Finding splendor, sweetness in local Latino life

Hugo Ludeña's got the reflexes of a photojournalist and the eye of a painter. His high-voltage photographs tell it all.

Ludeña's been roaming Seattle-area neighborhoods for 13 years documenting activities, places and cultural events that many of us locals never see, landmark days in the lives of the Northwest's thriving Latino community: traditional Michoacán weddings, quinceañeras (a rite-of-passage party for 15-year-old girls), Fiestas Patrias (Independence Day celebrations), baptisms. It's all camera food for him.

Public exposure of Ludeña's work is just beginning and "Latino Life in the Northwest," at Seattle Central Community College's M. Rosetta Hunter Gallery, will no doubt win him a lot of fans. I'm one. So, it seems ironic that the whole project started almost accidentally, not long after Ludeña moved to Seattle.

"I got started when I was freelancing for the Spanish newspaper La Voz," he told me. "They needed a photographer and the editor couldn't pay me so she said I could put an ad in so somebody could call me for photography. And suddenly people started calling, getting married, quinceañeras, baptisms, celebrations — and there were not so many photographers who speak Spanish."

Ludeña found himself with a busy schedule, but the kind of gigs many shooters consider grunt work: face to the camera set-ups of Mom, Dad, uncles and aunts for the picture album. "But I would be hanging around the kitchen and photographing for myself," Ludeña said. "I was doing it for fun and found that most of the families were from Mexico and the traditions are so different than mine from Peru. It was interesting and a surprise. I started collecting images. I now have about 20,000."

One knockout, "Chambelanes" or Chamberlains, shows a sexy diagonal sweep of a wine-colored automobile with three nervous boys in the backseat, their tuxedo coats carefully stowed to prevent wrinkles. Maybe it's an uncle at the wheel, looking ever so experienced in the rituals of manhood. The boys are on their way to be attendants at a quinceañera, an honor surely, as well as a slightly scary responsibility they will likely never forget. The well-groomed car with its sparkling chrome is the perfect vehicle for the polished males reenacting a tradition of courtly attentiveness. And is that a glimpse of the photographer in the wing window?

Ludeña, 40, grew up in Lima and moved to the U.S. when his father, a professor of anthropology, was awarded a Fulbright scholarship exchange to the University of Colorado. He studied art, photography and photojournalism, eventually coming to Seattle through a chance job offer. Once here, he moved around a lot, living in the U district, Greenwood, Burien, Auburn, now Bellevue.

"I was supporting the businesses, going to the bakery, the tortilla place, with my camera around and seeing how the community was getting involved and organized." Everywhere he looked he found life happening, full of sweetness, amazements and audacious color. Now he's sharing a taste of it with us.

Sheila Farr: sfarr@seattletimes.com