciudadanos americanos colocaron lasfotos juntamente a las de la coleccion principal.

El 21 de noviembre de 1947, zarpe hacia “lo desconocido” en el buque SS Coamo, pensaba regresar en un par de semanas. Cuatro dias despues me recibio en el rnuelle nu'mero 1, en el Viejo SanJuan, el representante de relaciones publicas de la oficina local de la FSA, y me acompano unas cuantras cuadras hasta el Hotel Palace en la calle Tetuan. Ya entrada la tarde fui a las montanas cercanas a la ciudad de Corozal, estaba invitado a una fiesta que daba uno de los agricultores para celebrar la compra de su pequena finca con un prestamo de la FSA. Ya entrada la noche la pequena casita reberberaba con musica popular que nunca antes habia escuchado, estando yo afuera en la oscuridad de los bosques, invisibles pequenas criaturas contribuian con su cacofonia a las festividades. La gente bailo, canto y pronuncio dramdticos discursos y recito apasionadas poesias. Yo era un perfecto extrano y no entendia una palabra en espanol, pero de algun modo hicieron que yo me sintiera como un miembro mas de la familia.

Aliisiguieron dias de intenso trabajo y viajes por el campo. En ese entonces, un dia 7 de diciembre, entre al hotel y encontre a un grupo de personas ansiosas que estaban reunidas alrededor de una radio que estaba en el vestibulo del hotel.

Estaban escuchando al President Roosevelt, que anunciaba el ataque de losjaponeses a Pearl Harbor. Mientras que en Washington tambien mi esposa Irene lo estaba escuchando. Preocupada que a causa de la guerra podiamos quedar separados, ella decidio venir a SanJuan en un convoy de buques cargueros escoltados por la marina.

Antes de llegar a Puerto Rico, durante diez dias zigzaguearon por las aguas del Atlantico plaguedas de submarinos. Ella llevaba consigno una pequena camara fotogrdfica “para tomar fotos en caso que el buque fuese torpedeado."

3

Jack Delapo

S' 5

$ -I Q

*2

I Jack Delano was born in Kiev, Ukraine, in 1914, emigrating to the United States when he was nine years old. He received a degree from the Pennsylvania Academy of Pine Arts and studied music at the Settlement Music School, in Philadelphia. While trained as a painter and musician, he is outstanding in various art fields, from photographer and filmmaker to graphic artist and composer. Inspired by images from the Farm Security Administration photogra­ phers (Lange, Evans and Shabn), Delano became a photographerfor the Federal Arts Project. There, he documented the bootleg mining in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, during the depression. It was this portfolio that receivedfavorable reviews that came to the attention ofPaul Strand and led to his position with the FSA in 1940.

He photographed the plight of the migratory farmers along the eastern coast of the United States, then in 1941 produced over 2000photographs of ht e U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico within three months time. After WWll, with a grant from theJohn Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to continue his documen­ tation of Puerto Rico for a book, he and his wife Irene made Puerto Rico their permanent home. They became part of ht e island's cultural life, encouraging artists, craftspersons and musicians, fostering the development of Puerto Rico’s artistic community. Delano taught, lectured, exhibited his work and wrote books, hoping to encourage and expand the Division ofCommunity Education, becoming its Director ofFilm from 1947-52. In 1957 he became Director of The Educa­ tional Broadcasting Station in SanJuan. Hisfilms include Los Peloteros (1952), and Savio Arboles, Magico Arboles (1987). In 1982, Delano received a grant from the Puerto Rico Endowment for the Humanities and produced an exhibi­ tion called Contrastes/Contrasts, the basisfor his book Puerto Rico Mio: Four Decades of Change (1990, Smithsonian Institution Press).Another recent publication is De San Juan a Ponce en El Tren (1990, Editorial de la universidad de Puerto Rico ).

