Introduction
Joseph Rodriguez’s photography is considered a meditation on the different types of violence in poor communities in East Los Angeles. Being a former drug user, Rodriguez took pictures of the gang life to escape his addiction and show how hatred and cruelty can destroy families and children’s lives (Martinique). His work was a documentary on the daily struggles of migrant workers in New York, California, and Los Angeles (Martinique). Rodriquez wanted to demonstrate physical and emotional violence that resulted in thousands of tragic consequences for people raised in that environment. When these pictures were taken, East L.A. had the highest unemployment rate, suicides, school dropouts, and teenage pregnancies, pushing adolescents to the streets, where they could only follow two paths, death or imprisonment (J. Rodriguez). The photographs exposed many unresolved structural and societal problems that required collective effort. Rodriguez revealed broken families and lives in such images as “Little Boy,” “Chivo,” “Child of a Gang Family,” “Chivo Turns a Homegirl on to Cocaine,” “Young Mother,” “Husky,” and “The Insane Juvenile Queens.” Indeed, these seven photographs conveyed the traumatic childhood of the 1990s suburbs that would likely transform into tragic adulthood.
Richard Rodriquez about Joseph Rodriguez’s Photography
Richard Rodriguez was an American essayist and reporter who gave an equivocal opinion about Joseph Rodriguez’s art in his essay “Gangstas.” The tone of his writing is bitter, and the author seems to have little admiration for these photographs at the beginning of the essay. However, further reading reveals that this bitterness is caused by Richard’s sadness about the system’s brokenness that created the perfect conditions for gangsters to flourish in the inner cities and damage their children’s future. The author claims that people’s minds became rotten to the point that “these photographs do not embarrass as though they should” (R. Rodriguez 509). Moreover, Rodriquez states that the propaganda of violence continues through music, pictures, and television, encouraging youth to build muscles for fighting and not for spirituality or health reasons (509). The only antidote to the cruelty is exposing children to the beauty of nature and not to the reality of East L.A. Indeed, Richard wrote that youth could only be saved through exposure to “a redemptive green world” (R. Rodriguez 509). Overall, the author viewed these photographs as a call to action rather than archival documents.
Joseph Rodrigue’s Art of Silent Violence
The first picture that caught invisible violence is “Little Boy with His Father (In Background).” This photo represented a malnourished toddler with silent tears in his eyes and the father in the back, who possibly smokes a cigarette. This scene seemed to summarize the life of children in gang communities: poor nutrition and clothing, tears, tobacco smoke, isolation, and parental indifference. This boy’s possible fate was growing up into a brutal teenager with a shaved head and a gun who would spend most of his time outdoors (R. Rodriguez 507). However, this cruelty came not only from parents, but it was also introduced into suburbs through television, which praised physical strength over spirituality (R. Rodriguez 510). Another image of a 5-year-old boy sitting in front of the T.V. with a real gun accurately illustrated the transition from helpless children to teenagers long before the onset of physiological puberty. Indeed, it meant that childhood was forbidden in those regions at that time. Overall, the author was able to channel the child’s emotional suffering and his devastation with the lifestyle that members of his community continued to conduct.
Being Exposed to Violence Since Childhood
The second photograph that was an example of “quiet violence” was “Chivo,” where a man was teaching his little daughter to hold a firearm. Since Joseph Rodriguez aimed to demonstrate the impact of brutality, he took pictures of children exposed to violence since infancy. In fact, instead of reading fairytales to the child, Chivo wanted the girl to learn to defend herself at an early age. However, such training sessions might not remain insignificant for the girl’s development. She would possibly have to share the fate of her counterparts of either participating in street fights or putting on heavy make-up and becoming another “child-woman” (R. Rodriguez 505). Notably, there were no signs of abuse or neglect in this case; conversely, both father and mother expressed their love and care. Furthermore, the parents seemed equally involved in the child’s upbringing. Still, it appears that the picture’s central message is that the gang path awaits the girl because her parents could not imagine and offer a different future to their daughter.
