Frank Blazquez

The Gallegos Twins from Belen, NM

Many of Frank Blazquez’s photographic subjects were born and raised around Albuquerque, in a neighborhood known as the War Zone. Characterized by gun violence, police brutality, and drug addiction, the War Zone serves as a backdrop to the new "Wild West." After achieving sobriety from his own drug addiction, Blazquez turned to the camera to explore the stories of those around him. The resulting portraits, such as The Gallegos Twins from Belen, NM, examine the ways in which War Zone residents define their identities.

Unlike historical images of the Western frontier as a landscape, Blazquez's photographs focus on humans. In The Gallegos Twins from Belen, NM, the central visual tension emerges from the minute differences between the sisters' appearances. One sister dons baby hair edges that are popular within Black and Latine hair culture. Her counterpart sports hoop earrings, thin eyebrows, and winged eyeliner done in the Chola style.

These visual signifiers are important modes of expressing feminine Chicane identity within the United States. In this portrait, the Gallegos sisters claim their individuality amid diverse cultural narratives that inform the new “Wild West.”