Photographer Raul Rodriguez hangs a wooden picture frame on the walls of TCU’s Moudy Gallery. The image is an unusual perspective of the border wall. To the left sits Mexico, and to the right, the United States.
It conjures memories for Rodriguez, -- summers as a young boy, crossing that border from Brownsville, Texas into Tamaulipas, Mexico to visit family in Matamoros. It was their ritual.
Rodriguez returned to the wall years later to capture this image of the physical divide of two countries and to tell a personal story.
“I've always experienced my place being on both sides at the same time,” Rodriguez said.
It took two years and trips all around Texas to complete this body of work, part of his Masters thesis. The resulting show, Roots of Amnesia, had a message: Texas was shaped by migrants.
“I kind of put together (this gallery), based on some of the ideas that I have about the Texas region, Texas culture, but also Texas history -- a history that we don't often discuss or often hear about,” he said.
Rodriguez grew up in the historically Latino Fort Worth neighborhood, Northside. He credits his upbringing and culture with inspiring his artwork.
He took a photography course in high school, and said It was the first time a teacher ever said he was good at something. Now at 36, Rodriguez has dedicated his craft to uncovering and sharing the hidden stories of Mexicans Americans living in Texas.
“Eventually, I started to ask myself, what is the history that we have here? And how do I explore that with my photography,” he said.
From documenting young skaters in his old neighborhood, in a series called Marine Park, to capturing the stories of World War II-era migrant workers who came to the U.S. under the Braceros program, his work reflects an intimate understanding of his community.
In his show at TCU, he explored historical landmarks he feels are often overlooked. One photograph shows a blurry historical marker with the landscape in focus. This was the site of the 1918 Porvenir Massacre, when Texas Rangers and ranchers killed 15 Mexican men in West Texas.
A portrait of a young girl holding a bright orange accordion, situated in front of the iconic Rio Grande Valley, calls focus to the next generation of Tejano culture. And of course, the image of the border wall that stands prominently in his childhood memories.
was taken outside of the Texas Conjunto Music Hall of Fame & Museum in San Benito, TX, after her music class. The background shows a resaca, a former water channel of the Rio Grande River.
For Rodriguez, stories like these draw a deep connection to Texas and its people, and photography is one vehicle to keep them from being forgotten.
“So that's one of my personal imperatives, to remain here” he said. “Texas, it always calls me back...there's still work to be done.”