Smithsonian exhibit to feature Pico Rivera photographer’s historic shots

By Peter Fullam, Whittier Daily News

PICO RIVERA >> When Oscar Castillo was in high school, his mother gave him a Kodak Instamatic.

“I played around with it,” he said.

He took pictures of model cars and his friends’ vehicles.

But those humble beginnings proved to be a harbinger of things to come. Fast-forward to 1972, and a photo of a yellow 1947 Chevy standing in front of La Mexicana Market in Wilmington. “‘Fresh Meats,’” the store sign says, “Tamales menudo carnitas tortilleria ‘wine.’”

“I spent the morning with the owner (of the car) and went to different parts of town to shoot in,” said Castillo. “That one (location) really clicked.”

That photo is one of 12 that the Smithsonian Institute has acquired the rights to from Castillo. Some of the prints are included in a major Smithsonian exhibit, “Our America: The Latino Presence in American Art,” on display at the Smithsonian’s North American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., until March 2. After that, it will begin a national tour to include the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento Sept. 21-Jan. 11, 2015.

Click HERE to read the full story.

[Photo courtesy Leo Jarzomb/Whittier Daily News]

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