The technique is not as kind to some of Velo's other subjects, particularly shots of people and animals. Velo undoubtedly intended these works to be ambiguous, but they are ambiguous almost to the point of nothingness. Her architecture pieces fare better. The mysterious shadows in the corners of the stone churches and alleys make for fine atmospheric renderings of dark and light. It shows a dark stone staircase leading to the bright redeeming light of the open air.
Ambiguity is mostly in short supply in the contrary realm of photojournalism.
The most powerful work in Galvez's Rivera suite ironically is also the most obvious. Chosen by his editors at the L.A. Times to illustrate the written account of the boy's death, it's a classic depiction of maternal grief. The wailing mother leans over her son's coffin for a final good-bye. Her surviving son, at left, clutches her arm, while an elderly family friend at right fondly adds a flower to the bier. The rest of the suite is more workaday.