During her travels Constance Mayfield St. Jean has taken photos of people in India, Mexico, Morocco and other locales, revealing facial expressions. "I like to see if I can catch something unusual," she said.
Penny E. Schwartz / Special to The Press-Enterprise
"My husband gave me a Leica and sent me out to take photographs," she said.
At first she shot animals, but soon found herself drawn to the South Indian people she encountered. She has never formally studied photography.
At first, native people were fearful because they had been told that visiting Americans "had baby eaters living in their villages," she said.
She said she found that the best way to deal with people in an unfamiliar, rural culture was act "as if I knew nothing.
"When I couldn't get water from the well, I had to ask someone to help me," said St. Jean, who was pregnant with her first child at the time. "People ended up thinking we were idiots and not baby-eaters at all."
Her husband, Alan Beals, brought her to Riverside in the mid-1960s, when he was hired at the new University of California campus there.
St. Jean began to specialize in long-lens candid photos of wildlife, rodeo riders, children, American Indians, flowers and musicians in Southern California and Spain, Portugal and Morocco.
Among her favorites are an elderly man sharing his lunch with his dog, a little lost boy petting a bronze dog and a pair of woman apparently arguing as they walk together on a Madrid street.
More recently, St. Jean has been creating colorful abstract photographs. A variety of these, along with some of her original Indian and Mexican black-and-white photos and her color shots from Europe and North Africa, are in the Feldheym show.
"Connie's long-lens photographs capture the ways of life of vanishing cultures," said Feldheym principal librarian Millicent Price.
Linda Puetz, exhibition coordinator, said she admires the candid moments she captures.
"I can tell by looking at Connie's photographs that her subjects were completely unaware of the photographer's lens," Puetz said.
Although retired from her social work career in Riverside County, St. Jean continues to do volunteer work with women who were abused as children.
People and their needs are never far from her mind. The photos in her show are hung below normal eye level so that children who visit the library can easily see them.
Her photographs have been shown since the early 1990s in coffee houses and galleries.
Her Moroccan photos were featured in a solo show in San Pedro.
While St. Jean enjoys entering competitions and has won a number of awards, she said that is not her primary focus.
"People look at the photos and enjoy them and that's the important thing," she said.
Inland People
Constance Mayfield St. Jean
Age: 74
Residence: Riverside
Career: Retired clinical social worker for Riverside County; volunteers with women molested as children; music director for a monthly Dixieland jazz club in Covina.
Avocation: Photographer, specializing in long-lens candids.
Hobbies: Raising sheep, goats, chickens and ducks on home farm.
Event: Photo show at the Feldheym Library through the end of August, 555 W. Sixth St., San Bernardino.
© 2008 Press-Enterprise Company
August 11, 2008
USA: Constance Mayfield St. Jean, 74, has photographed faces around the globe
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RIVERSIDE, Southern California (The Press-Enterprise), August 11, 2008:
By Penny E. Schwartz
Special to The Press-Enterprise
As a clinical social worker, Constance Mayfield St. Jean's emphasis has been on people, helping them sort out their emotions and understand the various parts of their personalities.
As a photographer, she also focuses on people, trying to capture facial expressions that reveal inner emotions.
"I like to see if I can catch something unusual," St. Jean said.
A show of St. Jean's travel photos, featuring people in India, Mexico, Morocco and other locales, is on display in the galleries of the Feldheym Central Library in San Bernardino through the end of August.
St. Jean, 74, grew up in Northern California and earned bachelor's and master's degrees in child development at Mills College. She met her first husband, a Stanford University anthropologist, in Monterey, but soon found herself in Gopalpur, India, where he was doing field research for a year.
She became a photographer by happenstance.
During her travels Constance Mayfield St. Jean has taken photos of people in India, Mexico, Morocco and other locales, revealing facial expressions. "I like to see if I can catch something unusual," she said.
Penny E. Schwartz / Special to The Press-Enterprise
"My husband gave me a Leica and sent me out to take photographs," she said.
At first she shot animals, but soon found herself drawn to the South Indian people she encountered. She has never formally studied photography.
At first, native people were fearful because they had been told that visiting Americans "had baby eaters living in their villages," she said.
She said she found that the best way to deal with people in an unfamiliar, rural culture was act "as if I knew nothing.
"When I couldn't get water from the well, I had to ask someone to help me," said St. Jean, who was pregnant with her first child at the time. "People ended up thinking we were idiots and not baby-eaters at all."
Her husband, Alan Beals, brought her to Riverside in the mid-1960s, when he was hired at the new University of California campus there.
