El Tímpano photojournalist and Catchlight Local News fellow Hiram Alejandro Durán points to his collection of instant film photos featured in “Postcards from La Pulga,” a new exhibit in downtown Oakland. Credit: Katherine Nagasawa / El Tímpano
Several dozen people gathered in downtown Oakland on Saturday, June 8, for the launch of “Postales de la Pulga,” a new photo exhibit from El Tímpano and Catchlight Local documenting the Coliseum Swap Meet in East Oakland. Displayed at the Oakland Lowdown, a community studio for news and art, the exhibit brings a taste of the beloved flea market’s vibrancy through instant photos, objects and the voices of patrons and vendors. It also invites viewers to reflect on the importance of other community gathering spaces in their lives.
The exhibit is based on our recent multimedia project that was produced by setting up a pop-up photo booth last fall at La Pulga. El Tímpano photojournalist Hiram Alejandro Durán, who is also a Catchlight Local fellow, offered people instant photos in exchange for their stories about what draws them to La Pulga. The market is a place to destress from work, bond with family members and enjoy affordable entertainment, patrons said. Vendors shared that La Pulga gave them the opportunity to build their own small businesses and sell regional ingredients and artisanal goods from their home countries across Latin America. The project was recently nominated for a Premio Gabo in the photography category.
“Postales de La Pulga” runs through August 2 and is open to the public on Thursdays and Fridays from 12-4 p.m. at 300 14th Street in Oakland.
The original instant film photos from La Pulga showcase the individual styles of each vendor and patron photographed and interviewed for the project. Credit: Katherine Nagasawa / El Tímpano
The main wall of the exhibit features panoramic photos of the aisles and picnic tables in La Pulga along with quotes from patrons and vendors about why they’re drawn to the market. Credit: Katherine Nagasawa / El Tímpano
Oakland Lowdown serves as a hub for artists, students and local journalists to develop creative ways to produce and circulate local news. Credit: Katherine Nagasawa / El Tímpano
Photographer Hiram Alejandro Durán (left) shares the story behind one of his instant photos to sisters Zarahi Gómez (middle) and Araceli Gómez-Aldana (right), who commented that La Pulga reminds them of the Tianguis market in Guadalajara, Mexico, their parents’ home city. Credit: Katherine Nagasawa / El TímpanoA table displays merchandise from La Pulga including leather belts, artisanal Mexican ceramics, customized regional hats, Oaxacan chicatana ants and used construction tools. Credit: Katherine Nagasawa / El TímpanoEl Tímpano photographed each vendor within the confines of their booths, which they build each morning from the ground up. Gonzalo, a Mexican candy and snacks vendor, sells bags of kettle-cooked potato chips that customers can dress up to their liking with condiments like Valentina hot sauce and lime juice. Credit: Katherine Nagasawa / El Tímpano
The El Tímpano team invited attendees to use paper location markers to write about gathering places that have connected them to culture and community. Credit: Katherine Nagasawa / El Tímpano
Zarahi Gomez writes about childhood memories of attending the Fiestas de Enero in her father’s hometown in Mexico. “It is a place that makes me feel at home and so welcome.” Credit: Katherine Nagasawa / El Tímpano
People wrote about gathering places ranging from storefront stoops and street festivals to neighborhood bars and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings in a participatory section of the exhibit. Credit: Katherine Nagasawa / El Tímpano“Postcards from La Pulga” features 81 of the original instant photos taken at La Pulga. Each grid focuses on a pillar of the community that shapes La Pulga—its vendors, patrons and the scenery around them. Credit: Katherine Nagasawa / El Tímpano
Two gallery visitors respond to a prompt about meaningful gathering spaces in their lives. As a team, El Tímpano wanted to document “third places”—gathering spaces outside of home and work where people congregate and exchange ideas. Credit: Katherine Nagasawa / El Tímpano
Pablo Circa, an Oakland-based photographer who documents the local Black community, takes in photos of patrons at La Pulga. Credit: Katherine Nagasawa / El Tímpano
Spanish-language program guides hang on the wall for monolingual Spanish-speaking visitors. The newspaper wall at The Oakland Lowdown is adorned with nearly 850 packets of Limón7, a sour and salty Mexican candy, to bring elements of La Pulga to the exhibit. Credit: Katherine Nagasawa / El TímpanoWeekly newspaper El Tecolote featured El Tímpano’s stories on La Pulga in an issue from January 2024. Based in San Francisco, El Tecolote is the longest-running Spanish/English bilingual newspaper in California. Credit: Katherine Nagasawa / El TímpanoPedestrians walking by The Oakland Lowdown will see a video walkthrough of La Pulga featuring portraits and transcriptions of vendors and patrons. Shot from a first-person point-of-view, the video weaves through the dense aisles of La Pulga and joins the dance party that ensues when cover bands take to the stage to play regional Mexican music. Credit: Hiram Alejandro Durán for El Tímpano/CatchLight Local/Report for America corps memberEl Tímpano Special Projects Manager Mayra Sierra (left) poses with Hiram Alejandro Durán (right) in front of a marquee featuring the exhibit title. Sierra served as the project manager for both the exhibit and the pop-up photo booth last fall. Credit: Katherine Nagasawa / El Tímpano
An exterior window of The Oakland Lowdown features enlarged instant photos from the project. Credit: Katherine Nagasawa / El Tímpano
Postcards from La Pulga runs through August 2 and is open on Thursdays and Fridays from 12-4 p.m. Credit: Katherine Nagasawa / El Tímpano
