Remember Frank Lopez? That's right, the Collodion photographer who took the excruciatingly good, vintage-style photos around Fair Park. He's shot other remarkable international sites, too, that garnered for him a 2011 MasterMind award. Ever wonder what Frank's up to?
When I last spoke to him back in November, Frank had just driven his truck-conversion-studio out by the Calatrava bridge, where he'd spent the morning snatching stills of the sun glinting off the arch for a January show at the Latino Cultural Center. Hah. January. That was the future, and I had a lot of bridges of my own to cross (burn?) between our lunch meeting in Deep Ellum and January.
Silly me, but the future is now, and tomorrow night marks the opening of "White Steel, Blue Skies: A New Icon for Dallas' Skyline," an exhibition featuring seven Latino photographers - including dear ol' Frank - who have captured the rampantly heralded-and-disparaged landmark that many hope will symbolically converge rapidly revitalizing and increasingly artistic West Dallas with the "city proper."
"The Calatrava/Margaret Hunt Hill bridge was a unique challenge due to the scope of the architecture and space, but I hope that I have depicted the bridge as the jewel whose shine will become more apparent in time," Lopez says. "Bridges are important - not just as functional objects - and Dallas should recognize the significance of its grace."
Lopez and cohort - photographers Sibylle Bauer, Gabrielle Castaneda-Pruitt, Maria Rosa Jaral, Cristina Nava, Maria Olivas and Valerie Ontiveros - will be on-hand tonight between 6 and 8 p.m. for an opening reception at 2600 Live Oak, and they would love to talk Bridge, or shop, or how great they are while celebrating the collaborative show. Try to make it out, but if you can't tonight, the exhibition runs through February 25. Check out the LCC online for more details.
