Pedro
Guerrero captured on film
by
Jim Crawford
CAVE
CREEK – Frank Lloyd Wright is a cultural icon
in Arizona and the world. His body of work
had an unparalleled influence on American
architecture and his archives are housed in
Scottsdale.
Pedro
Guerrero, a renowned artist in his own genre,
was a young man when he met Wright in 1939
and became his chief photographer and confidant
until Wright’s death in 1959.
A
third generation Mexican‑American, Guerrero
left his Mesa home in the 1930s for the Art
Center School in Las Angeles and an education
far removed from the segregated environment
of small‑town Arizona.
From
those beginnings he has become one of the
world’s most widely recognized photographers
chronicling the works of not only Wright,
but acclaimed sculptor Alexander Calder and
abstract artist Louise Nevelson, among others.
Guerrero
not only created iconic photographs of Wright,
Calder and Nevelson, he also photographed
celebrity homes, art, and architecture for
leading architectural and home improvement
magazines.
Cave
Creek filmmaker Suzanne Johnson, the founder
and executive director of Gnosis, Ltd, has
documented the life and times of Guerrero
in a new film “Pedro E. Guerrero: The Portrait
of an Image‑Maker.”
The
film’s humor, personal anecdotes, interviews
with Guerrero, along with interviews of Guerrero’s
friends and family, as well as those of art
and architectural notables, plus Guerrero’s
celebrated photography, give the audience
a glimpse into the life of an artist whose
photographs are recognized worldwide, but
perhaps, not his face.
“Pedro
is an unheralded artist in my estimation,”
Johnson says. “We did the film to introduce
him to the world. We are trying to reach a
broader audience. The film appears to have
succeeded as a means of communicating who
Pedro is, where he went and what he did, and
I hope that means it will be seen as a contribution
to his legacy. More importantly though, as
a storyteller, I do feel that the film says
what I wanted to say.”
Guerrero
was very open to the notion of documenting
his life, Johnson noted.
“I liked the film a lot,” Guerrero says. “How
could anybody not like their life documented
in such a way? I was very moved by the fact
that someone was paying that much attention
to me.
“In
all of the comments and interviews, everyone
had some wonderful things to say about me,”
he adds. “I was kind of disappointed none
of them called me a S.O.B. That would have
made my life complete. I’m sure there is somebody
out there who thinks that.”
Johnson
was equally moved by the experience, she says.
“He
is very humble,” Johnson says. “He doesn’t
impose himself on anyone. Everything he
says is straight on, just like his photography.
Pedro is a gentleman. He has enriched my
life immeasurably with his grace and style,
with his generosity and kindness, with his
wit and humor. Pedro manifests integrity
and illustrates how to live a rich life
with dignity and personal authority.”
Guerrero
says he was in the right place at the right
time when he met Wright.
“Meeting
him opened every door for me for the rest
of my career,” he says. “I never had to
look for another job again. Work came to
me.”
The photographer’s art has changed a lot
in the ensuing years and Guerrero, now almost
90, says he’s trying to make peace with
digital photography.
