Ten pairs of eyes stare across the white room of the Museum of Contemporary Photography, capturing the interest of any passersby. The eyes are a part of a series of photographs entitled De Colores by Juan Pacheco. Though it is the only piece this photographer had in the show, it was by far the most emotive.
The entire museum features photographs documenting the Hispanic community. Entire rooms are dedicated to chronicling Pilsen, border crossing, and Mexican nightlife. Though all of the pieces were meaningful most were meant to document rather than emote. De Colores stood out from the other pieces featured at the museum because it emitted a sense of personal interaction. The viewer can feel the artist putting himself into the work.
De Colores is a collection of ten pictures arranged in 2 vertical columns. When stacked on top of one other they easily reach over 6 feet tall. If the height alone wasn’t intimidating enough, the ten gleaming sets of men’s eyes set a tone of uneasiness with the audience. All the men in the photographs are of different ages and races. Since the photos were taken at such close range, the texture and tone of each man’s skin is emphasized. Each wrinkle and crevice gives the viewer a sense of what each man has been through.
De Colores examines the severity of racial profiling. Pacheco is Hispanic and has been wrongfully judged many times in his life because of his race. As the saying goes, eyes are the window into the soul and Pacheco has chosen to leave the men's other facial features out of his photographs. Though this choice was meant to be symbolic it also intensifies the men’s emotions. The passion that each man stares at the viewer with is so strong it makes the audience feel uncomfortable. A blued eyed man’s watery gaze begs the audience ‘why?’ while a set of dark brown eyes confronts the audience with a piercing stare. The audience interacts with all ten pairs of eyes. The viewer may avert their gaze but the men in De Colores stare back.
After studying each face and taking in every small detail, the audience begins to break through to each man’s true feelings. Each set of eyes, behind the initial emotion, has an intense sense of hurt. The feelings of being watched wash away and the viewer can begin to feel empathy for these men.
Eyes are the window into the soul and Pacheco’s piece, De Colores, brings this saying to life. The intense emotions and play between viewer and the viewed is intimate in way that other pieces in the gallery were not.
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