“Spirit of a community” documentary photography exhibition by rod rolle

Rod Rolle’s documentary photography featuring the Guadalupe community is on view in the County Administration Building Garden Atrium located at 111 E. Anapamu St., Santa Barbara, CA, 93101.

In 1988-89, Rolle made frequent trips to Guadalupe over a period of one year to chronicle the mural and community in tandem with artist Judy Baca’s Guadalupe Mural Project. Rolle and Baca were commissioned by the Santa Barbara County Arts Commission through the County’s Percent for Arts Program.

Following Baca’s request to create a photographic concept reflecting Guadalupe, Rolle suggested they invite the entire population of Guadalupe to gather in the town’s main street for a “self-portrait.” On April 29, 1989, The Big Picture was taken, and remains an enduring vision of community today. Rolle expressed gratitude for the cooperation of the community, “to take a picture that became a marker in time”. The Big Picture and other photographs from the project were subsequently exhibited in World Wall: A Vision of the Future Without Fear at the Smithsonian Institution: Experimental Gallery in Washington D.C. Baca’s Guadalupe Mural remains on view at the Guadalupe City Hall.