Presentation: Star Montana

Star Montana is a Chicana photographer artist from the East Los Angeles neighborhood, Boyle Heights. The population of Boyle Heights is primarily Latino/a at 95% in 2011 according to the Census Bureau. The city exhibits a variety of disparities within education, healthcare, and criminal justice systems. Montana shared her Chicana perspective and life through her non-digital, disposable camera lenses since finances were limited. Montana’s grandmother provided her many disposable cameras which produced a distinct style of photograph when compared to average digital photos; this is a photography style she has maintained with a 35mm camera. Montana went to East Los Angeles College (ELAC) in 2011 where she received her Associates of Arts in Photography. College level photography classes were offered for free at ELAC for high school students which served as a great opportunity for the budding photographer in Montana. After transferring from community college, she completed her BFA two years later at School of Visual Arts in New York City. She is currently approaching her second year in an MFA program at USC Roski School of Art and Design.  

What initially drew me in about her was her presentation at ‘Artist Talk’ at the Chicano Studies Research Center during my first quarter at UCLA in October 2016. I was using a restroom close to the CSRC Library and stumbled into the event randomly. I didn’t stay long but her name stuck to me which deemed useful for this class! However, this assignment made me appreciate her work as I got to learn about it better than the my prior exposure to Montana. Her photos are raw, real, and rare. Her exhibitions are a photo diary which provided a more personalized perspective. The simplicity of her photos contain the complexity she and the city has endured.