Laura Aguilar, "Latina Lesbians" series

The Hood Museum of Art is proud to have brought works from Aguilar's "Latina Lesbian" series into our permanent collection, the second-largest museum holding of original prints from this series. Relaxed and intimate, the photographs are all black and white portraits of women in their homes or outdoors, locations they felt connected to.

For this group of photographs, Aguilar collaborated with her subjects to create portraits that reflected their inner lives. The finished prints include short, handwritten statements from the women about one aspect of how they see themselves. The women in these portraits share their thoughts on being women, on the work they do, on aging, and on motherhood as well as being lesbians and Latinas. Together, the series creates a varied and positive picture of Latina lesbian life in the late 1980s.