Laura Aguilar

The word gallery written above her, Laura Aguilar holds a cardboard sign insisting that she will work for “axcess.” A lesbian Chicana photographer and activist, Aguilar had depression and dyslexia, the latter of which made written language a challenge for her. Aguilar discovered photography in high school and found it a powerful tool for self-expression. Compared to the works on each side this photograph, Aguilar connects social and economic disenfranchisement to unequal access to resources. “My photography has always provided me with an opportunity to open myself up and see the world around me,” she wrote in 1988. “And most of all, photography makes me look within.”