4

Jack Delapo

Arecibo (vicinity). Puerto Rico. Truck driver. Dec. 1941. Silver Gelatin Print. 14" X 11"

3

Jack Delapo

San German, Puerto Rico. Sugar workers on their way to get paid, 1946. Silver Gelatin Print, IV X 14"

6

Jack Delapo

Guanica (vicinity), Puerto Rico. Sugarcane worker, 1941. Silver Gelatin Print. 14" X 11�

7

Jack Delapo

San German (vicinity), Puerto Rico. Sugar cane workers, 1946. Silver Gelatin Print, 11” X 14”

8

Jack Delapo

Manatt (vicinity). Puerto Rico. On a pineapple plantation. Jan. 1942. Silver Gelatin Print. 11 ' X 14�

9

Jack Delarjo

&

/

W5

■m .V

.jj

v' C \

'A

-

:

V

' £* J

**fcr.

;•

-t£

Gudnica (vicinity), Puerto Rico. An ox cart driver with a staff used of r directing the oxen in a sugar field, Jan. 1942. Silver Gelatin Print. 11" X 14"

10

Jack Delapo

Lajas, Puerto Rico. Traveling vendor/“Quincallero“ on a country roadselling dry goods, utensils and miscellaneous household items.

July 1946. Silver Gelatin Print, 11” X 14”

11

Jack Delapo

Bayavion {vicinity). Puerto Rico. Farm laborer's home. Dec. 1941. Silver GeutUn Print. 11� X 14"

12

Jack Delapo

Barranquitas {vicinity), Puerto Rico. Tobacco country, Dec. 1941. Silver Gelatin Print, 14" Xll"

13

Jack Delapo

Manat! (vicinity). Puerto Rico. Store keeper on road. Dec. 1941. Stiver Gelatin Print. 11" X 14"

14

Jack Delapo

Bayamon, Puerto Rico. BarberShop, 1941. Silver Gelatin Print. 11" X 14"

13

Jack Delapo

Yauco. Puerto Rico. A snow ball” man. Jan. 1942. Silver Gelatin Print. 11” X 11"

16

Jack Delarjo

SanJuan, Puerto Rico. Selling lottery tickets on the street, Dec. 1941. Silver Gelatin Print, 11" X 14"

17

Jack Dclapo

Coanio. Puerto Rico. A child's funeral. 1946. Silver Gelatin Print. 11” X 14”

18

Jack Delapo

Caguas. Puerto Rico. Students graduating high school marching to the town movie house where the graduation ceremony will be held. Silver Gelatin Print. 11" X 14"

19

Jack Dclapo

Corozal (vicinity). Puerto Rico. Children who live on a hillfarm, Dec. 1941. Silver Gelatin Print, 11� X 14�

20

Jack Delarjo

1

"? ?!

I

ip I

Manati (vicinity), Puerto Rico. Wife and children ofan FSA borrower, Dec. 1941. Silver Gelatin Print, 11� X 14�

21

Jack Delapo

Ponce. Puerto Rico. Family living in a slum area. 1941. Silver Gelatin Print. 14” X 11”

22

Jack Delapo

Caguas (vicinity), Puerto Rico. A Farm Security Administration borrower and his family, Dec. 1941. Silver Gelatin Print, 11 X 11

23

Jack Delapo

Manati. Puerto Rico. Dress dummies in a store. Jan. 1942. Silver Gelatin Print. 14� X 11"

24

Jack Delapo

Corozal {vicinity), Puerto Rico. Farmers’ wives who live in the hills, Dec. 1941. Silver Gelatin Print, 11� X 14"

23

Jack Delarjo

SanJuan (vicinity). Puerto Rico. In a needlework factory. Jan. 1942. Silver Gelatin Print. 11" X 14�

26

Jack Delarjo

Corozal (vicinity), Puerto Rico. A coffee picker, Dec. 1941. Silver Gelatin Print, 14” X 11”

27

Jack Delarjo

Rio Piedras (vicinity), Puerto Rico. Daughter ofa tenant purchase borrower, Jan. 1942. Silver Gelatin Print, 14" X 11"

28

Jack Delapo

Yauco (vicinity), Puerto Rico. Farm laborer who was cutting cane in a field, Jan. 1942. Silver Gelatin Print. 14� X 11�

29

Jack Dclarjo

San German, Puerto Rico. In the cathedral on the main plaza. 1946. Silver Gelatin Print. 11" X 11"

