Provo People

To a certain degree, this assignment changed my life.

Since I wanted to photograph the Latin Americans of Provo (and use an excuse to speak Spanish again) and Andrew wanted to revisit his mission memories trekking through the Texan trailer parks, we set out together to explore the trailer parks of Provo. 

Andrew's objective: Share a literal, every day perspective from immigrants

My objective: Capture a raw and truthful moment of the lives of Provo Latinos

We made it a goal to talk to these people and get to know them, so that they would feel comfortable enough to have their picture taken. Below each photo, get to know these people I came to adore.

Meet José.

He has lived in Provo for over 10 years and has never heard of the Book of Mormon. He has been going to the doctor for quite some time and desperately wants to learn English. 

Meet Karen's girls.

We saw these two beautiful girls playing outside with their young mother watching. We approached them slowly and asked to take their pictures. Karen, the mother, kindly agreed and began to tell us her story. She and her husband are both from the Dominican Republic and have been living here for years. All of her family remains in the D.R. and she talks to her mother daily. I imagine that she misses them immensely and wants them to meet her daughters.

As we left the house, I forgot my lens cap on the table.  Andrew and I took off scoping out our new friends in the neighborhood, walking around in the hot sun. An hour later, we see a mini van approach us. Karen reaches her hand out and gives me my lens cap, then pulls out two chilled bottles of water! Her daughters had asked her, "Mommy, aren't they thirsty?" and she followed that sweet impulse to drive around her neighborhood for an hour looking for us to give us water.

This lady doesn't know me! I'm just some BYU kid taking pictures of her kids on the lawn. Yet, she thought of Andrew and me and reached out to us.

There are good people in the world.

Meet María.

She speaks little English and lives with her four children, and their chihuahua "Chancho". She laughs easily and welcomed us onto her patio with no hesitation. From the short time we spent with her, I could tell that she dedicates her life to her family. She and her family seem to hold tight to their Mexican roots and her children say that she is one heck of a cook.

Meet Jesús.

He's quiet and reserved, yet hardworking. We found him watering his lawn and it took a few attempts to actually talk to him. He introduced us to his family and quietly laid on the floor to play with his baby sister. 

Meet Gabriel.

When Jesús (pictured above) led us into his house, Gabriel seemed a little taken aback to find two random college kids standing in his living room. We made small chat with him and found that he is a husband and a father of three. He and his family have lived here for over 10 years, while I assume that his parents remain in Mexico. Because of his size, he seems macho at first. But as you talk to him, you notice that he is more of a gentle giant kind of guy and the way he cuddled his baby daughter seemed so second nature to him. He must be an awesome father. 

This assignment really opened my eyes to the diversity of the "Mormonville" that is Provo, Utah. These families live a completely different life than the one I have known as a BYU student here. They have rich stories and backgrounds that add to the beauty of this place and a natural openness to let others learn about them. I love Provo!

^After receiving water bottles from Karen!^