Louis Carlos Bernal created intimate portraits of Mexican American life throughout the Southwest, and in particular, in his home state of Arizona. Bernal often pointed his camera toward private spaces of religious or familial devotion, such as with Ernesto Villa’s home-made grotto, nestled between two cactuses adorned with colored lights. Bernal wrote, “My images speak of the religious and family ties that I have experienced as a Chicano. I have concerned myself with the mysticism of the Southwest and the strength of the spiritual and cultural values of the barrio. These images are made for the people I have photographed.”