It's been a long time coming. Who knew what would eventually happen when in 1989 I took a career detour to create the Essence Foundation and to help George O. Jackson, Jr. in his quest to photograph the festivals of Mexico's indegenous tribes? I had a ball traveling with George O to places that had never seen a blue-eyed redhead--and a few who had but tended to stone them! I got hundreds of my own photographs and plenty of stories, but of course George O fearlessly penetrated the heart of every festivity to capture the soul of the people on film. I produced two exhibits of his work that opened at Houston Museum of Science and travelled the world, but we always knew we had a tiger by the tail and dreamed of bigger things.
I finally had to go back to work, but GOJJR stuck with it, continuing to photograph, work to bring order to his millions of images and keep his project alive. Many folks on both sides of the border agreed to the project's importance, and committed to funding George O's activity. George O had a singular goal in mind--The Smithsonian -- and he worked his goal every minute of every day for years. Which just goes to show you what determination can accomplish.
On September 25, we all gathered for huge festivities for George O's opening at The Smithsonian.
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