Dublin Core
Title
John Fuentes on Juan Fuentes
Subject
Juan Fuentes
Description
John Fuentes speaking about his grandfather, Juan Fuentes. Juan Fuentes, always with his camera at hand, photographed the realities of Hartford, specifically within the Puerto Rican community. His photography was displayed both throughout Hartford and nationally, and his work was published in community as well as major newspapers. He was extremely present within the community as he taught photography to students in Hartford schools and seniors through community organizations. For this line reference John Fuentes, his grandson, Lucy Fuentes, his wife, and Anelle Lopes’s interviews recounting Juan’s legacy.
Creator
Frog Hollow Oral History Research Team
Source
Interview
Publisher
Trinity College Liberal Arts Action Lab
Date
November 6, 2021
Contributor
Frog Hollow Oral History Research Team
Format
MP3, JPG
Language
English
Type
Interview
Identifier
Frog Hollow, Heroes of Frog Hollow, Juan Fuentes, Photography
Coverage
Heroes of Frog Hollow Project
Oral History Item Type Metadata
Interviewer
Sophie Sczurko, Kristina Kendall
Interviewee
John Fuentes
Location
The Park Street Library @ the Lyric
Transcription
John Fuentes (1).MP3
Speaker 1 [00:00:03] Hello. I'm John Fuentes. I'm here to celebrate Juan Fuentes who is my grandfather.
Speaker 2 [00:00:13] Can you share how this hero has impacted you personally?
Speaker 1 [00:00:15] I mean, he's uh, he's my grandfather. So I mean, he's uh, he's impacted me in multiple ways. You know, photography, music, you know, just becoming an adult. Being a black, a black male in Hartford and in America in general. And just, you know, the impact of what what it means to be a man and what it means to, you know, specifically impact somebody. I feel like, you know, I took on it when I was growing up, you know, helping people that, you know, specifically could, you know, use your influence.
Speaker 2 [00:01:07] Can you share how he has impaced the Frog Hollow community?
Speaker 1 [00:01:11] I mean, I think he's impacted, he was here like every day he especially when it came to photography, he was teaching classes. This was like his street. He would come here. We would go to the the market all the time. And it's like anywhere you go with him, there's like someone knows him. So it's like he's a celebrity. And without the paparazzi. So, you know, anywhere we go, someone's saying, Hi. Someone knows him. You know, I feel like just being here was like his second home. You know, so I feel like he impacted the Frog Hollow community in multiple ways with photography, just being an activists and just coming here often.
Speaker 2 [00:02:02] How do you think that the community can honor the legacy of his life?
Speaker 1 [00:02:06] I mean, with the mural that's a that's that's a good way of honoring his legacy, to be honest, letting people, you know, see who he was, who may not have been able to, you know, see him in person and or, you know, be around his vibe or, you know, just in general of being able to, you know, actually know him. But to know of him is even, you know, better than just not only knowing who he was, but you know, so I feel like the mural is a great way for people to see like, oh, this person is, I feel like with the murals and with everybody in general, just seeing the mural is going to make them want to now, OK, who are these people? Now I want to go and do research. I want to go find out who they are and why they're up there, because that's what I would do if I saw the mural, the first thing I want to know is, OK, well, like, what are these people on the wall? And, you know, like, who are they? So I feel like that's and plus it's like, right here. So, you know, people are going to walk and want to know and then they can like, I feel like the library is the is the focal point. So when they see it they're going to come here and ask questions. So it brings more traffic here as well.
Speaker 2 [00:03:20] Can you talk a little bit more about his photography and like, what was it, not what was it used for, but like where did you see it like did he do anything with the pictures?
Speaker 1 [00:03:33] Well, he when, you know, as he got older, he wasn't able to really like, go out as much. So he we have a darkroom in the basement. So he used to do like he developed his own photos like I can remember times coming home and coming to see my grandfather and he's like, don't don't open the door, you know, don't don't open the door. Because when you're developing film, it needs to be dark. Because any light comes in, it can it can basically damage the photo that he took. So he was like, you know, you have to knock on the wall and he'll tell you one second. And then when he's done, once he's done putting the picture, it was a whole process. It's like you have the bucket, you have another bucket and you have another bucket. And it's like you put the photo like what you guys were going now everything is digital. But you would take the negatives. You would put it in some type of solution. You would hang it up and then you would take it again. And somehow he got it from being on a small and it like the ink transferred from this paper to a big photo. So it's different from what you see now. Everything is just digital, it's just it's already there. But with the photography, they've done exhibits, I think actually at Capital Community, the high school Capital Prep they actually like had a class on him, which was like they were learning about him in school and they had did like an exhibit at the community college.
Speaker 2 [00:05:04] Do you have any questions for us?
Speaker 1 [00:05:06] Um, I don't. I mean, what do you guys feel is like how this impacts? I mean, you guys being at Trinity College, like, do you think it could bring in more students as well as you know?
Speaker 2 [00:05:23] I think there's just a general lack of knowledge about the surrounding neighborhood in general at Trinity, so taking classes like this. Honestly, like and even being here today, like really "q-ed" us in on to like how important people are in the community and how integral it is to make sure that you know, you pass it forward to, you know, make sure that the community stays over time and it's sustained and actually just gets better and better and like it was just really cool to see everyone.
