This story is part of a series about unique and unexpected ways that volunteers are spending their time across the San Diego and Imperial region.
A couple embracing in the sunset near Salvation Mountain. Lowriders adorned with carrots in Holtville. Scarlet aurora borealis ablaze above a busy highway.
These are some of the scenes you’ll find in the Imperial Valley Photography group on Facebook. There, scores of amateur photographers have created a vibrant, evolving portrait of life in the California borderlands.
The group has amassed more than 15,000 members since its founding in January. Every month, it draws hundreds of photographs capturing the valley’s iconic landscapes, lively festivals and regional traditions like Brawley’s Cattle Call rodeo and the infamous high school football Bell Game.
To some Imperial Valley residents, the group has also taken on greater meaning as a way for them to share the beauty of the region — something that isn’t always seen by people who don’t live there.
“We're surrounded by these beautiful settings around here in the valley, but I wasn't seeing that,” said amateur photographer Juan Rodelo, who founded the group. “Being able to share your perspective, I think, is very important.”
Rodelo turned to photography in 2016 as a way to cope with trauma and exhaustion from his work.
At the time, he had spent more than a decade working as a firefighter for the County of Imperial. He had been deployed to help fight several wildfires across the state and was beginning to feel mental weariness creeping in.
That year, Rodelo was asked to take some pictures at his cousin’s wedding in Washington state. Afterwards, as he scrolled through the photographs on his computer, he felt a sense of calm.
“My mind is just occupied 100% on what I'm doing,” he said. “Not contemplating what I've done throughout the day, all the things I've done, the things I've seen.”
Several years later, Rodelo was on a nighttime deployment near Fresno. It was dark except for the light of the wildfire burning just over the mountain. He and his team had been told that their other routes were compromised and that they needed to stay in one place. All they could do was wait for the flames to arrive.
Rodelo picked up his camera. His teammates were silhouettes against the orange glow and the headlights of a truck nearby. But as he was taking a picture, one of the crew turned on a flashlight and sent a beam of light into the night sky.
Years later, he still gets emotional describing that photograph.
“It’s not sadness,” he said. “It’s more of … it was a humbling moment.”
That picture, Rodelo said, moved him to try to become a better photographer and to celebrate life and service in his pictures.
The Imperial Valley Photography Facebook group is essentially an open forum where anyone can share their pictures of the valley. Rodelo and the group’s other moderators encourage discussion and debate but also urge the group’s members to build trust and create a welcoming environment for new photographers.
Several other members praised the group and Rodelo’s work to maintain it.
Salton City photographer Velma Ruiz Pacrem has been documenting the county for years “for those who are unable to get up and go.” Now, she lives on the western side of the valley and spends much of her time along the Salton Sea.
Ruiz Pacrem said the Facebook group has been an amazing place to share some of that work. She said she even receives messages from viewers who appreciate her images of small town life.
“It brings me so much joy,” Ruiz Pacrem wrote in a message.
Wendy Miller’s focus is on photographing burrowing owls, a species of tiny underground-dwelling birds that have vanished in most parts of the state but thrives in the desert farmland of the Imperial Valley. Miller posts a burrowing owl image every morning in hopes of cheering up members of the group.
Miller also appreciates that the group restricts posts and comments about politics.
“It's an awesome group that is very supportive,” Miller wrote in an email.
Rodelo said limiting political speech is something that he feels strongly about. He wants the focus to be on the photographs themselves.
But he does see the group as having a broader mission: to share a local perspective of the Imperial Valley’s present and past.
“The group has become more like a repository for a lot of the history of the valley,” Rodelo said. “We're looking at the same things — I mean, we live here in the same place — but everybody's looking at different things in a different way.”
