In 2016, all was well in the life of Jose Cordon.
He was part owner of clothing store 1897 LB located on 1st Street and he had a growing family. In his own words, he was “perfectly happy.”
But life took a turn.
His mother, who was his children’s primary caretaker, received a terminal cancer diagnosis.
In this moment, Cordon and his wife were faced with a decision to sell their half of the store, triggering a series of events that would lead Cordon to find his passion for photography.
With some of the money Cordon had after selling his half of the store, he and a friend drove to Best Buy to make a life-changing purchase: a Canon Rebel camera.
At the border of Seal Beach and Long Beach, Cordon took photo lessons.
“[My friend is] talking to me about F stops, shutter speed, ISO and I’m just not getting it,” Cordon said of his first lesson.
Cordon’s photography career is in part thanks to a detail that took place when the two friends traveled back to their cars.
“[My friend] said, ‘You ever seen those pictures of Downtown LA with all the streaks of the cars on the freeway? Well, let me show you how to do one,’” Cordon recounted.
Rather than the quick press of the shutter-release, Cordon’s friend showed him how to press a finger and wait for a long exposure photo.
The industrial look of the dimly lit refineries along the 22 freeway were the muse.
“You’re telling me I can literally create a painting in 30 seconds?” Cordon said in amazement. “Since September 2016 I knew right then and there, what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”
The next day Cordon went back to Best Buy to upgrade his camera.
“I had years of this creativity that I just needed to let out,” he said.
By day, he’d take care of his children and help his mother with her therapy while his wife was at work. By night, he was out shooting until his camera couldn’t take it anymore, literally.
A crowd of people huddles for the clean-up effort organized by the Downtown Long Beach Alliance on the morning after the civil unrest of May 31, 2020. (Photo Courtesy of Jose Cordon) 
A wife and husband artist duo paint a boarded-up restaurant in Long Beach in 2020 as captured by Jose Cordon. (Photo Courtesy of Jose Cordon)
“I did that for like the first eight months and broke that little Canon Rebel,” Cordon said. “I actually broke the shutter rod, I shot so much.”
Ready to put his crash course in photography to the test, Cordon shot one of his now-renowned series titled “Malditas” or “Damned,” in English.
The resulting images are a celebration of women warriors, inspired in part by the women in Cordon’s life who were in different stages of life.
He drew inspiration from his wife, who had received a major promotion at work. A colleague trying to leave her day job to pursue the art of taxidermy. His daughter, whose life was just starting. His mother, whose life was coming to an end.
The series reclaimed a word with negative connotations, in this context it lauded women who persevered.
One of the photos depicts a young woman whose classic vans are firmly touching the cement. Her dark skirt blows in the wind while atop her sherpa collared jacket rests a baseball bat. Her stare is as sharp as the turret-like tower of the Villa Riviera that looms in the background.
“A lot of it was based out of my mom’s apprehension of just kind of being a liberated person, not just a woman,” he said. “She was always very reclusive and just very sheltered, she was afraid of the entire world. She did that all the way till the day she passed away.”
The exhibition was picked up by Latin American media outlet, Remezcla.
The viewfinder of Jose Cordon’s camera has also captured portions of recent local history.
Amid business closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he worked with the Arts Council for Long Beach to document artists painting boarded-up businesses in 2020.
“I received this email from [Arts LB Director Griselda Suarez]. It was like a call to arms like as artists we have to go up there and uplift the community,” Cordon said. “I didn’t even ask if they were paying, I just said yes I’m going.”
Ms. Yellow creates a mural at a Long Beach business in 2020 as rain pours. Cordon documented the dozens of artists who created artwork at boarded-up businesses throughout the city. (Photo Courtesy of Jose Cordon) 
Part of a panel that made up a mural honoring George Floyd sits in a storage facility for preservation. Jose Cordon documented the recovery effort for painted panels that once shielded businesses in Long Beach in 2020. (Photo Courtesy of Jose Cordon)
The experience, Cordon said, was surreal.
Much like he had persevered through adversity after his mother’s death, Cordon was now documenting artists who persisted through a global pandemic.
The day after the May 31, 2020 uprising, Cordon found himself again in the streets of Long Beach documenting a large clean-up effort organized by the Downtown Long Beach Alliance.
“You see the images, and then it just kind of hits you like you’ll never [capture] anything like that ever again,” Cordon said of the experience. “And you really hope that you never [capture] anything like that again.”
Cordon went on to photograph the recovery effort for painted panels that once shielded businesses.
One of the images he caught shows tan office chairs strewn about a large facility– almost framing part of a panel resting sideways against a green wall. The panel is part of a bigger art piece depicting George Floyd.
“There it was in an empty temporary storage place in an effort to give the artwork that rose from the tragic death of a man another life,” Cordon said in an Instagram caption. “And a reminder of a day that like many cities around the U.S. where protest[s] were held will go down in the fight against police brutality history.”
Cordon has been able to capture poignant moments around Long Beach for posterity over the last few years, in part due to the leap he took in 2016. Waiting until he was ready was not an option.
“Don’t wait on the sidelines,” Cordon says, the message applicable to all.
To keep up with Cordon’s work and to connect with the artist, follow him on Instagram @deadendbrigade.
This is Goood!! . Keep up the great Work Brotha your a inspiration