Through photography, reflection, and storytelling, first-generation Latinx students explore how culture, family, identity, and belonging shape their experiences with mental health. The work reveals moments of struggle, connection, healing, and resilience, offering a closer look at the stories students carry while navigating college and everyday life.

Exhibition date: November 5 – December 5, 2026

Opening reception: Thurs, Nov 5, 2026 from 5-7pm

Closing Reception & Artist talk: Saturday, Dec 5, 2026 from 1-3pm
José Ibarra-Virgen will facilitate a conversation with some of the contributing artists about their photography, experiences, and reflections represented throughout the exhibition. 

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

Through Lens and Story brings together photography, reflection, and storytelling to explore how first-generation Latinx community college students understand and experience mental health, stigma, identity, family, and belonging. 

Created through José Ibarra-Virgen’s doctoral research at Arizona State University, the exhibition features photographs taken by student participants as part of a Photovoice process. Students were invited to document pieces of their everyday lives and reflect on what those images represented to them. Their photographs became starting points for deeper conversations about culture, family expectations, adversity, coping, connection, healing, and the ways students learn to understand their own mental health. 

Rather than speaking about students, Through Lens and Story creates space for students to speak for themselves. 

Across the exhibition, photographs and personal reflections reveal experiences that are often difficult to put into words. Some images speak to isolation, silence, loss, or expectations carried from family and culture. Others reflect connection, identity, hope, healing, and the people and places that help students feel supported. 

Together, the photographs remind us that mental health is not experienced separately from culture, family, identity, or community. They also challenge us to think differently about what support looks like within a college environment. 

At the center of the exhibition is a simple but important idea: students may not always be avoiding help. Sometimes they are still trying to find the words to express that they need it. 

Through Lens and Story invites the Long Beach City College community to listen to those stories and consider how colleges can create spaces where students feel safe enough to share them. 

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ABOUT THE RESEARCH 

The exhibition grew from José Ibarra-Virgen’s doctoral dissertation, Understanding Mental Health Stigma Through Lens and Story: A Photovoice and Pláticas Approach with First-Generation Latinx Community College Students, completed through Arizona State University’s Doctor of Education program in Leadership and Innovation.

The qualitative action research study explored how cultural identities and lived experiences shape students’ beliefs about mental health and coping, how participation in Photovoice and Pláticas can influence willingness to seek support, and how storytelling and reflection may shape perceptions of mental health stigma.

Participants used photography to respond to prompts connected to identity, family, culture, mental health, support, and belonging. Their photographs were followed by written reflection and individual Pláticas, conversational spaces that allowed participants to explain the meaning behind their images in their own words.

The research highlighted the importance of human connection, belonging, cultural understanding, and spaces where students can talk about mental health without fear of judgment or invalidation. It also reinforced that improving access to mental health support requires more than simply making services available. Students must also feel that the people and institutions around them are safe enough to approach.

The exhibition extends that research beyond the dissertation and into a public space where student voices, photographs, and lived experiences can be seen, heard, and reflected upon by the broader college community.

ABOUT THE CURATOR 

José Ibarra-Virgen, M.P.A., Ed.D. Candidate

José Ibarra-Virgen is an educator, scholar-practitioner, and Director of Systems Impacted Programs at Long Beach City College, where he oversees Justice Scholars and Phoenix Scholars. His work focuses on creating educational pathways, strengthening belonging, and expanding support for students whose experiences have often been underserved within higher education.

Jose Ibarra-Virgen will be earning his Doctor of Education in Leadership and Innovation from Arizona State University. His doctoral research examined mental health stigma among first-generation Latinx community college students through Photovoice and Pláticas, with particular attention to the ways culture, family, identity, and lived experiences shape how students understand mental health and seek support.

His work is grounded in the belief that students are experts in their own experiences and that institutions must listen to those experiences when designing programs, services, and systems of support.

Through Lens and Story brings together his work as a researcher and community college practitioner while centering the students who created the photographs and shared the stories represented throughout the exhibition.

FEATURED ARTISTS 

Claudia Arriola

Claudia Arriola is a first-generation college student majoring in Fashion Design at Long Beach City College. Her passion for sewing began at the age of ten, and her time at LBCC has inspired her to reconnect with childhood dreams she once left behind. She hopes to transfer to a public university and pursue a second major as she continues her educational journey.

