Event

Tomas van Houtryve in Conversation with Jon Sawyer at Catchlight

House boats appear next to the shoreline of Bidwell Canyon on Lake Oroville in Northern California on November 25, 2014. Lake Oroville is California's second largest reservoir, and is currently 70% empty as a result of the state's severe drought. Image by Tomas van Houtryve. United States, 2014.

House boats appear next to the shoreline of Bidwell Canyon on Lake Oroville in Northern California on November 25, 2014. Lake Oroville is California's second largest reservoir, and is currently 70% empty as a result of the state's severe drought. Image by Tomas van Houtryve. United States, 2014.

Saturday, November 4, 2017 - 09:30am EDT (GMT -0400)
California College of the Arts
San Francisco, CA
United States
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On Saturday, November 4, 2017, Tomas van Houtryve discusses his new photography project on the U.S.-Mexico border with Pulitzer Center executive director Jon Sawyer at CatchLight's San Francisco event series, as part of the inaugural visual storytelling for social engagement fellowship.

Van Houtryve's CatchLight fellowship is an exploration of the pre-1848 border between the United States and Mexico, using a wooden camera and photographic processing techniques from the mid-19th century to re-imagine a time when all of California and most of the far west was Mexican territory. He discusses using photography to highlight a part of our heritage that few comprehend. He then shifts to discuss the second phase of his project, documenting developments along the current U.S.-Mexico border using surveillance imaging technologies and further exploring the “weaponization" of photography.

This event is part of a two-day program in which CatchLight presents a series of internal and public get-togethers to celebrate visual storytelling for social good. This series is aimed at cultivating community, discovering new work, and inspiring one another to make an impact in the world around us.