The third image representing ruined family and childhood was “Child of a Gang Family Looks On.” This photograph depicted the average child being raised in poor conditions and walking the streets without supervision and proper clothing. This boy’s facial expression made him look like an adult gangster who was placed in a toddler’s body. The child might have seen fights and murder, and thus he was probably “seduced by the cult of power,” which is gained through violence (R. Rodriguez 507). Moreover, the boy in this picture seemed to depict an average Hispanic immigrant, associated with a “monster” by the U.S. citizens (R. Rodriguez 507). In fact, Richard Rodriguez claimed in his essay “Gangsta” that the entire city was responsible for broken families and lives in suburbs because the propaganda of cruelty often came from wealthy regions (507). Overall, the photo showed that this adult-looking boy was still a small child who should have received help from adults to overcome his trauma by developing new habits.
Illicit Drugs
The fourth photograph about silent violence is “Chivo Turns a Homegirl on to Cocaine.” It appears that this image illustrates the man’s care by holding a tray for a homegirl; however, since it is a tray with an illicit drug, it is indirect harm to the girl’s health. In fact, this image is one of Rodriquez’s works that serves as a metaphor for the roughness of people living in ghettos.
Young Motherhood
The fifth picture about hard life in the ghetto is “Young Mother,” depicting a girl holding an infant and a large poster of two women, old and young, in the background. As Richard Rodriquez pointed out in his essay, children were forced to mature faster in that environment, resulting in many young females looking like adult women and having children (505). Although the photographer took these pictures in a short period of time in the early 1990s, through this photo, he seemed to illustrate the generational issue of becoming a parent early in life. It did not mean that young people could not escape this fate, but in that case, they should have received the right mindset to strive for a better life.
Sexual Harassment
The sixth image about the silent cruelty is “Husky Teases a Homegirl from Another Neighborhood.” Rodriguez probably wanted to illustrate that all forms of harassment, which is also violence, exist in ghettos. The fact that the girl is sad in this photograph proves that the young man’s actions towards her were unpleasant. Even though this type of relationship was possibly typical for their circle, young women seem to become the victims of bad treatment.
Children-Women
The seventh photograph that displays hardship that adolescents have to go through in East L.A. is “The Insane Juvenile Queens.” This image shows two sad girls in the foreground, with one holding her head on the back of another. Although the description for this picture suggests that the central message was that girls support each other in going through hardships, the quiet violence can be seen in this case, too. Indeed, the lack of understanding and communication with their parents forces these girls to share their personal issues and seek help from their friends. However, they may not have enough knowledge and wisdom to give a piece of good advice. It appears that systemic violence stems from shootings in the streets and broken families.
Conclusion
In summary, photographs taken by Joseph Rodriguez are the essential historical elements that represent cruelty that was passed across generations by lifestyle and supported by television. An American reporter Richard Rodriquez seems to perceive his images painfully, lamenting how people feel entirely comfortable about this violence. In his essay “Gangsta,” he suggests that it is essential for the government and media to create the propaganda of connectedness between children and nature to break this vicious cycle. There are seven most significant images of Joseph Rodriguez that showed the trauma of children born in the gang communities. These photographs were “Little Boy with His Father,” “Husky,” “Young Mother,” “Chivo,” and “Child of a Gang Family,” “The Insane Juvenile Queens,” and “Chivo Turns a Homegirl on to Cocaine.” Through these pictures, Rodriguez could show physical and emotional violence that ruined families, creating a cohort of children isolated from normal life because they could not complete their education and find employment. Instead, these children were taught to take guns and go to the streets, where they either got shot or arrested, the only two paths they could have at that time.
Works Cited
Martinique, Elena. Rodríguez. Wide Walls, 2022, Web.
Rodriguez, Joseph. “Gang Life in East L.A.” The New Americans, Web.
Rodriguez, Richard. “Gangstas.” Convergencies: Themes, Texts, & Images for Composition, edited by Robert Atwan. 3rd ed. St. Martin’s Press, 2009, pp. 502-510.