Speaker 1 [00:06:02] Are you guys originally from here, you come from somewhere else and just going to the school?
Speaker 2 [00:06:07] I do live in Connecticut. I grew up though in the Stamford-Greenwich area, but I live in Stratford, Connecticut. So not too far away. From Maine.
Speaker 1 [00:06:15] From Maine? OK.
Speaker 2 [00:06:17] So yeah, I think it's just really important to, like, understand.
Speaker 1 [00:00:03] Hello. I'm John Fuentes. I'm here to celebrate Juan Fuentes who is my grandfather.
Speaker 2 [00:00:13] Can you share how this hero has impacted you personally?
Speaker 1 [00:00:15] I mean, he's uh, he's my grandfather. So I mean, he's uh, he's impacted me in multiple ways. You know, photography, music, you know, just becoming an adult. Being a black, a black male in Hartford and in America in general. And just, you know, the impact of what what it means to be a man and what it means to, you know, specifically impact somebody. I feel like, you know, I took on it when I was growing up, you know, helping people that, you know, specifically could, you know, use your influence.
Speaker 2 [00:01:07] Can you share how he has impaced the Frog Hollow community?
Speaker 1 [00:01:11] I mean, I think he's impacted, he was here like every day he especially when it came to photography, he was teaching classes. This was like his street. He would come here. We would go to the the market all the time. And it's like anywhere you go with him, there's like someone knows him. So it's like he's a celebrity. And without the paparazzi. So, you know, anywhere we go, someone's saying, Hi. Someone knows him. You know, I feel like just being here was like his second home. You know, so I feel like he impacted the Frog Hollow community in multiple ways with photography, just being an activists and just coming here often.
Speaker 2 [00:02:02] How do you think that the community can honor the legacy of his life?
Speaker 1 [00:02:06] I mean, with the mural that's a that's that's a good way of honoring his legacy, to be honest, letting people, you know, see who he was, who may not have been able to, you know, see him in person and or, you know, be around his vibe or, you know, just in general of being able to, you know, actually know him. But to know of him is even, you know, better than just not only knowing who he was, but you know, so I feel like the mural is a great way for people to see like, oh, this person is, I feel like with the murals and with everybody in general, just seeing the mural is going to make them want to now, OK, who are these people? Now I want to go and do research. I want to go find out who they are and why they're up there, because that's what I would do if I saw the mural, the first thing I want to know is, OK, well, like, what are these people on the wall? And, you know, like, who are they? So I feel like that's and plus it's like, right here. So, you know, people are going to walk and want to know and then they can like, I feel like the library is the is the focal point. So when they see it they're going to come here and ask questions. So it brings more traffic here as well.
Speaker 2 [00:03:20] Can you talk a little bit more about his photography and like, what was it, not what was it used for, but like where did you see it like did he do anything with the pictures?
Speaker 1 [00:03:33] Well, he when, you know, as he got older, he wasn't able to really like, go out as much. So he we have a darkroom in the basement. So he used to do like he developed his own photos like I can remember times coming home and coming to see my grandfather and he's like, don't don't open the door, you know, don't don't open the door. Because when you're developing film, it needs to be dark. Because any light comes in, it can it can basically damage the photo that he took. So he was like, you know, you have to knock on the wall and he'll tell you one second. And then when he's done, once he's done putting the picture, it was a whole process. It's like you have the bucket, you have another bucket and you have another bucket. And it's like you put the photo like what you guys were going now everything is digital. But you would take the negatives. You would put it in some type of solution. You would hang it up and then you would take it again. And somehow he got it from being on a small and it like the ink transferred from this paper to a big photo. So it's different from what you see now. Everything is just digital, it's just it's already there. But with the photography, they've done exhibits, I think actually at Capital Community, the high school Capital Prep they actually like had a class on him, which was like they were learning about him in school and they had did like an exhibit at the community college.
Speaker 2 [00:05:04] Do you have any questions for us?
Speaker 1 [00:05:06] Um, I don't. I mean, what do you guys feel is like how this impacts? I mean, you guys being at Trinity College, like, do you think it could bring in more students as well as you know?
Speaker 2 [00:05:23] I think there's just a general lack of knowledge about the surrounding neighborhood in general at Trinity, so taking classes like this. Honestly, like and even being here today, like really "q-ed" us in on to like how important people are in the community and how integral it is to make sure that you know, you pass it forward to, you know, make sure that the community stays over time and it's sustained and actually just gets better and better and like it was just really cool to see everyone.
Speaker 1 [00:06:02] Are you guys originally from here, you come from somewhere else and just going to the school?
Speaker 2 [00:06:07] I do live in Connecticut. I grew up though in the Stamford-Greenwich area, but I live in Stratford, Connecticut. So not too far away. From Maine.
Speaker 1 [00:06:15] From Maine? OK.
Speaker 2 [00:06:17] So yeah, I think it's just really important to, like, understand.
Original Format
Audio Recording
Duration
6 minutes