At the Pear Fair, Courtland, California. © Kathya Landeros. — *At the Pear Fair,* Courtland, California. © Kathya Landeros.

Interview by Rose Wind Jerome

Kathya Maria Landeros is a Mexican-American photographer and educator. Influenced by her bi-cultural upbringing, her work from the past decade focuses on Latinx communities and the exploration of history, migration, representation, and belonging. Her photographs primarily capture longstanding immigrant communities in the American West where her family, along with many other Latino immigrants, settled due to an ongoing presence of agricultural work. Investigating the ties between economy, labor, and community have been central to her photographic work.

Dulce is one chapter of a larger project and explores the suburbs through the lens of childhood. It is a world of play, Abuelita’s flower garden, superheroes, and chihuahuas.

Panchito, near Williams, California © Kathya Landeros. — *Panchito,* near Williams, California © Kathya Landeros.

The Radio Flyer, Sacramento, California. © Kathya Landeros. — *The Radio Flyer,* Sacramento, California. © Kathya Landeros.

What does “Dulce” mean?
Dulce means sweet in Spanish.

Can you talk a bit about the project and why the name “Dulce” is fitting?

Dulce is one of several chapters of my ongoing body of work on Latinx immigrant culture. I have this family photograph of my parents standing proudly in front of their new home in the suburbs of Northern California, in a part of town that back then was still surrounded by farmland. They were so proud. I know that many photographers have made images of the suburbs, looking at these tract developments from a critical perspective–understandably so. But for my parents, who were immigrants, buying a home in the suburbs meant they had achieved part of the American Dream. Living here represented a degree of upward mobility and a place to raise their family in a lifestyle unimaginable to them before. There is a sweetness and sanguinity to what the suburbs symbolize to me.

At the same time, I imagined this world in vibrant technicolor of films from the past. In particular, I was thinking of some of the early Disney films in color that I watched as a child. Of course, it was a very narrow representation of the world, devoid of any diversity. These photographs are my corrective, and a reflection of something idyllic.

Washing the Car, Sacramento, California © Kathya Landeros. — *Washing the Car,* Sacramento, California © Kathya Landeros.

As a new mother, do the images you make of children take on new meaning?

Yes! I’ve always loved making photographs of children and capturing a little bit of their unique and individual personalities, their interior worlds made exterior. Now that I’m a mother, I get to experience this firsthand, and I do think (or hope) that it makes me keener in how I portray children in my photographs.

Playing the Superhero, Sacramento, California © Kathya Landeros. — *Playing the Superhero,* Sacramento, California © Kathya Landeros.

As far as process, my understanding is that you always shoot 4x5 film. Can you talk a little bit about that decision, why it’s important to your creative process, and also some of the challenges you face using this analog method in a predominantly digital world?

I use predominantly 4x5 large format color negative film and mix it up with medium for practical reasons. When I’m out and about making pictures, my Fujinon cameras serve as a backup for when I run out of 4x5 film. Using film has become a habit for me. It’s a slow but thoughtful mediation of my environment. The large format lends itself to this slower way of looking. Through many years of practice, I’ve come to understand how my cameras work, and how my lenses see and interpret the scene when I look through the ground glass or viewfinder.

For Dulce, I also mixed a lot of flash with natural light to saturate the colors. Kodak Portra film renders color and light beautifully. I am sure that one could reproduce this in digital, but that requires an upfront investment in time and money. Digital often serves as a distraction for me. I have no self-control and can’t stop myself from looking at my images immediately. How many pictures have I lost doing this? As the event has unfolded in front of me, I’ve been too busy reviewing images on my LCD panel!

The biggest and most prohibitive challenge with film is cost. Although I’ve adapted my practice to be purposeful in what I take pictures of, the tipping point might arrive soon where I will have to alter my practice in order to sustain it.

Describe your creative process in one word.

Responsive.

At the Pool, Sacramento, California ©Kathya Landeros. — *At the Pool,* Sacramento, California ©Kathya Landeros.

If you could teach a one-hour class on anything, what would it be?

It would be an hour of quiet contemplation, without spoken conversation, while walking and observing the world around us. One of my favorite children’s book is “The Listening Walk” by Paul Showers, and I’ve always wanted to model a class after it – to take my students outside and just spend an hour listening to the ambient noise, looking closely and without technology to distract us.

What was the last book you read or film you saw that inspired you?

The documentary film “Time” by Garrett Bradley. It’s so beautifully seen through a mix of archival footage and Bradley’s observant eye and economy of visual language. I haven’t been this transfixed by a contemporary film in a very long time. I hope everyone watches it.

What is the most played song in your music library?

Anything by Cat Power. Maybe “The Greatest.” I absolutely relish her voice.

How do you take your coffee?

Black. Unsweetened. Made with an espresso machine so it has some crema.