St. Jean began to specialize in long-lens candid photos of wildlife, rodeo riders, children, American Indians, flowers and musicians in Southern California and Spain, Portugal and Morocco.
Among her favorites are an elderly man sharing his lunch with his dog, a little lost boy petting a bronze dog and a pair of woman apparently arguing as they walk together on a Madrid street.
More recently, St. Jean has been creating colorful abstract photographs. A variety of these, along with some of her original Indian and Mexican black-and-white photos and her color shots from Europe and North Africa, are in the Feldheym show.
"Connie's long-lens photographs capture the ways of life of vanishing cultures," said Feldheym principal librarian Millicent Price.
Linda Puetz, exhibition coordinator, said she admires the candid moments she captures.
"I can tell by looking at Connie's photographs that her subjects were completely unaware of the photographer's lens," Puetz said.
Although retired from her social work career in Riverside County, St. Jean continues to do volunteer work with women who were abused as children.
People and their needs are never far from her mind. The photos in her show are hung below normal eye level so that children who visit the library can easily see them.
Her photographs have been shown since the early 1990s in coffee houses and galleries.
Her Moroccan photos were featured in a solo show in San Pedro.
While St. Jean enjoys entering competitions and has won a number of awards, she said that is not her primary focus.
"People look at the photos and enjoy them and that's the important thing," she said.
Inland People
Constance Mayfield St. Jean
Age: 74
Residence: Riverside
Career: Retired clinical social worker for Riverside County; volunteers with women molested as children; music director for a monthly Dixieland jazz club in Covina.
Avocation: Photographer, specializing in long-lens candids.
Hobbies: Raising sheep, goats, chickens and ducks on home farm.
Event: Photo show at the Feldheym Library through the end of August, 555 W. Sixth St., San Bernardino.
© 2008 Press-Enterprise Company
During her travels Constance Mayfield St. Jean has taken photos of people in India, Mexico, Morocco and other locales, revealing facial expressions. "I like to see if I can catch something unusual," she said.
Penny E. Schwartz / Special to The Press-Enterprise
"My husband gave me a Leica and sent me out to take photographs," she said.
At first she shot animals, but soon found herself drawn to the South Indian people she encountered. She has never formally studied photography.
At first, native people were fearful because they had been told that visiting Americans "had baby eaters living in their villages," she said.
She said she found that the best way to deal with people in an unfamiliar, rural culture was act "as if I knew nothing.
"When I couldn't get water from the well, I had to ask someone to help me," said St. Jean, who was pregnant with her first child at the time. "People ended up thinking we were idiots and not baby-eaters at all."
Her husband, Alan Beals, brought her to Riverside in the mid-1960s, when he was hired at the new University of California campus there.
St. Jean began to specialize in long-lens candid photos of wildlife, rodeo riders, children, American Indians, flowers and musicians in Southern California and Spain, Portugal and Morocco.
Among her favorites are an elderly man sharing his lunch with his dog, a little lost boy petting a bronze dog and a pair of woman apparently arguing as they walk together on a Madrid street.
More recently, St. Jean has been creating colorful abstract photographs. A variety of these, along with some of her original Indian and Mexican black-and-white photos and her color shots from Europe and North Africa, are in the Feldheym show.
"Connie's long-lens photographs capture the ways of life of vanishing cultures," said Feldheym principal librarian Millicent Price.
Linda Puetz, exhibition coordinator, said she admires the candid moments she captures.
"I can tell by looking at Connie's photographs that her subjects were completely unaware of the photographer's lens," Puetz said.
Although retired from her social work career in Riverside County, St. Jean continues to do volunteer work with women who were abused as children.
People and their needs are never far from her mind. The photos in her show are hung below normal eye level so that children who visit the library can easily see them.
Her photographs have been shown since the early 1990s in coffee houses and galleries.
Her Moroccan photos were featured in a solo show in San Pedro.
While St. Jean enjoys entering competitions and has won a number of awards, she said that is not her primary focus.
"People look at the photos and enjoy them and that's the important thing," she said.
Inland People
Constance Mayfield St. Jean
Age: 74
Residence: Riverside
Career: Retired clinical social worker for Riverside County; volunteers with women molested as children; music director for a monthly Dixieland jazz club in Covina.
Avocation: Photographer, specializing in long-lens candids.
Hobbies: Raising sheep, goats, chickens and ducks on home farm.
Event: Photo show at the Feldheym Library through the end of August, 555 W. Sixth St., San Bernardino.
© 2008 Press-Enterprise Company
