Since 1981, photographer Al Rendón has collaborated with Visit San Antonio and other local organizations on promoting the city to convention groups and visitors, including serving on local tourism-related boards. Born in San Antonio, his love for his hometown and work behind the camera runs deep.
“My mother documented our family life in pictures,” recalled Rendón, now 68. “Money was tight, but she always had film in the camera.”
The youngest of five, Rendón caught the bug early. In 1969, at age 12, he hustled up front with local media to photograph Jonathan Winters and Peter Ustinov rehearsing a scene for Viva Max! in front of the Alamo.
On May 22, 1973, the camera now welded to his hand, he found the stairway to career heaven when Led Zeppelin rolled into town. Tickets from an older brother in hand, he entered San Antonio’s former HemisFair Arena with his camera bag.
“Security was escorting me out when a radio station buddy and the promoter intervened,” Rendón said. “I pledged them my photos if they let me in.”
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They agreed, but he could only shoot from his seat in the nosebleeds. The headstrong teenager was determined though. Later rushing the stage, Rendón took close-ups of Robert Plant and Jimmy Page that launched his decade-long run as an all-access rock and roll photographer.
“You hit every concert or lost out,” he said. “Freed by my parents to hang with all these crazy people, I went all in.”
From AC/DC to ZZ Top, his rock gallery is a pantheon of legends. Others, to name a few, included BB King, Elton John, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Ozzy Osbourne.
“I caught Mick Jagger bathed in red light at the Stones’ infamous 1975 show in town,” Rendón said. “Backstage was fun, too, like the Texas-shaped jacuzzi at their 1981 Cotton Bowl gig in Dallas.”
In all the excitement, Rendón stayed focused. “It was a real education, from developing relationships to capturing the moment. I made prints right after each show and sold them at after-parties around town.”
He then pursued a more personal direction.
“My father, a wood carver, listened to Mexican radio while he worked,” Rendón recalled. “That music did not resonate with me as a teenager, but as I grew, I awakened to my Hispanic roots.”
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Joining San Antonio’s Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center in 1985, Rendón turned his lens onto Hispanic culture. That led to a close bond with the late “Queen of Tejano Music,” Selena Quintanilla-Pérez.
“I knew instantly that the girl had it,” remembers Rendón of his celebrated friend. “There was no stopping her.”
Collaborating on album covers, publicity shots, news media and advertising campaigns, Rendon’s images of the celebrated star appeared in museum exhibits and made the covers of People and Newsweek.
“Many of my Selena portraits reside in the Smithsonian collection,” added Rendón, whose “Mi Cultura” journey has included documenting Conjunto music, Charreada (Mexican rodeo), artists, street food vendors and citizens.
His latest project focuses on Lowrider car culture, which originated in Los Angeles during WWII and has a major presence in San Antonio.
“Capturing cultural heritage is critical,” he said. “When I met the local founders of Charreada, a little-known South Side tradition from the 1940s, they were in their 80s and dying off. Taking their photographs became paramount.”
San Antonio’s event-capable Witte Museum, turning 100 next year, recently celebrated Rendón’s career with a 50-year photo retrospective.
“I have proudly lived and breathed San Antonio my whole life,” Rendón said. “Our landmark 1941 Mi Tierra cafe and bakery was a favorite after-party spot in my rock days. ‘Mi Tierra’ means ‘my land’ or ‘my earth’ and speaks to my deep connection to my vibrant, creative, multicultural hometown.”
