"Images of the vibrant Hispanic culture of south Odessa, captured in the early 1980s by Brent Cavanaugh, now chairman of the Visual Arts Department at Amarillo College, are currently on display at AC’s Southern Light Gallery.
The photo exhibit can be viewed through March 19 on the first floor of the Ware Student Commons on AC’s Washington Street Campus.
Cavanaugh, a native of Odessa, was a 20-year-old student of photography at Odessa College when he selected the south side of the city to document a time and place in his hometown.
“I was drawn to the mostly Hispanic south side of the city because it was so different from my own experiences growing up,” Cavanaugh said. “At 20 years old, it was very difficult for me to approach strangers from a different culture and ask about taking a photo.
“The experience forced me to learn how to overcome my fear.”
Using a vintage twin-lens camera, Cavanaugh photographed events like the Cinco de Mayo parade and people who frequented the businesses and neighborhoods of south Odessa.
“People were curious but friendly, and accepting of my unusual twin-lens camera,” he said. “I quietly hid behind the camera, looking down through the viewfinder, framing and capturing the scenes before me.
“Thirty-seven years later, these images are a glimpse into the lives and culture of this community during the early 1980s, and they serve to preserve the people and culture of that time.”
Cavanaugh, who titled his photographic exhibition “The South Side” has previously served as curator of AC’s Southern Light Gallery, but those duties have since been passed on to René West, assistant professor of photography.
For more information about the Cavanaugh exhibit or the Southern Light Gallery, please contact West at rwest@actx.edu or 806-345-5654."
-Amarillo College
