Opening Hours
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Daily: 10 A.M.–5 P.M.
Closed on Tuesdays
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Image not available
Visual Materials
Gelatin silver prints and photograph-based zines created by Valerie J. Bower. The We Are Essential (Mahalaga Tayo) portfolio includes eighty 8"x12" gelatin silver prints with a custom box: photographs 2021, printed 2024. Bower produced this set of prints from the photographs used in the We Are Essential (Mahalaga Tayo) zine, a homage to food distributors, farmworkers and the Manong generation of Filipino immigrants to Central California in the 1920s-1970s. For the zine, Bower visited the town of Delano, north of Los Angeles, to photograph the grape farms and historic Filipino Community Hall, where much of the 1965 Delano Grape Strike organizing took place. While researching the zine, Bower also had conversations with her mother, an immigrant to California from Butuan, Philippines, about the roots and significance of food in Filipino culture. She also photographed restaurants and cultural signage of Historic Filipinotown near downtown Los Angeles, Filipino markets in Long Beach and Carson, a major Filipino food product distributor, and followed volunteers who were preparing and delivering food to Filipino eldersOther prints include seven miscellaneous prints from 2016-2019, and eight 8"x12" gelatin silver prints: photographs 2015, printed 2024. These photographs were originally reproduced in Gusmano Cesaretti's Fotofolio publication featuring car club and lowrider scenes taken around Watts, North Hollywood, Crenshaw, and East Los Angeles.
photCL 747
Image not available
Visual Materials
Gelatin silver prints and photograph-based zines created by Valerie J. Bower. The We Are Essential (Mahalaga Tayo) portfolio includes eighty 8"x12" gelatin silver prints with a custom box: photographs 2021, printed 2024. Bower produced this set of prints from the photographs used in the We Are Essential (Mahalaga Tayo) zine, a homage to food distributors, farmworkers and the Manong generation of Filipino immigrants to Central California in the 1920s-1970s. For the zine, Bower visited the town of Delano, north of Los Angeles, to photograph the grape farms and historic Filipino Community Hall, where much of the 1965 Delano Grape Strike organizing took place. While researching the zine, Bower also had conversations with her mother, an immigrant to California from Butuan, Philippines, about the roots and significance of food in Filipino culture. She also photographed restaurants and cultural signage of Historic Filipinotown near downtown Los Angeles, Filipino markets in Long Beach and Carson, a major Filipino food product distributor, and followed volunteers who were preparing and delivering food to Filipino eldersOther prints include seven miscellaneous prints from 2016-2019, and eight 8"x12" gelatin silver prints: photographs 2015, printed 2024. These photographs were originally reproduced in Gusmano Cesaretti's Fotofolio publication featuring car club and lowrider scenes taken around Watts, North Hollywood, Crenshaw, and East Los Angeles.
photCL 747
Image not available
Visual Materials
Gelatin silver prints and photograph-based zines created by Valerie J. Bower. The We Are Essential (Mahalaga Tayo) portfolio includes eighty 8"x12" gelatin silver prints with a custom box: photographs 2021, printed 2024. Bower produced this set of prints from the photographs used in the We Are Essential (Mahalaga Tayo) zine, a homage to food distributors, farmworkers and the Manong generation of Filipino immigrants to Central California in the 1920s-1970s. For the zine, Bower visited the town of Delano, north of Los Angeles, to photograph the grape farms and historic Filipino Community Hall, where much of the 1965 Delano Grape Strike organizing took place. While researching the zine, Bower also had conversations with her mother, an immigrant to California from Butuan, Philippines, about the roots and significance of food in Filipino culture. She also photographed restaurants and cultural signage of Historic Filipinotown near downtown Los Angeles, Filipino markets in Long Beach and Carson, a major Filipino food product distributor, and followed volunteers who were preparing and delivering food to Filipino elders.Other prints include seven miscellaneous prints from 2016-2019, and eight 8"x12" gelatin silver prints: photographs 2015, printed 2024. These photographs were originally reproduced in Gusmano Cesaretti's Fotofolio publication featuring car club and lowrider scenes taken around Watts, North Hollywood, Crenshaw, and East Los Angeles.Also included are copies of eleven of Bower's zines: Girls L.A., 2016; Homegirls, 2017; Tonight, 2019; Picture Us, 2021; We Are Essential (Mahalaga Tayo), 2021; Watts (revisited), 2023; Now and Forever, 2023; JP17: photographs 2017, published 2024; Philippines Street: photos 2016, published 2024; Blue Line: photographs 2014, 2015, published 2024; and Tropikal: photographs 2009, 2011, 2016, published 2025.
photCL 747
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Visual Materials
Collection of 49 gelatin silver prints of various sizes, chiefly 11 x 14 or 16 x 20 inches. Several are mounted on board.
photCL 658
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Visual Materials
This series includes a hand-formed copper wire cursive signature label for x-rays, 15 mounted gelatin silver prints, and one photographic postcard. All prints in this series are mounted and signed or inscribed unless otherwise indicated.
photCL 754
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Visual Materials
The collection consists of 61 gelatin silver prints made from x-ray negatives produced by Dr. Dain Loren Tasker. The collection also includes one hand-formed copper wire cursive signature label for x-rays and a hand-hammered copper and wood photograph album cover. A small number of the prints are labeled and signed by the artist. The prints depict x-ray images of a variety of flowers and plants as well as one snail. The prints range in size from 9 x 12.5 cm to 32 x 40 cm.
photCL 754