These are portraits of people I've met along the way -- through assignments and by commission.
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Please contact for purchase or licensing.
Since 2017, we've seen an increase in Americans taking to the streets to make themselves heard. This is a sampling of political rallies and street protests against misogyny, bigotry, sexism, racism, and abuse of power.
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This and the next 17 -photos are from a couple of rallies in North Texas supporting justice for Black lives taken by law enforcement.
The next eight frames show rallies led by Beto O'Rourke, who has been active in helping citizens push for social justice for the last half dozen years.
The remaining photos on this page are from a Hands Off Our Bodies rally in North Texas where women marched for agency over their own bodies.
The solar eclipse of April 2024 was so special that many people took the day off from work, while some schools and work places incorporated its viewing into their day. Impossible to not feel a sense of magic and heightened possibilities when day darkened for a few minutes as the moon passed between Earth and sun.
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In 2016, the Fort Worth Human Relations Commission hired me to make photos for a Women's History Month multimedia exhibit titled Mujeres Poderosas, Legacy of Strong Latinas in Fort Worth. A committee selected twelve women whose activism, volunteerism, community involvement and business acumen represented what it means to be a powerful Latina.
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Tammy is a poet, playwright, performer and activist. She lives her beliefs by living frugally, not owning a car and instead cycling to work every day. Notice that the bandoliers she wears are filled not with ammo, but with lipsticks and pencils, tools of her trades.
Well into her eighties, Esperanza has seen many changes in Fort Worth's north side where she was born, grew up and continues to live. But what hasn't changed is her community involvement. She continues to be a volunteer at her church and with the Good Fellows organization.
She grew up near this park as a child, and in adulthood, she and her husband built a house in the same neighborhood. She continues to advocate for this community, and the park where she's pictured here is named after her father.
She put herself through Texas Christian University, a private school, by working full time and even taking jobs such as moving lawns. Now she's come full circle and works as a counselor to students at the same school.
She was a social worker with Meals on Wheels when she was diagnosed with macular degeneration. It ended her career but she still volunteers in her community when not spending time with her grandkids.
Sandra owns and runs three different businesses--a roofing company, a waste disposal company, and a commercial real estate firm. And she still makes time for her grandchildren.
She was the first woman to head the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and now she runs her own sub-surface utility engineering company.
As a teen she and her family came into the United States illegally in order to avoid violence in Mexico. Now she's an advocate for immigration reform and for undocumented people.
Susie's family formed a large mariachi group with whom she performed for years. This is one of her four violins--the last one she played with her family. The love of music has been passed on to her kids, and her son performs with his high school band.
Sandra finds tremendous strength and power in motherhood, and in volunteering at her daughters' schools and advocating for the students there. Her vocation now is to see her three girls through school and into adulthood. One of the most important things to her has been breaking the cycle of divorce in her family by maintaining a strong marriage.
As a teen, Sharon nearly committed suicide. What saved her life was an aunt who recognized her sexual orientation and who accepted her as she was. Now Sharon is an advocate for LGBTQ youths and lectures on anti-bullying and sexual orientation issues.
She studied to be an LVN but knew she could do more, so in her late thirties, went to law school. She was one of a handful of Latinas there, which made it even more difficult that it would have otherwise been. Though she's retired now and mostly helps her husband with his antiquarian book business, she still keeps in touch with the group of friends who supported her through law school.
I traveled to Cuba in 2017 with Fort Worth Sister Cities International. These are a few of the photos I made during a whirlwind trip that gave us a sense of the country's natural resources, its world-class arts, and its vibrant street scenes.
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You'll see many a bride and groom in Havana celebrating their big day this way.
Riding to dinner in a vintage convertible
A morning witnessed along Havana's malecón can be reminiscent of a pastel painting.
This is a common sight in the mornings along Havana's sea wall.
Another pastel morning along Havana's malecón.
Old Havana's streets, sometimes not much wider than alleys, are bustling with life.
Vendors often have old books and vintage vinyl for sale in Old Havana.
Cuban kids emerge from school into the sunshine.
Yes, the architecture is everything you hear it is.
The Cathedral of St. Christopher in Old Havana's Cathedral Square framed by one of the arches in the plaza.
Old architecture reflected in the more modern building housing Cuba's National Museum of Fine Arts in Havana.
Havana's prado leading from Parque Central to the malecón is beautifully lit at night.
A hike in Guanayara National Park in the Escambray Mountains is a must-do.
