Normally, you would find Steven Delgado roaming Bakersfield, CA taking photos of different scenery, or having random photoshoots with others. This time around, he found himself downtown with his Sony camera, right the middle of the first protest for George Floyd and Black Lives Matter, capturing the historic moment.
The young photographer, who likes to go by his Instagram name @steventhaura, captured Bakersfield at its best, where communities and different backgrounds were beautifully united as one. The city itself has been known for being divided by ethnicities or classes, and the photos by steventhaura expressed a new beginning.
In one of the photos, that was shared the most from the collection, you can view a Hispanic man holding a yellow sign that read a powerful statement in Spanish toward racism.
“It’s not just Black people [upset], we’re all upset and we’re all coming together and I love that,” he expressed. “I love the community about it, like everyone’s coming together, everyone’s helping each other out and that’s beautiful. So I seen that picture, and it’s a Hispanic person that’s just upset about it and they wanted to vocalize it, and they did that,” he added. “I’m glad I was able to capture that and help them out, even more, to push that photo out.”
Delgado is originally from Los Angeles and moved to Bakersfield at the age of 10 with his parents, who are pastors, to start a church. The 25-year-old has been capturing special photos of others for a few months. It started as a simple interest he had, in which he would use his iPhone to take eye-pleasing photos. People would even reach out to him to take their wedding photos, that’s when Delgado decided it was time to invest in a professional camera. Thankfully, for the community, he did, as he helped photograph a moment in history.
The George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protest was seventhaura’s first time attending and capturing one. He felt it was important to photograph it and record along the way to show an unbiased point-of-view. Delgado explained that sometimes news outlets tend to portray these protests, or controversial topics one sided, which can either be focused only on law enforcements or negatively toward protesters.
“Honestly, I felt like, this is something that has been a long time coming, unfortunately,” he shared. “I wanted to capture this moment in history and document it unbiased, like if something crazy happens, I’m gonna capture it. If nothing crazy happens, I’m gonna capture it.”
For being the first BLM protest in Bakersfield, Delgado expressed that the crowd felt strongly about the movement, but for the most part, the environment was in control. However, there were some moments when a few protesters began lighting off fireworks next to a helicopter, or when one local business’s window was vandalized. The snippet of this happening can be found on the photographer’s YouTube video from his channel below, in which he didn’t edit out to show the authenticity of the protest. Other than that, from what he experienced, cops we’re being polite and the protester’s energy was peaceful.
“In no way did I ever feel like I was in danger, or I was going to be harmed, or anything,” he explained. “I felt like very much a part of it. I wanted to capture and document this historic moment — that was really my intention, like I don’t work for a news outlet, that I’m just trying to get coverage, and I think people got that energy, and that vibe from me too.”
Seventhaura was moved by the outcome that Bakersfield made happen. However, he had an emotional moment when he came across a mother holding a sign that read, “Is My Son Next?” This message was powerful for the photographer to capture because it expressed the hardships and worries that the Black community face.
“I seen that ‘Is My Son Next,’” he shared while becoming emotional. “That is so horrible, like it hurts to have that fear. I sometimes can't wrap my head around it, but it’s like, that really is the fear — ‘Is My Son Next?’ — Unfortunately, there’s people getting killed for nothing, literally nothing, like walking home from school and people get suspicious, and that’s it.”
Another shot from his collection brought out Bakersfield’s monumental location, The Padre Hotel, which is known as the town’s favorite spot to photograph. This beautiful photo captured a sign for Black Lives Matter with the hotel behind it and told the story of Bakersfield's protest.
“I really like that one because it pretty much tells the full story of what it is,” he said. “If someone is from Bakersfield and they see the Padre Hotel, they know it’s Bakersfield — the sign that says Black Lives Matter, plus a couple of people around. That photo would probably say all that needs to be said about what I was documenting.”
His dedication to capturing this protest ran deep, as the photographer walked along with the protesters at night, from downtown in front of the City Hall to Oak Street and Beach Park, which is around a 30 minute to an hour walk.
Aside from photography, seventhaura has several different talents from being musically gifted at playing the trumpet and piano, to having a YouTube channel. Delgado also records instrumental sounds for various musicians in LA and some from Bakersfield.
He expressed to Creating The Escape that he had a moment of realization, where he wanted his art to speak to others and for himself. He would rather have it take place of his name, since all his creativity is behind his Instagram name. Seventhaura has spent time crafting his name, amidst the love he has for writing. He began creating it by writing out “Hello, my name is …,” in which he would plug in different names. He finally found the one that fit perfectly for him, once he changed his Instagram name to “My Name Is My Art.”
“I even put it on my Instagram ‘My Name Is My Art,’ I was testing out different things," he said. "I was thinking about it, and I like it cause that’s what it makes me feel — like forget about what my name is, My Name Is My Art, that’s me, that’s who I am.”
You can find the multi-talented creator’s work on his Instagram, or YouTube channel.
Comments