Image courtesy of JANM
A 40-Year History of the Japanese American Community through the Lens of Photojournalist Mario Gershom Reyes
JANM on the Go and Mercado La Paloma Present OBRAS DE LUZ (Works of Light)
Mercado La Paloma is honored to welcome OBRAS DE LUZ (Works of Light), a free pop-up photo exhibition presented in partnership with JANM on the Go.
This exhibition celebrates the extraordinary work of photojournalist Mario Gershom Reyes, whose images documented more than 40 years of Japanese American community life in Los Angeles. Through his longtime work with The Rafu Shimpo, Los Angeles’s Japanese American newspaper since 1903, Reyes captured the milestones, tragedies, celebrations, and victories that shaped generations of community history.
Born in Mexico City and raised in Los Angeles, Reyes began working at The Rafu Shimpo while still a senior at Roosevelt High School. Over the next four decades, he became a trusted and familiar presence in Little Tokyo, photographing everything from Nisei Week Parades and political protests to schoolchildren, athletes, artists, and everyday community life.
“During the day, I lived in Japanese culture, then I’d go home and go back to living in Mexican culture at night,” Reyes once reflected.
By bringing OBRAS DE LUZ to Mercado La Paloma, JANM and Mercado La Paloma are proud to connect neighborhoods, histories, and communities through the power of photography, memory, and shared cultural experience.
The exhibition is free and open to the public at Mercado La Paloma.
Media Sponsor: The Rafu Shimpo
