A photo from Crisostomo's Pulitzer-winning portfolio of images of Detroit's Southwestern High School
To celebrate our 2016 centennial, the Pulitzer Prizes partnered with America’s state and territorial humanities councils as part of the Pulitzer Campfires Initiative. Each participating council took up the challenge in its own way.
Guam, or Guåhan, celebrated the career of its native son, Manny Crisostomo, with an exhibition and programming around his career as a photographer, capturing his talks on video.
By MONAEKA FLORES
Humanities Guåhan presented "Art + Journalism — Manny Crisostomo, 40 Years of Images," an exhibit and complementary programs highlighting the career of the Guam’s sole Pulitzer Prize winner — multimedia photojournalist Manny Crisostomo. This exhibit opened on September 15, 2016, and included over 150 photographs, representing some of the best of Manny’s exceptional and diverse body of work from the past forty years.
Manny won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography in 1989 for a special section in the Detroit Free Press, “A Class Act, The Life and Times of Southwestern High School,” which documented student experiences and the dynamics of an inner-city high school.
His series entitled, “The Leftover People,” chronicled the last wave of Hmong refugees making their way from Thailand to Sacramento, and won the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for the Disadvantaged in international photography in 2005.
Manny’s multimedia four-part series on childhood obesity, “The Weight,” followed three students at the nation’s first weight loss boarding school, and earned Manny the McClatchy President’s Award as well as an EPPY Award in 2007.
The exhibit celebrated these three award-winning works as well as Manny’s early work, his iconic images of Guam and Micronesia, Legacy of Guam: I Kustumbren Chamoru, Latte Magazine, and more recent works, including images taken in Guam during the Festival of Pacific Arts.
Humanities Guåhan hosted a variety of exhibition programs throughout the 6-week venue that included a public lecture by Manny, a photographer’s conversation with Manny, and a tour and discussion with social justice students from the University of Guam.
Humanities Guåhan hosted a conversation with Manny and local aspiring, novice, and professional photographers on Saturday, 9/17/16 at their headquarters in Hagatna, Guam. Manny led the conversation focusing on both technical and creative aspects of photography, while participants shared their experiences and sources of inspiration.
In partnership with the University of Guam, Humanities Guåhan hosted a lecture by Manny entitled, “Connecting With Your Creative Soul,” on Wednesday, September 2, 2016 at the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Lecture Hall, in Mangilao, Guam. The presentation included an introduction by Dr. Robert Underwood, President of the University of Guam.
Lastly, Manny Crisostomo hosted a tour with social justice students from the University of Guam on September 19 and September 26, 2016 at the Agana Shopping Center and focused on his series, “The Leftover People.” The students reflected on this and several other works and discussed the ways in which photojournalism and media bring light to important social justice issues. The discussion included reflection on “The Leftover People,” as well as “A Class Act: the Life and Times at Southwestern High School,” Latte Magazine, and Legacy of Guam — I Kustumbren Chamoru.
Through this exhibit and programs, Humanities Guåhan created a space to engage the local community with great journalism, art and history, and to deepen an understanding of their value. The organization sought to expose younger audiences who would not be familiar with Manny’s work to his outstanding career and its influence locally, regionally and nationally.
Video highlights were shot and edited by Edgar Flores and John Leon Guerrero.