Photographer Dominique Beltran wasn’t born in San Antonio, but after a roundabout journey involving several cities and life among its suburbs and downtown neighborhoods, she now considers it her beloved home.
Key elements that make up the city’s unique culture will be visible in a series of photographs Beltran has collectively titled A Love Letter to San Antonio, on view in Peacock Alley on Sunday from 7-9:30 p.m.
The exhibition will be the centerpiece of Domsquiat’s Block Party, an event sponsored by Centro San Antonio, which has activated the narrow downtown alleyway between Broadway and Jefferson streets since the summer of 2021 with public gatherings including a jazz festival, piñata bash, Pride and Juneteenth celebrations, movie nights and a permanent mural by Scotch Willington.
Domsquiat is Beltran’s artistic moniker, part of what she described as a multi-brand approach similar to those used by rap artists with multiple names to differentiate their projects.
Rise & Shine Photography is the name of her commercial photography venture, and the Domsquiat name — derived from a combination of her first name and the last name of noted painter Jean-Michel Basquiat — is reserved for her personal, artistically-driven projects.
The Love Letter series developed naturally out of what Beltran described as a near-constant process of making images of the culture around her.
“It’s been just collecting photos over the years, what I love about San Antonio, what to me represents San Antonio,” Beltran said.
Her images range from portraits of neighborhood characters to the character of particular neighborhoods. Mariachis playing bajo sextos, lowriders and tattooed figures presenting scads of elaborate jewelry are among images that recall her Mexican American heritage.
Other images focus on areas of town that might soon look very different, depending on where developers turn to drive the city’s rapid growth.
“San Antonio is changing so much,” she said, which is partly what motivates her to capture pictures of “uninhabited buildings that have been here for a while that we don’t really notice,” including the crumbling, graffitied Lone Star Brewery that has so far resisted development.
Beltran was born in Brownsville and moved with her family to several locations in the U.S. before the family settled in suburban San Antonio in 2006. After graduating from Steele High School she joined the Air Force and served in Colorado, then moved back to San Antonio with an unclear direction for her future. She left behind her military career as a public health technician and turned to photography as a means of self-care, struggling with the loss of structure the military had provided and a subsequent bout of depression.
Photography became a means of support, and of connecting with other creative people, several of whom will take part in Domsquiat’s Block Party as vendors. Those include Reds Body Art face painting, a rose bar by florist Indigo Bloom, Nana’s Munchies 210 Mexican sweets and a DJ set by RZE Productions.
Aside from Sunday’s event, Beltran’s work can be seen regularly at Digital Pro Labs, the print studio that made the prints for the Love Letter exhibition.
