Description
The Aguilar Papers and Photographs include the personal and professional materials of Laura Aguilar and occupy 2.75 linear
feet. The collection traces through correspondence with mentors and friends both Aguilar's artistic development and her struggle
with dyslexia. Her professional achievements are detailed in the series on exhibitions and published works. The print series
includes original prints of three of Aguilar's photographic series:
Latina Lesbians, Plush Pony, and
Clothed/Unclothed.
Background
Laura Aguilar is a photographer whose works are mostly portraits. Professor Chon Noriega of UCLA's Department of Film and
Television writes that Aguilar's work documents "social groups and identities that remain invisible in mainstream culture:
Latina lesbians, black couples, obese people, et al." She cooperates with her subjects so that "her work is not about power
differentials between photographer and subject as is often, if implicitly, the case with...the social documentary tradition."
An autobiographical element is also apparent in Aguilar's work. Art critic Diana Emery Hulick noted that "the circumstances
of [Aguilar's] life are reflected overtly in her art." Aguilar, Hulick wrote, "is large, lesbian, and Chicana, acutely aware
of her separateness, yet comfortable enough with herself to present us with a personal vision that is both intimate and authoritative."
Restrictions
Property rights reside with the repository. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For
permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the Public Services Librarian of the Dept. of Special Collections.