A collection of intimate photographs documenting the lives of fiercely private Roma families in California went on public display at Cal State Long Beach recently — and will remain up for the next several months.
The photographs are taken from the prizewinning book, “Hidden: Life With California’s Roma Families,” by photojournalist Cristina Salvador Klenz and published last spring by Brown Paper Press.
That book, in a way, culminated an ambitious undertaking by Klenz.
Klenz, a former Press-Telegram photographer, was a 20-year-old college student visiting her grandmother in Portugal, in 1984, when she first encountered Romani families. From then, Klenz dreamed of telling their story.
And now, the photographs are the focus of a new CSULB exhibit, which opened earlier this week in the university’s academic services building. The exhibition will run through April 29.
About 150 people attended the opening reception on Thursday evening, Feb. 2, during which Klenz led a tour of the photos, explaining how they came to be and how she got interested in Romani people.
Klenz also signed copies of her book, which won first place in the documentary book category of the 2022 International Photography Awards.
The judges said the book had “incredibly intimate, personal moments from a notoriously insulated community. Clearly, the photographer has a trusting relationship with the people, and it shows in the great moments, big and small.”
There are an estimated 1 million Romani in the United States, with about 50,000 in Southern California. The world’s Romani population is estimated at 15 million. They have been one of the most persecuted minorities in Europe since arriving there from northern India about 1,000 years ago.
As a result, Romani people tend to be intensely private.
Klenz spent years earning the trust of Roma families and documenting their lives on film.
Eventually, the Romani people she met — and photographed — spread from the Greater Long Beach area into the San Fernando Valley, Orange County, the Inland Empire and Northern California.
“Emotion seems to pour from every page,” said publisher Wendy Thomas Russell. “The scenes are all the more powerful given how rare they are.”
Having the photos on display at CSULB, meanwhile, will allow folks to learn more about Romani culture and a community that has “been misunderstood and stereotyped,” Klenz said in an interview before the exhibit opened.
“I’m hoping the exhibition will provide a greater understanding of Romani American history, life, family and tradition,” she said, “and help promote inclusivity of their culture.”
Staff writer Rich Archbold contributed to this report.