La Casita to feature work of Guatemala-born photographer

The La Casita Cultural Center will present “The Photographer as Child: Memories of Guatemala,” an exhibition of the work of award-winning photographer Efren Lopez, Jan. 27 through May 2 in the center’s gallery. An opening reception for the exhibit will be held Friday, Jan. 27, from 5:30-8 p.m.

The La Casita Cultural Center is located in the historic Lincoln Building, 109 Otisco St., Syracuse. Gallery hours are noon-6 p.m., Monday through Friday. The opening reception and exhibition are free and open to the public. The exhibition will be the focus of several related events, including “Efren Lopez: A Conversation with the Artist” at 5:30 p.m., Feb. 10, and a “Teen Photography Exhibit,” on March 2-23. Further information about related events is forthcoming and will be available on the La Casita website.

Born in Guatemala, Lopez is a student in the Military Photojournalism Program in Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. He is also an aerial photographer for the U.S. Air Force and the first reservist to be selected to attend Newhouse’s Military Photojournalism Program. He now lives in Arizona.

The exhibit features images Lopez captured on a return trip to Guatemala in 2009. “My life began in a bamboo hut at the side of a road in a tiny town named Petaca, Guatemala, in 1966,” Lopez writes. “It’s a town so small that it is next to impossible to find on most maps of Guatemala, much less Central America.”

Lopez has documented real-world situations and the military around the globe and has captured stunning images in Arizona and Guatemala. His work has been featured in various publications, including the book “Arizona 24/7” (Dorling Kindersley,  2004), and has been awarded many distinctions, including first place in the Professional Photography category at the 2008 Arizona State Fair, an honorable mention in the pictorial category in the 2009 Military Photographer of the Year competition, and first place in the 2011 Multimedia Team 19th Annual Department of Defense Worldwide Military Photography Workshop.

La Casita is a vibrant cultural, artistic and educational center supported by The College of Arts and Sciences and the Office of the Chancellor. The Center is committed to promoting and documenting the arts and culture of Central New York’s Latino/Latin American community through collaborative programming the visual and expressive arts, education and community activism.