30

Jack Delapo

Barranquitas (vicinity). Puerto Rico. Hands ofan old woman working in a tobacco field. Dec. 1941. Silver Gelatin Print. 14" X 11"

31

c o

c i) t a r y

ack Delano has given us, with artistry and charm, the image of a Puerto Rico in historicflux. This impressive collection ofphotographs alerts us to the extraordinary cultural and socioeconomic transformation experi­ enced by Puerto Rico since theforties. It shows us the change in the social contours, in the gestures, attitudes, and manners ofseveral generations ofPuerto Ricans. We can also make out a thread of continuity, for no matter how much he changes, the Puerto Rican does not lose his sense offamily. But the problematic aspects ofhis life have not disappeared; for to the problems that have been partially or totally overcome have been added others that are more subtle, more difficult to grasp.

Delano saw, with a profound vision, the world that preceded the change.

Then later, with equally deep perception, he captured the transformation. And the thread ofcontinuity that linked one moment ofPuerto Rico’s history to another did not escape him. Behind each image there is a culturalframework, one that has been developing for a long time. ForJack’s well-trained eyes, that dimension of time is particularly present in the photographic ordering of his collection. The inevitable actor in the collection is time, a historic time.

With a handful offacts, let us look at the historic mutation that Puerto Rico was undergoing when Delano began his photographic adventure. In 1941 Puerto Rico was definitely an example of the social, economic, and political dynamics that today we associate with the Third World. It was an eminently rural country with an agrarian economy dominated by three crops—sugarcane, tobacco, and coffee. The per capita income had fluctuated between $122 in 1930 and $83 in 1933■ The social conditions were alarming. Governor Rexford Guy Tugwell would call Puerto Rico “the Stricken land. ” North American researchers Earl S. Garver and Ernest B. Fincher would describe the situation in Puerto Rico: Unsolved Problem, a book written with compassion and care: “More than 83 percent of the people are without real property, and 73 percent of them never had more than the barest necessities of life. The average Puerto Rican lives a life of want from the cradle to the grave; he is bom ofparents who are afflicted with hookworm or malaria, suffers from malnutrition in childhood, and spends his entire life in a crowded shack with no sanitary facilities whatsover. ’’Puerto Rico seemed to be on a dead-end street.

But a series of new circumstances was to bring about a transformation, a vigorous turn of historic events, identified on a political level with the strong leadership ofLuis Munoz Marin, on an economicplane with a decisive step toward industrialization, and on the strategic level with a renewed importance of the island as a bastion of defensefor the central Caribbean. The migratory movement between Puerto Rico and the United States would be accentuated, encouraged by the

demandfor labor in the North, by the sudden availability ofswift and cheap air transportation, and by a greater Puerto Rican willingness to travel. The entire country would at that time enter into a complex and dynamic phase that would alter values, traditional customs, and life patterns.

Jack Delano, with his artistry and his sensitivity, recorded the initial moment when Puerto Rico was trapped in the snare ofa pathetic underdevelopment.

Out ofthis record came an entire gallery ofportraits and situations, now visually fixedfor use in historical and sociological analysis.

A nd later, with great intuition, he againfocused his eye and camera. What is the change? How and where does it show itself? And even more: What has been gained? What has been lost? What aspects ofdaily life are repeated under the new circumstances? What is there ofoppression and ofhope in this new historic moment in which now urbanized, now better-fed and better-dressed Puerto Ricans take the place of those emaciated peasants, and of those rachitic children staring blankly into emptiness?

Delano aims the lens of his camera down the entire length ofthe road. The action ofa moment in life is frozen, stratified, to make the contrast possible. If we are always immersed in the current, we cannot see the changes that are taking place.

We have to move out of the present in order to capture, in a fleeting moment, the changing images. Now we see the necessary point ofreference. The old company stores have been transformed into supermarkets. The peasant has discarded his straw hat (pavaYand his machete—symbols of the cane-cutter—and has moved into the factory. The countryside, once serene and rolling, has been taken over by the automobile. The child who played in the fields now learns the violin. But the people are still standing in line, though now it is to askforfood coupons. And Don Vicente Arroyo, one ofthepeople inJacks gallery, now eighty-two years old, tells us that we have forgotten our humanity, that our sense of neighborliness has been debilitated.