After a hike in Guanayara National Park, a dip in the cool waters of Pozo del Venado is refreshing.
During a hike in Guanayara National Park you might see this.
A view of Manaca Iznaga, an old sugar plantation in Valle de los Ingenios (Valley of the Sugar Mills), as seen from a watch tower some seven stories high.
After dinner, on a corner in Trinidad, a city steeped in colonial history.
Cubans in line at the bodega, picking up their monthly subsidies.
Fidel Ramos, viola player, performs with the Cienfuegos chamber orchestra Concierto Sur.
A private performance by Cienfuegos' chamber orchestra Concerto Sur is worth documenting.
A moody afternoon in Cienfuegos, because not every day is sunny in tropical Cuba.
Photos made during a trip to Israel with a group of journalists in fall of 2016.
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Women pray at Jerusalem's Western Wall.
A woman prays at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. Near her hands are the prayers of others, written on scraps of paper and wedged into the cracks of the walls. Impossible to not think of how many thousands of hands have touched this same spot in supplication.
Women and girls line up along the Western Wall in Jerusalem to pray.
So many people with so many prayers at Jerusalem's Western Wall.
The old city of Jaffa by night.
Believers light candles in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Old Jerusalem.
Floating in the Dead Sea.
Exploring Old Jerusalem, via narrow streets and tunnels.
Women pray at the tomb of King David in Old Jerusalem.
A baptism in the River Jordan, Israel.
Believers lined up and waiting for baptism in the River Jordan as a woman sings hymns saved on her smart phone to accompany the religious rite.
A leaf floats at the gated entrance to the River Jordan where believers come to be baptized in the manner of Jesus Christ.
A sunny afternoon at the beach in Tel Aviv.
These are a few mages from the Terlingua Ghost Town Day of the Dead celebration, 2013. Día de los Muertos is said to be the time when the veil between worlds is thinnest, allowing the dead to return to us, albeit briefly. Hence, the celebrations that offer the dead their favorite food, drink and mementos as an invitation to visit with us for a night.
The November event in the Terlingua Ghost Town, situated right by Big Bend National Park in West Texas, draws residents and visitors alike. Beneath the face paint and costumes is an authentic reverence for the dead, and for what their lives meant to us.
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After being photographed, the couple takes a walk through the cemetery where the setting sun forces long shadows across the desert floor.
© Beatriz Terrazas
Residents attending the Terlingua Ghost Town's Day of the Dead celebration sometimes dress for the occasion by painting their faces to resemble skulls.
© Beatriz Terrazas
As sundown approaches a visitor snaps a shot of a happy couple at the center of the Terlingua Ghost Town Day of the Dead celebration.
© Beatriz Terrazas
The celebrated couple at Terlingua Ghost Town's Day of the Dead celebration in 2013. They were much in demand for photos.
© Beatriz Terrazas
And another visitor poses for a photo with the happy couple.
© Beatriz Terrazas
As dusk falls at the Terlingua Ghost Town cemetery, those celebrating the dead on Día de los Muertos become silhouettes outlined against the sky. At this moment it seems the arrival of the dead is imminent.
© Beatriz Terrazas
Thanks to the work of volunteers, candles adorn every gravesite at the Terlingua Ghost Town cemetery. Nestled in everything from votive holders to old pickle jars, their flickers illume the resting places of the dead and toss small shadows across stone and sand.
© Beatriz Terrazas
The altar beckons the dead back with flowers, fake skulls, rosaries, even a favorite pair of shoes, as well as candles to light the way.
© Beatriz Terrazas
The magic moment as night falls this Día de los Muertos: the cemetery crosses seem to reach for the Milky Way and its stars, with the living as witnesses. In one instant and one place, all worlds seem to become one.
© Beatriz Terrazas
A few PDFS of pieces I've written and photographed for 76092 magazine here in North Texas.
In 2017 I traveled to Cuba with Fort Worth Sister Cities and pitched a story about what it's like to travel in a more open Cuba. First of three PDFs.
Second of three PDFs of Cuba travel story.
Third of three PDFs of Cuba travel story.
A piece I wrote and photographed in 2022 about Brooke Nicholson, a popular Camp Gladiator trainer.
76092 magazine Photo Finish feature on local wildlife. This fawn was hiding in the shrubs in my neighborhood.
Page 1 of a piece about Ray Chancellor, a local ornithologist, that I photographed.
Page 2 of the piece about Ray Chancellor, ornithologist.
