Daniel Ramos (2018): The Land of Illustrious Men, 1999-2019

Extent:

1.0 Linear Foot (2 boxes)

Physical description:

Prints were created with archival Epson inks using an Epson Inket Jet Printer 9000 on Canson Plantine Fiber Rag paper. They range in size from 8 1/2 x 10 1/2 inches to 17 1/4 x 11 1/4 inches.

Scope and content:

Collection consists of 48 black-and-white and color inkjet prints of images and photo collages by Daniel Ramos, winner of the Center for Documentary Studies 2018 Lange-Taylor Prize. The project, The Land of Illustrious Men, examines the lives of people who have left their home country to pursue a different and improved life for themselves and for their families in the U.S. Taken in Monterrey, Mexico and in Chicago, Illinois, the photographs include portraits of Ramos's family members and friends in households or in outdoor settings, often surrounded with familiar and meaningful objects. There are also images of graffiti, burial sites, and other locations. A few of the collages include typed narrative text describing the family's migration from Mexico, and life as an immigrant family in Chicago. A photobook by the same name has been cataloged separately and can be located in the Duke Libraries catalog. The prints are in order as received by the photographer.

From the artist's statement: "The Land Of Illustrious Men is a photo-novella of my life as a son of working-class immigrants who came to America from Mexico in search of a better life. The series offers the viewer a glimpse of the personal story of each member of my family, and reveals the nature of their relationship to one another. I include my own experience - a childhood spent living between two worlds, and my decision to reject the blue-collar tradition that was to be my presumed legacy in order to become a photographer...Although my journey is personal, this project is an expression of a larger story about immigration, cultural identity, assimilation, and class that is shared and felt by many."

Biographical / historical:

Daniel Ramos (1978- ) is a documentary artist based in Chicago and Monterrey, Mexico. He graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a BA in Photography in 2003, and studied for an MFA at California College of the Arts in 2007. His work has been featured in CPW's "Photography Now" 2018 exhibition, AI-AP Latin American Fotografia 7, and the Lenscratch DeveloperXFor Freedoms online gallery. Daniel had his first solo show for his series, "The Land of Illustrious Men," at Filter Space in Chicago, Illinois in July, 2019. This project was awarded the 2018 Dorothea Lange-Paul Taylor Prize awarded by the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, and was featured in the New York Times "Lens" feature, and PDN Edu. A full artist's atatement is available in the collection.

Physical facet:

48 photographic prints

Contents

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