Mental health has also played a significant role in Claudia’s life. Having navigated depression, anxiety, and personal challenges over the years, she continues to grow and discover her strength as a young woman. Her journey reflects resilience, self-discovery, and the courage to pursue dreams while embracing the experiences that have shaped who she is today.

Jimmy Cuevas

Jimmy is a first-generation Native American and Puerto Rican college student, an adult learner, and a formerly incarcerated individual who never imagined higher education would become part of his journey. Growing up, he believed his future would be limited to manual labor, and years of incarceration reinforced the belief that college was not meant for someone like him.

Through therapy, self-reflection, and a willingness to challenge those beliefs, Jimmy began recognizing his potential and embracing new possibilities. His participation in the Photovoice project became another meaningful part of that journey, allowing him to share his experiences while helping challenge the stigma surrounding mental health.

Today, Jimmy continues to prioritize his mental health and personal growth. With the support of Long Beach City College and the Justice Scholars Program, he is rewriting his story and showing that it is never too late to pursue education, healing, and a new sense of purpose.

Nicolas Linares

Nicolas Linares is a psychology students and photographer from Compton, CA. Though still new to photography, his wok is influenced by personal reflection, emotion, and an interest in the ways people experience and understand the world around them. He enjoys capturing moments that feel genuine, meaningful, or easy to overlook. He currently attends University of California, Irvine after transferring from Long Beach City College.

Arthur Martins

Arthur comes from a family of farmworkers in northeastern Brazil, where he grew up seeing education as an opportunity to change his life. Moving to the United States four years ago opened new doors and allowed him to discover possibilities he once could only imagine.

From attending concerts and art shows to building meaningful friendships and pursuing higher education, Arthur has embraced experiences that have shaped his personal growth and sense of identity. Although adjusting to life in a new country has come with challenges, his journey has taught him valuable lessons about himself, his potential, and the opportunities that come with stepping outside his comfort zone.

Daniel Morales

Daniel is a first-generation Latino student at Long Beach City College, studying Cybersecurity and Computer Security and Networking. Before coming to LBCC, he earned a bachelor’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Fundación Universitaria Los Libertadores in Colombia. He loves technology and learning new things, especially in cybersecurity and networking. Outside of school, he DJs and explores other creative outlets, including photography.

This project meant more to Daniel than he expected. It led him to look again at parts of his life he thought he had already dealt with. Through his photos, he found a way to show thoughts and feelings that usually stay hidden, sometimes even from himself. The process helped him work through those feelings and understand himself better. It also reminded him that growth comes from facing what we’ve been through, not avoiding it. For Daniel, creative work like this is a way to reflect, make sense of things, and keep moving forward.

Mannie Villalobos

Mannie is a first-generation adult student, a justice-impacted and formerly incarcerated individual, and someone in recovery from alcohol and drug addiction. He continues to explore who he truly is and how his life experiences have shaped the person he has become.

Through his participation in the Photovoice project, Mannie began finding answers to questions he had carried for years. He recognizes that self-discovery and healing do not happen overnight, but that taking those first steps can be eye-opening and lead to a deeper understanding of himself.

Special Thanks to our sponsor: 

This exhibition was made possible through the support of:

• Long Beach City College Foundation, Primary Sponsor 
• Supported in part by Arts Council for Long Beach and the City of Long Beach 
• City of Long Beach Management Association 
• EQUAL  
• MILPAS 

RELATED PROGRAMS AND RESOURCES

• Long Beach City College
• LBCC Student Equity
• LBCC Justice Scholars
• LBCC Phoenix Scholars
• LBCC Pride Scholars
• LBCC Dream Services
• LBCC International Students
• LBCC Student Health Services
• Timely Care
• LBCC Foundation
• Arizona State University, Mary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning Innovation

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LBCC Art Gallery located at 4901 E Carson St, Long Beach, CA 90808, Building K

Gallery hours:  

• Tuesday: 11pm-4pm
• Wednesdays: 11am -4pm
• Thursday: 11pm -4pm
• Friday: 11pm -4pm
• Weekends open by appointment

Parking: $2 a day in Lots C, D, and E