Photojournalist Don West auctions off images from world travels

Proceeds to be donated to Central Boston Elder Services

Throughout his decades-long career, photojournalist Don West traveled to China, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Central America and South America, capturing local life and moments.

Last Thursday, West auctioned off nine exhibits from his international collection at the African American Master Artists-in-Residency Program, the artist community and exhibition space in Jamaica Plain. During the gathering, attendees had the opportunity to bid on approximately 100 available framed prints individually with the proceeds set to be donated to Central Boston Elder Services, a nonprofit that serves older adults in the Greater Boston area.

“The art reflects a myriad background of people and cultures and ethnicities, etc., and the sense of a vision of our world that we live in,” West said of the photographs in the collection. He added that the diversity of perspectives featured in the collection corresponds to the diversity of communities Central Boston Elder Services serves, “so it just gives greater understanding and reflection of what humanity is about.”

West, who is semi-retired from photography, curated the collection from previously displayed exhibits that will no longer be shown. He made the choice to donate the proceeds to Central Boston Elder Services, previously a client of his, to support the work it does, he said. The exhibit is timely, West noted, as the organization is commemorating 50 years of its services with an anniversary gala later this year.

“It just feels good,” West said of using his art for a cause that would help others, especially older adults in Boston. He added that his motivation for holding the auction was that he “had to do something with them. I can’t store them forever, and so I have no place to store them really. So I just felt that they needed a good home.”

José Massó, announcer/producer WBUR’s ‘Con Salsa!’ and special Host/auctioneer (left), displays the photograph “Cusco Weaver” by Don West taken in Cusco, Peru, and purchased by Brian Amador (right) of the Sol y Canto group. PHOTO: Susan Kooperstein

The pieces on display during the auction came from West’s many travels across the globe during his time as a photojournalist and depict the everyday lives of various peoples and their daily struggles. Among them are images from Beijing, Paris, Cuba and Mozambique, as well as from his time with mission agency Action International Ministries during which he traveled throughout South America with stops in Guatemala, Peru and Bolivia.

West said the evening of the auction was a “spiritual success,” with a “nice crowd of people.” In attendance were leaders of Central Boston Elder Services, and José Massó, producer of WBUR’s “Con Salsa!” served as auctioneer. “Tango,” a photo West captured in Buenos Aires, Argentina, of a couple dancing and “Cusco Weaver,” a multicolored photo of a weaving scene in Cusco, Peru, were sold.

However, West said most of the images from the collection still remain on display at AAMARP and are available for sale for another week or two. Those interested in buying pieces from West’s collection can do so by calling 617-524-1975 to schedule a viewing appointment at AAMARP.

Reginald L. Jackson, professor emeritus at Simmons University and acting director of AAMARP said West’s exhibit aligns with the organization’s mission of making artists’ work available to community members at an affordable price while giving back “in a way that furthers the goals and needs of particularly community organizations, but also to the average community resident.”

“When Don first brought the notion forward, I was very excited,” Jackson said, “because it really is emblematic of the way the artists at AAMARP function, and that is that we’re community artists dedicated to responding to the needs of the community. And so this is a perfect example of what we aspire to do.”

Jackson added that when it comes to West’s artistry, he is impressed by West’s ability to capture the personalities of the individuals he photographs. He lauded the photographer’s capacity to “look at a situation and find that one photograph that tells the whole story” and to produce works that “show interaction as it relates to the event that’s going on between people.”

One of the portraits Jackson said he is moved by is one of former Massachusetts Senator Dianne Wilkerson, which he said stands out because it “gets to the core of her being visually in a very dynamic way.” “It’s a very striking image,” he said.

Jackson said he is not aware of whether any other such exhibits have taken place at AAMARP in the past but wants West’s auction to serve as a model for the future.

“I’m hoping that this will be the start or the development of other similar efforts where artists will make available a print or two which will be auctioned off,” Jackson said, “and the proceeds benefiting either AAMARP’s continuing [programming] efforts or … community agencies.”