Rebecca Mizrahi '94
ARTIST STATEMENT
After more than a decade working in South Los Angeles and Central California as a social worker, I felt driven to pick up a camera. I realized that photography could be a powerful creative outlet as well as a tool for social change. I feel most compelled by personal and documentary projects. In recent years, I’ve had the privilege of collaborating with organizations like This Is About Humanity, a nonprofit that supports separated and reunified families at the border. The combination of fear, determination and love inside migrant family shelters is intense but inspiring. Life is both heartbreaking and beautiful and my goal with this kind of documentary work is to capture that paradox. I aim to showcase the subtle and often overlooked moments of humanity, the vulnerable, intimate stories of survival and resilience. I use photography as a means to bear witness, to convey intangible emotional connections that help to educate, advocate, and inspire others toward their own small acts of social change.
What art classes did you take while at Crossroads? Photography, dance, ceramics, film.
How did Crossroads help to shape or influence you as an artist? I first picked up a camera in my seventh grade photography class. I immediately fell in love with the capture and printmaking process. In high school, I took up dance, ceramics and film. Appreciation for the arts was woven into every part of the curriculum at Crossroads. It was just in the air. It greatly impacted the way I see the world and everything I do today.
Rebecca Mizrahi '94
Holding Pattern, 2019
Digital Photography - Archival pigment prints on professional-grade photographic matte paper, with fade-resistant inks
17" x 20", framed
$800
This boy was living in a 30- day migrant shelter in Tijuana when I met him. The tent he slept in with his family was ruined a few days before when a powerful rainstorm flooded the shelter. This Is About Humanity brought volunteers, food and new supplies. He was waiting in a corner, exhausted, while the shelter was cleaned and repaired.
Rebecca Mizrahi '94
Migrant Mother in Tent, 2019
Digital Photography - Archival pigment prints on professional-grade photographic matte paper, with fade-resistant inks
17" x 20", framed
$500
Migrant shelters in Tijuana are full of women and children. Most are fleeing extreme violence and poverty and feel there is no choice but to leave their homes. The family living in this tent was seeking asylum in the United States. They were grateful for the support provided by This is About Humanity while they waited at the border. Like so many others, this grieving mother expressed fear and anxiety but also showed tremendous resilience and determination to provide her daughters with a safe and secure future.
rebeccamizrahi@gmail.com
@rizmiz
Rebecca Mizrahi '94
Playas de Tijuana Border Wall, 2019
Digital Photography - Archival pigment prints on professional-grade photographic matte paper, with fade-resistant inks
29" x 20", framed
$500
This border wall separates Playas de Tijuana, Mexico, from San Diego, California in the United States. It stretches all the way out into the ocean. This specific section of the wall was painted by This Is About Humanity, in an area called Friendship Park. For years, the area was a place of communion between two cultures. People used to walk back and forth through "the door of hope" but now the door is sealed.
rebeccamizrahi@gmail.com
@rizmiz
A portion of proceeds from any purchase will be donated to This is About Humanity.