[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 17]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 23639]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               TRIBUTE TO MR. GEORGE O. JACKSON DE LLANO

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. HENRY CUELLAR

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, September 5, 2007

  Mr. CUELLAR. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Mr. George O. 
Jackson de Llano, a noted photographer who is well-regarded for his 
excellent photographic exhibits of cultural life in Mexico.
  Mr. Jackson de Llano was born on October 2, 1941 in Houston, Texas. 
He has a heritage rich in Mexican culture as a descendant of Manuel 
Maria de Llano, who was Mayor of Monterrey and later Governor of the 
Mexican state of Nuevo Leon. Mr. Jackson de Llano spent much of his 
youth in Laredo, Texas, when his great-grandfather, Ruben Villarreal, a 
silver miner in northern Mexico, relocated his family there during the 
Mexican Revolution. He attended The University of Texas at Austin and 
graduated in 1961.
  Mr. Jackson de Llano did not directly set out on his photography 
career; he first was an entrepreneur as a successful restaurant owner. 
In 1971, Mr. Jackson became the associate director of a Houston art 
gallery that featured prominent American artists of the 19th and 20th 
centuries. He made the decision to explore his life through his love of 
photography in 1977 by making consecutive trips to Mexico. He became a 
full-time photographer in 1984 and was increasingly fascinated by folk 
culture in Mexico, particularly their festival celebrations which are 
prominently featured in his photography. He created The Essence of 
Mexico Project, which was a historical collection of photography 
featuring Mexican indigenous folk culture that spanned the last ten 
years of the 20th century. This collection of photographs is featured 
at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC.
  Madam Speaker, I am honored to have had this time to recognize the 
wonderful creativity and dedication Mr. George O. Jackson de Llano has 
shown in his photography. He has contributed a great deal to the 
preservation of indigenous folk culture in Mexico through his 
photography. I thank you for this time.

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