My name is Cesar Lopez, and I've donated a segment of a larger body of work.
It's a piece. It's a frame which has a photograph — a copy of a photograph of me when I was really young. It's an image of me as a child in Guatemala, and it is one of the only photographs [of me then] that exists. It’s one of three.
In this particular image, what you can see is me holding a flag. It's a very unique honor that is given to you. Imagine a pep rally [and] your job is to carry the flag and to put it up front before the ceremony — ceremonies for all types of reasons — but to be given the flag is a very important honor. It was like a big deal because my mom showed up to take my photograph and to be part of the school ceremony.
These are images that traveled with us when we immigrated to America. It was especially important because there aren't that many things that you can bring along with you, even less that sort of make it across the two borders with you.
It's a very important image, but it's also a record of a different time and a different place. This particular image is something that my mom carried and ... kept an important sort of pouch of things to come with us.
Not everything made it, but it was obviously very important for someone to hang on to images of their previous life.