Crystal Wise
Agustin Gonzalez
When it comes to photography, Agustin Gonzalez does not shy away from the painful, disturbing, and unsettling.
His captivating images entice viewers to look toward subject matter they’d likely prefer to ignore.
Born in Mexico, Gonzalez immigrated to the U.S. as a child and has lived in Fort Worth ever since. After graduating from North Side High School, he entered the workforce under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Though he has dabbled in a variety of jobs over the years, he has been drawn to photography for as long as he can remember. “I wanted to pick up a camera ever since I was a child,” he says.
After spending some time in his 20s as a nightclub photographer, Gonzalez shifted his focus to photojournalism — and more serious subject matter — during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. He spent the next few years interviewing and photographing the Fort Worth homeless community on and around Lancaster Avenue. “I was documenting people smoking meth and talking to women who had been raped,” he says. “I was having a hard time sleeping at night.”
Recently, Gonzalez has been eager to capture religion — namely Hispanic practices rooted in witchcraft. He is particularly interested in the cult of Santa Muerte (Saint Death) — a religious sect that is rejected by both the Catholic church and the Mexican government. Gonzalez has traveled to New York several times, most recently on Día De Los Muertos (The Day of the Dead), to photograph the rituals of a large Santa Muerte community in Jackson Heights, Queens. “It’s a little terrifying,” he says. “But I don’t judge anybody’s religion. I’m just there to document it and talk about it.”
A project close to Gonzalez’s heart involved photographing a family of refugees from Afghanistan. “I was very fixated on where all of the refugees were going to be put and how they were adapting to the United States,” he says. His research led him to the notoriously distressed Las Vegas Trail neighborhood, where he met and bonded with two young Afghan boys. “I explained to them that they were living in a really bad part of town,” he says. “They told me somebody stole their bike, but it was still better than Afghanistan.”
Even after he stopped taking the boys’ photos, Gonzalez kept in touch with them and visited them periodically. “I pretty much broke the first rule of a photojournalist, which is that you don’t want to get too involved,” he laughs. “I don’t talk to them as much anymore because they’re grown and they have their own things going on, but it was very meaningful to me.”
By snapshotting the chaos of today’s world, Gonzalez hopes to offer an authentic portal into what’s happening around him. “My goal is to build an honest bridge from whatever I’m seeing to the viewer in an unbiased way,” he says. He hopes his work encourages people to wake up to what’s going on in the world. “My No. 1 focus is to do work that matters — to make a change,” he says. “We need to pay attention because the world is changing, and we never know what’s going to happen next.”
Follow Gonzalez’s work on Instagram: @agustinggonzallez
What advice would you give someone who is just starting out with photography?
“Don’t give up. Just keep going because eventually, you’ll find your path and what you want to do.”
What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever photographed
“A San Judas Tadeo in Fort Worth. It’s a celebration for a saint (Saint Jude). This one was held by cowboys, and they happened to have a whole rodeo. There were no rules, so I could get on top of the rails right next to the bulls. It’s very dangerous, and I could easily get hurt, but I love that ‘no rules’ type of work environment.”
From The Feed
Agustin Gonzalez
A homeless couple showing Gonzalez the weapons they use for safety in the homeless camps in Fort Worth.
Jason Brimmer
Gonzalez at work, taken by photojournalist, Jason Brimmer.
Agustin Gonzalez
Afghanistan protest against ISIS in Dallas.
Agustin Gonzalez
A man attending San Judas Tadeo and holding a statue of the saint.
Agustin Gonzalez
A friar telling Gonzalez his life story.
Agustin Gonzalez
A woman smoking meth inside her tent in a homeless campground.
Agustin Gonzalez
Free Palestine protest in Dallas.
