Don Gregorio Antón is a photographer and an Emeritus Professor of Art of Humboldt State University (HSU). During his 50-year vocation he has spoken nationally at universities and intercity schools in an effort to inspire and encourage students to realize their personal vision.
Early life and studies
Antón was born in East Los Angeles and raised in Pico Rivera, California. When he was 17, his father forbade him from following a career in photography unless Antón could prove to his father that a Chicano photographer could be successful. Antón searched libraries and found a book by influential Mexican photographer Manuel Álvarez Bravo, which proved to be sufficient for Antón's father.
Antón attended Rio Hondo College then shifted to San Francisco State University where he received his Bachelor of Arts in 1978 and a Master of Arts in 1980. He was mentored by photographers Duane Michals, Eikoh Hosoe, Brett Weston, Robert Heinecken, Edmund Teske, Don Worth, Jack Welpott, and, during his earliest years, with Dody Weston Thompson.
Teaching
Antón's first teaching assignment was on the campus of Otis Art Institute/Parsons School of Design, Los Angeles in 1983. In 1986, he became the Coordinator of Photographic Education through the department of Extended Education and served as curator of the college's gallery. He also taught evening courses at Chaffey College in Alta Loma.
In 1987, the founder of the photography program at Humboldt State University (HSU), Tom Knight, recruited Antón to fill a one-year visiting lecturer position. Antón was asked to stay for an additional year.
From 1989 to 1991, Antón served as director of the photography program at Olympic College in Bremerton. When Knight died, Antón was hired by HSU to fill his position. During Antón's tenure, he mentored the multicultural students. Antón retired in 2014.
Antón was awarded the Freestyle Crystal Apple Teaching Award in 2010 from the Society for Photographic Education, as well as the Excellence in Photographic Education – Teacher of the Year Award from the Santa Fe Center for Visual Arts in 2002. He has also received recognition from the WESTAF/National Endowment for the Arts, Regional Fellowship for the Visual Arts in 1993, and support from the Lorser Feitelson / Helen Lundeberg Grant in 1984.
Recognition
Antón's earliest contributions were recognized by Franciscan Sister Karen Boccalero, the director and founder of Self-Help Graphics, who curated his first exhibition at Galería Otra Vez in Boyle Heights in 1982. The exhibition and lecture was titled, Milagros and was reviewed by the writer and poet Dinah Berland of the Los Angeles Times who wrote, "Listening to Don Antón speak about his life is like reading Carlos Castaneda. Antón, an intense young artist with an acceptance of the magical in everyday experience, describes his photography as 'trying to balance on a tight wire between feeling and thought.' Antón's work, like his life, is guided by a quality of feeling." Councilwoman Gloria Molina awarded Antón a commendation from the city of Los Angeles for his efforts to inspire others within the Latino community.
Antón's work would also be included in the first cross-cultural exhibition of photography in Los Angeles. The Multicultural Focus survey was directed by the curator and writer, Josine Ianco-Starrels and held at the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery in Barnsdall Park in 1981 to celebrate the cities Bicentennial. American journalist Suzanne Muchnic called it "The best contemporary show [of photography] of the year". Thirty years later, this exhibition, retitled REFOCUS: Multicultural Focus, would resurface through the efforts of the photographer and educator Sheila Pinkel, and presented in the Getty Museum's monumental survey Pacific Standard Time. It was a major collaboration of over 60 cultural institutions across Southern California, coming together for six months, from October 2011 to March 2012, to tell the story of the birth of the Los Angeles art scene and how it became a major force in the art world.
Antón was selected to participate in the exhibition, American Voices: Latino Photography in the U.S., created by FotoFest's artistic director, Wendy Watriss, and presented at the Smithsonian's Ripley International Gallery in 1997.