McHenry County College art gallery to feature photography of, host talk with Daniel Ramos

An exhibit featuring the photography work of Pilsen native Daniel Ramos called “Eight Hours Don’t Make A Day” will be on display at McHenry County College in Crystal Lake through Oct. 28.

“Eight Hours Don’t Make A Day” is a selection of photographic works from three of Ramos’ series: “Sloan Valve,” “The Land of Illustrious Men” and “Eres Muy Hermosa.”

“The Land of Illustrious Men” is a photo-novella of Ramos’ life in his neighborhood in Chicago and the small town of Lampazos De Naranjo in Nuevo Leon, Mexico, where he was sent to stay with his grandmother in an effort to protect him from gang violence in Pilsen.

“Sloan Valve” was created while Ramos worked as a hand-polisher at the company of the same name, which specialized in flushing valves. This series consists of portraits of Ramos’ factory coworkers, which he took using a large-format camera and studio strobe lighting.

The final series, “Eres Muy Hermosa,” is primarily composed of portraits featuring people in bars and clubs as well as night scenes in a small town in northern Mexico.

Ramos will visit McHenry County College for an artist talk and reception at 2:30 p.m. Oct. 19 in the college’s Luecht Auditorium. The reception will follow at 3:30 p.m. in gallery one. The event is free and open to the public.

The photos can be found in art galleries one and two, inside and outside its library, respectively. Pieces will also be on display in the Epping gallery across from the MCC store in building B.

To learn more about Ramos and his work, go to danielramosphoto.com.