The problems of the socioeconomic underdevelopment of theforties were visible and easy to quantify. The newproblems that surround thepresent social underdevel­ opment, in the midst ofa life ofrelatively greater abundance, are more difficult to see and understand. They represent the great challenges for the generations of today.

Jack Delano, with his technical mastery and his innate sense of compassion, has made inroads into that difficult area. He has given us an eloquent visual testimony. He has also helped us by sounding the alarm, andputting us on the alert.

For that he deserves our profound gratitude.

For the person who wants to get to know the Puerto Rico of our century, this work by Jack Delano is the visual invitation to that adventure.

Arturo Morales Carrion

Dr. Arturo Morales Carrion was a professor ofhistory at the University of Puerto Ricofor many years, then the executive directorfor the Puerto Rican Foundation for the Humanities. He was the head of the Historical Research Center where he did important work on the history of slavery in Puerto Rico. He received many awards and honors including The Award ofDistinguished Service in The Interest ofCulture in Puerto Rico, by The Institute ofPuerto Rican Culture. Dr. Morales died in SanJuan. Puerto Rico in 1991.

32

c o

e i) 1 a r i o

ack Delano nos ha dejado, con arte y simpati'a, la vision de un Puerto Rico en fluidez historica. En esta impresionante coleccion de fotografias, se advierte la extraordinaria transformation cultural y socioeconomica que ha experimentado Puerto Rico desde la decada del Cuarenta. Aquiesta visible el cambio en el contomo social, en los gestos, actitudes y maneras de diversas generaciones puertorriquefias. Mas tambien se distingue un hilo de continuidad: el puertorriqueno, por mucho que cambie, no ha perdido su aire defamilia. Los aspectos problemdticos de su vida no se han desvanecido; a unos problemas superados o en trance de superacion, han seguido otros problemas, a veces mas difidles de captar.

Delano vio, con mirada profunda, el mundo anterior al cambio y luego, con percepcion no menos honda, recogio la transformation. Pero no se le escapo el hilo de continuidad entre uno y otro momento de la historia de Puerto Rico. Detrds de cada imagen hay un entramado cultural y ese entramado cultural ha venido elaborandose desde muy lejos. Para los ojos bien adiestrados de Jack, esa dimension del tiempo esta muy presente en el ordenamientofotografico de la coleccion. El tiempo, el tiempo historico, es aqui un inevitable personaje.

Observemos, con un punado de datos, la mutacion historica que va a sufrir Puerto Rico cuando Jack Delano comienza su aventura fotografica. En 1941 Puerto Rico estaba decididamente inmerso en el marco social, economico y politico de lo que hoy llamamos el Tercer Mundo. Era un pais eminentemente rural con una economta agraria dominada por tres productos—la earn, el tabaco y el cafe. El ingreso por habitante habia oscilado entre $122 en 1930 y $83 en 1933■ Las condiciones sociales eran alarmantes. El gobemador Rexford G. Tugwell la habria de denominar “La Tierra Abatida. ” Investigadores norteamericanos como Earl S. Garver y Ernest B. Fincher, describirian la situacion en un libro escrito con compasion y cuidado, Puerto Rico: Unsolved Problem: “Mas del ochenta y cinco por ciento del pueblo carece de propiedad propia y el setenta y cinco por ciento nunca ha poseido mas de las necesidades minimas de vida. Elpuertorriqueno medio vive una vida de escasez de la cuna a la tumba; nace de padres que han sufrido de anemia o malaria, parece de mala nutricion desde la infancia y vive su vida entera en una choza sin ningun servicio sanitario. ” Puerto Rico parecia estar en un callejon sin salida.

Pero una serie de circunstancias nuevas habrian de traer una transforma­ cion, un vigoroso repunte historico, identificado en el piano politico con el fuerte liderato de Luis Munoz Marin, en elpiano economico con un avance decisivo hacia la industrialization y en el piano estrategico con una renovada sigificacion de Puerto Rico como baluarte de la defensa del Caribe Central. Por otro lado, se acentuaria un movimiento migratorio entre Pueno Rico y Estados Unidos, alentado

por la demanda de brazos en el Norte, por la subita disponibilidad de transporte aereo, rapidoy barato, y por una mayor vocation de movimiento delpuertorriqueno.

