Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month by diving into the photographs of Ricardo Valverde. 📷 Valverde was part of the first wave of Chicanos to be professionally trained in Southern California art schools. He made photographs at a time when artists of color didn't get much exposure or institutional support. Born in Phoenix, Arizona he moved with his family to Los Angeles in the late 1950s. Following brief periods at various local colleges, he enrolled in the Air Force during the Vietnam War and after completing his military service he earned an undergraduate degree in art history from the University of California Los Angeles. In 1976 he earned an MFA degree from UCLA, where he studied with the conceptual artist Robert Heinecken. Valverde admired the work of modern photographers like Henri Cartier-Bresson, Brassaï, Edward Weston, and Manuel Álvarez Bravo and realized that he, too, was interested in documentary photography. He gained recognition, particularly within the LA Chicano art wo...