'Pedro E Guerrero - A Photographer's Journey'
(Pedro E Guerrero / DVD / NR / 2015 / PBS)
Overview: "A Photographer's Journey" captures the remarkable life and work of Pedro Guerrero (1917-2012). He left behind thousands of photographs and nearly 15 hours of interviews beautifully shot in 2011.
DVD Verdict: As we all know by now, Pedro E. Guerrero (September 5, 1917 – September 13, 2012) was an American photographer. Known for his extraordinary access to Frank Lloyd Wright, he was one of the most sought-after architectural photographers of the 1950s.
In a career shift that was part serendipity and part the result of being black-listed by the major shelter magazines for his stance against the Vietnam War, he later concentrated on documenting the work and lives of two important American artists, Alexander Calder and Louise Nevelson.
This film tells, in his own words, the remarkable story of a Mexican American boy born and raised in segregated Mesa, Arizona in the early years of the 20th century who goes on to a remarkable international career.
Through his lens and voice we will explore Pedro's unique perspective on life, art, architecture and the artists he encountered. Guerrero used his outsider's eye to produce insightful and iconic portraits of Frank Lloyd Wright, Alexander Calder and Louise Nevelson as well as important images of modernist architecture. He was the first Hispanic to enroll in Wright's Taliesin Fellowship in 1939. Yet his story is largely unknown.
Ergo, in this PBS documentary 'American Masters: Pedro E Guerrero - A Photographer's Journey' showcases this artists work where, in some cases there are prominent black bars concealing parts of the artist's photographs of models! The reason is that Guerrero is an important enough artist to be on "American Masters" but pornographic enough to have his work mutilated and obscured by PBS! Now you can be the judge. This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.85:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs.
www.PBS.org