El pais todo entraria entonces en una compleja fase dindmica, con alteration de valores, costumbres tradicionales, y patrones de vida.

Jack Delano, con su arte y sensibilidad, registro el momento inicial, cuando Puerto Rico estaba atrapado en las redes de un patetico subdesarrollo. Logro asiuna galeria de tipos y situaciones, ya fijados visualmente para el analisis historico y sociologico.

Y luego, con gran intuition, volvio a concentrar la mirada y la edmara. {Cual es el cambio? {Como y donde se nota? Y mas aun: {Que se ha ganado? {Que se ha perdido? {Que aspectos de la vida cotidiana se repiten bajo otras circunstancias? { Que hay de agobio y de esperanza en este nuevo momento historico en el que puertorriquenos ya urbanizados, mejor alimentados y vestidos, suceden a aquellos campesinos escualidos, a aquellos ninos raquiticos de mirada perdida en el vacio?

Delano tiende la lente de la edmara a lo largo del camino. La vida de momento se estratifica para hacer posible el contraste. Si estamos sumergidos continuamente en la corriente, no nos damos cuenta de los cambios ocurridos. Tenemos que salimos de ella y recoger, por un efimero momento, las cambiantes imdgenes.

Ahora logramos el necesario punto de referenda. Las viejas tiendas de raya se han transformado en supercolmados. El campesino ha abandonado su pava y su machete y se ha yntemado en lafabrica. Elpaisaje, tranquiloy ondulante, se ha poblado de automoviles. El nino quejugaba en la vereda, aprende ahora a tocar el violin. Pero sigue la gente en fila, esta vez para pedir cupones de alimentos. Y Don Vicente Arroyo, a sus ochenta y dos anos, nos dice que nos hemos olvidado del humanismo, que se nos ha debilitado el sentimiento de projimidad.

Los problemas del subdesarrollo socioeconomico en la decada del Cuarenta eran mas visibles y faciles de cuantificar. Los nuevos problemas que circundan el subdesarrollo social, en medio de una vida de relativa mas abundancia. resultan mas difidles de very comprender. Representan el gran reto para las generaciones del presente.

Jack Delano, con su maestria tecnica y su innato sentido compasivo, ha calado en esa dificil zona. Nos ha dejado un elocuente testimonio visual. Tambien h'a ayudado al damos la voz de alerta. Merece por ello nuestro profundo agradecimiento.

El que quiera conocer al Puerto Rico de nuestro siglo, tiene, en esta obra de Jack Delano, la invitation visual a esa aventura.

Arturo Morales Carrion

Dr. Arturo Morales Carrion era profesor de historia en la Universiclad de Puerto Rico por muchisimos anos. Fue entonces director ejecutivo para la Fundacion Puertorriqueha para las Hunianidades, era gerente del Historical Research Center donde hizo estudios importante sobre la historia del el esclavitud en Puerto Rico. Dr. Morales recibio muchisimos honores y premios incluyendo The Award ofDstinguished Service in The Interest of Culture in Puerto Rico, por The Institute of Puerto Rican Culture. Dr. Morales murio en SanJuan. Puerto Rico en 1991.

33

SUPPORT THIS UNIQUE PUBLICATION Nueva Luz Subscription 4 Issues $25 SUBSCRIBE!

Nueva Luz a photographic journal

4 Issues: $23.00, all other coun­ tries, yearly subscription: $33.00.

Institutional subscription: $40.00.

MR/MS ADDRESS

APT. NO.

CITY/STATE/ZIP Send check or money order to: Nueva Luz 32 £. kingsbridge Road Bronx, New York 10468

Nueva Luz is a publication of En Foco. Inc.

Nueva Luz

a photographic journal 32 EAST KINGSBRIDGE ROAD BRONX, NEW YORK 10468 (212) 584-7718

NON-PROFIT ORG. US. POSTAGE

PAID Bronx. N. Y. Permit No. 806