Documenting Injustice and Hope with Photographer Alan Pogue

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220px-Alan_Pogue-APR21Longtime Texas Observer contributing photographer Alan Pogue has mounted a collection of his photography at La Peña in Austin. Pogue, whose work is known for its wide-ranging humanitarian and social-justice focus, has spent nearly half a century photographing people whose plights often go unseen: migrant farm workers, displaced Hurricane Katrina survivors, the poor, the sick and the imprisoned. His archive is one of the most impressive catalogs of social justice movements and activism of its time.

Most recently Pogue has aimed his efforts at raising awareness of the injustices faced by factory workers across the border in Mexico. In the Observer‘s December issue, Pogue and staff writer Melissa del Bosque document the unfortunate story of Rosa Moreno, a Reynosa maquiladora worker who lost her hands to a hydraulic press in an HD Electronics plant. Pogue hopes the story will inspire donations to provide Moreno with a set of prosthetic hands.

The exhibition—”A Retrospective Look at 46 Years of Peace and Justice Photography”—contains photographs spanning Pogue’s 46-year career, highlighting the hardships faced by Texans and citizens from around the world, notably in Israel and Palestine. Pogue’s book Witness for Justice will also be available for purchase.

An opening reception is scheduled for 6-8 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 7, at La Peña Gallery, 227 Congress Ave. The exhibition will be on view through Dec. 31, 2013.