On June 17, longtime Tucson photographer Frank Martinez passed away. He was 92. The ubiquitous figure on Tucson’s west and south sides had a small studio next to the old Sky Villa lounge on South 12th Avenue. Here’s a column I wrote in December 2000 about Martinez and his contributions as a documentarian of Tucson’s Mexican-American/Chicano families:
Through his camera lens, photographer Frank Martinez has seen Tucson’s social changes.
He has documented Tucson’s Hispanics for nearly 50 years in churches, dance halls, hotel ballrooms and his South Side studio.
Whether it was in black and white or color, his camera has been a portal on how we dressed, smiled, laughed and danced.
At weddings, dances, fiestas, quinceañeras, political rallies and ordination of Roman Catholic priests, Martinez captured Tucson in still life.
His camera and his dark-rimmed glasses made him instantly recognizable.
A limp in his left leg from a childhood accident did not deter him.
Martinez, 76, now nearing the end of his career, still is photographing Tucson’s Hispanic community with the help of his 25-year-old grandson, Joseph Martinez.
“It’s been very rewarding,” said Martinez, who works part time, mostly shooting passport photos in his studio.
“I can’t imagine how many people he has immortalized,” said Elsa Pesqueira, an administrative assistant at the Arizona State Museum’s Center for Ethnohistorical Research.
Pesqueira met Martinez in the mid-’50s, not long after he began his career. He photographed her in her white First Communion dress at his home studio.
“He brings me back to my childhood,” said Pesqueira.
Martinez began his career by photographing weddings of several friends. He charged a few dollars.
John Gabusi, a well-known photographer who had a downtown studio, suggested to Martinez that he get a business permit.
Martinez did, and with $50 bought darkroom equipment to start his business.
“I realized I could make money, although not much,” said Martinez during a break in his studio near South 12th Avenue and Irvington Road.
Martinez taught himself photographic and darkroom techniques.
Fellow Tucson photographers Harry Goldstein and Virginia Manzo, who owned La Nopalera studio next to the old Fox Theater downtown, gave Martinez tips.
His friendliness and low prices brought him customers.
“Photography is not very — how can I say it — lucrative,” he said. It paid enough to support his wife and four children.
It was his affordability that allowed many families to have their pictures taken.
“Many of our parents could not afford to take us to studios,” said Pesqueira. “We wouldn’t have had our photos taken had he not worked.”
After Martinez photographed a couple’s wedding, he often became their friend for life.
For some families he has photographed generations of wedding couples.
“I recently photographed a young couple and realized that I took the wedding pictures of the groom’s and bride’s parents,” said Martinez.
Martinez estimated that he photographed about 150 weddings a year when he worked full time. He became a familiar sight at Catholic churches on the West and South sides.
If there was one place that Martinez always seemed to be, it was El Casino Ballroom.
“I was there nearly every weekend,” he said.
It wasn’t just Hispanic events that he photographed. Martinez did work for Jewish groups, University of Arizona athletics, the Tohono O’odham Nation and others.
Look at Martinez’s photographs, and you’ll see faces of Tucson. A beaming couple, a stern-faced Marine, a child holding a rosary. They are not the rich and renowned. They are everyday people.
“I did this to meet people,” he said. “I’m glad that I picked up the camera.”
