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01/20/2016 07:30 AMThrough his eyes, cultures and creative views come alive.
Now through Jan. 29, see Guilford photographer Rene Carrasquillo’s first exhibition of photos capturing his take on the world, from his joyful visit to Cuba this fall to the fallout at New York City’s World Trade Center site just days after the terrorist attacks.
Free to view, all of the framed, oversized prints on display at the Guilford Free Library (GFL) are for sale; and show proceeds benefit non-profit Women & Family Life Center (WFLC).
A native of Puerto Rico and recently retired contractor who is a certified civil engineer, Rene has been in Guilford for nine years, including some time living on Fair Street in a house situated directly across from WFLC.
“It always called my attention to see so many ladies going in and out” of WFLC, says Rene, who retains a charming accent from his native land. “I come from a Latin American country, and while it’s not as bad in Puerto Rico, in much of Latin America, domestic violence against women is a huge problem. That concerns me.”
Established in 1989, WFLC got its start as an outreach program serving women and children. Today, the non-profit serves shoreline families across the spectrum of life’s moments, whether in crisis or seeking assistance or enrichment. WFLC offers a large menu of support, educational, and wellbeing programs and services.
When Rene was recently invited to exhibit his work at the library, he learned he could select a charitable organization to benefit from proceeds of the show, and instantly knew he wanted to help WFLC.
“So many things are happening in the world and there are not too many times when you can do something” to make a difference, he says. “I think this time I am able to do something and so that’s why I chose them.”
Self-taught with an extraordinary eye for light, angle, and detail, Rene says photography is simply “in my blood.” His father was a wedding photographer, but as a professional Rene had his own contracting business for many years as well as his role as a civil engineer. In his time off, he traveled, always bringing along his camera.
For decades, friends told Rene he should get his striking photos out into the public eye.
“About 15 months ago, I semi-retired and I said, ‘Okay, this is the time,’” he says.
Rene’s produced a series of framed photos and posters largely composed of dozens of photos from his visits to Europe, the Caribbean, and around the United States and Puerto Rico. One of his favorite subjects is San Juan, Puerto Rico. The historic city filled with trim, original pastel buildings and line with charming cobblestone streets.
Those photos are among many lining the library’s first floor main hallway leading to the media room, where more of Rene’s pictures are on display on the walls.
One remarkable thing to learn is that all of the amazing colors Rene’s captured—from the azure of Caribbean waters or, in the case of a shot taken at Guilford’s town dock, waters of deep violet, “This is what I saw,” he says. “I never do anything to a picture. It’s just luck that I take it at that time, and capture that light and color.”
One of his photos, a landscape of a Haitian village, is taken from a distance so that strolling people speckle the hillside’s rolling dirt road while others are close enough to the base that the viewer can see their smiling faces as they go about daily business. The road splits between rustic huts (the richer folks have tin roofs; the less fortunate, hand-woven roofs).
“They are so happy, and they live such a simple life,” says Rene, who makes a point of getting to know the area he visits, and its people.
His recent trip to Cuba included interacting with an incredible musician, playing in the street.
“He was amazing. He played with so much love that he got my attention right away,” says Rene of the snappily dressed man in the photo.
Framed as he sits on a covered porch, the street musician is leaning back as he plays his brass horn, aimed skyward.
One of the exhibit’s most impactful photos for Rene—and likely anyone else who see it—is his landscape taken at Ground Zero following the 9/11 tragedy in New York City. The poster-sized photo resonates so deeply with Rene that “I had to put it in my basement for two years before I could bring it out and look at it,” he says.
A fan of New York City and frequent visitor for more than 30 years, Rene says he was devastated and angry by the senseless, horrible loss of life caused by the attacks on the city he loved. He wanted to help. Three days after Sept. 11, 2001, Rene found his way to the scene of the attacks and offered his services as a professional civil engineer. He was asked to help check the stability of surrounding buildings.
Rene came upon the scene captured in his photo after slogging his way toward the site through an increasing amount of gray ash, which covered not only every inch of ground, but a haunting landscape of destroyed, burned, and abandoned emergency vehicles.
“They looked like weird sculptures,” says Rene. “I was not prepared to see what I saw. When I first got there, I just fell on my knees, and I cried.”
The site at the base of the tower was crawling with activity, he remembers.
“Men and women were on the ground; big machines were working. They were still looking for people. Then someone would scream, ‘I hear something’ and there would be total silence; everyone listening,” says Rene.
Looking at the somber emergency workers in the enlarged photo, working near the now-iconic twisted steel skeleton of a collapsed tower, he adds, “That was one of the most shocking, intense days that I’ve had in my life.”
Rene wrote a moving essay, “9/11 Reminiscence,” about his experience. A copy is posted next to the photo at his exhibit in the library.
For more information about Rene Carrasquillo’s photography, contact him at tantorcar@aol.com To learn more about WFLC, visit www.womenandfamilylifecenter.org.