Jenni Rivera | The Assignment by Los Angeles Editorial Photographer JC Olivera

Jenni Rivera | The Assignment

Lakewood, California | December 2012

Jenni Rivera is a very familiar name to me, I met Jenni couple of years ago when I worked in a Multimedia Agency that specialized in public relations, videography & photography, at the agency we worked with Jenni many times and we always had a great experience.

On Sunday morning December 9, 2012, I heard the news first on facebook, then on twitter, then I turned on the radio and KLOVE had a special broadcast and they were updating their listeners with information about the tragic accident of Jenni Rivera’s plane crash in Northern Mexico.

By the way, this post is not about how Jenni Rivera died, there is plenty of information about the plane crash, what I am sharing here is what I saw the past few days outside the residence Rosa Saavedra mother of Jenni Rivera while on assignment.

I’ve been covering the Jenni Rivera’s case since that morning, I am a freelance editorial photographer based in Los Angeles, California, not a paparazzi, which means that I get  to work directly with Wire Agencies, Magazines, Newspapers or whoever is in need of an editorial photographer and most of my work is on assignment basis. That morning I knew immediately that I was going to get a call from one of my regular clients, so I got my gear ready and headed to the residence of Rosa Saavedra (mother of the late singer Jenni Rivera) in Lakewood, California.

When I got there, the small street was already crowded, media outlet vans parked along the street, fans wanted to know where Jenni’s mother lived, etc. I met with some of my media colleages who were already at the location, all of us were caught by surprise, we had to find a spot to setup our stuff, then we waited, waited and waited.

It’s interesting very often people ask me about my line of work, they usually say “You have a pretty cool job, you get to hang out with celebrities, at parties, at receptions but the reality is that we have a lot of pressure on us, in events like this where we have to get our article, images, or video transmitted as soon as possible, whoever gets the information out to the public is the one who will get the exclusive.

Fans of the late singer Jenni Rivera and media outlets gathered outside the residence of Rosa Saavedra mother of the singer in Lakewood, California.

Media outlets parked outside of Rosa Saavedra mother of the late singer Jenni Rivera in Lakewood, California

A general view of a makeshift memorial utside the residence of Rosa Saavedra mother of the late singer Jenni Rivera in Lakewood, California.

Pedro Rivera, Pedro Rivera JR, Gustavo Rivera and Juan Rivera outside the residence of Rosa Saavedra mother of the late singer Jenni Rivera in Lakewood, California | Los Angeles Press Editorial Photographer.

Pedro Rivera, Pedro Rivera JR, Gustavo Rivera and Juan Rivera hold a press conference outside the residence of Rosa Saavedra mother of the late singer Jenni Rivera in Lakewood, California | Los Angeles Press Editorial Photographer.

Pedro Rivera, Pedro Rivera JR, Gustavo Rivera and Juan Rivera hold a press conference outside the residence of Rosa Saavedra mother of the late singer Jenni Rivera in Lakewood, California | Los Angeles Press Editorial Photographer.

After a couple of hours friends and fans created a makeshift memorial in honor of Jenni Rivera in the garden of the Rivera Family with images of the singer, candles, notes, flowers, posters and letters dedicated to Jenni.

We spent ours in front of the residence, we were capturing anyone getting/leaving the house, later that night Lupillo Rivera, Juan Rivera, Pedro Rivera, Pedro Rivera Jr spoke to the press.

After a few minutes Rosa Saavedra mother of the late singer Jenni Rivera spoke to the press as well, she said a few words about how she felt after hearing the news of the passing of her dauther Jenni Rivera.

Members of the Rivera Family singing in honor of the late singer Jenni Rivera outside the residence of Rosa Saavedra mother of the late singer Jenni Rivera in Lakewood, California | Los Angeles Press Editorial Photographer.

Rosie Rivera and Jenicka Lopez, Members of the Rivera Family singing in honor of the late singer Jenni Rivera outside the residence of Rosa Saavedra mother of the late singer Jenni Rivera in Lakewood, California | Los Angeles Press Editorial Photographer.

Members of the Rivera Family singing in honor of the late singer Jenni Rivera outside the residence of Rosa Saavedra mother of the late singer Jenni Rivera in Lakewood, California | Los Angeles Press Editorial Photographer.

Fans gathered outside observe the Rivera Family singing in honor of the late singer Jenni Rivera outside the residence of Rosa Saavedra mother of the late singer Jenni Rivera in Lakewood, California | Los Angeles Press Editorial Photographer.

National and International members of the Press gathered outside the residence of Rosa Saavedra mother of the late singer Jenni Rivera in Lakewood, California | Los Angeles Press Editorial Photographer.

That first night it was a nightmare I was under a deadline, had to send those images right away, my client was two hours ahead of time due to the difference in time, my wifi signal was low, one bar on my 3G/4G time warner cable IG2 hot spot (which I do not think they offer it anymore), I did not have enough juice in my laptop’s battery, a neighbor let us use her power outlets, we ran an extension cord and we were able to send the images, video and articles, that night we were freezing,  it was a very cold night. After hours of sending images sent my last frame to my photo editors around 1:00 am monday morning, I had to wait until they received everything. It was a long day, full of emotions and somewhat an interesting day.

// Day 2 //

LONG BEACH, CA – DICIEMBRE 10:  Ciudadanos de la ciudad de Long Beach ofrecen una vigilia en honor a Jenni Rivera, Diciembre 10, 2012 en Long Beach, California.

On December 10, Long Beach citizens offered a candlelight vigil in honor of the late singer Jenni Rivera, US authorities confirmed that Rivera , a US-born singer was killed in a plane crash in Nuevo Leon,  Northen Mexico.

Candlelight vigil in honor of late singer Jenni Rivera on December 10, 2012 in Long Beach, California | Los Angeles Editorial Press Photographer.

A fan writes a final farewell to the late singer Jenni Rivera at a Candlelight vigil in her honor on December 10, 2012 in Long Beach, California | Los Angeles Editorial Press Photographer.

Fans mourn the death of singer Jenni Rivera at a Candlelight vigil in her honor on December 10, 2012 in Long Beach, California | Los Angeles Editorial Press Photographer.

Fans mourn the dead of singer Jenni Rivera at a Candlelight vigil in her honor on December 10, 2012 in Long Beach, California | Los Angeles Editorial Press Photographer.

Candlelight vigil in her honor on December 10, 2012 in Long Beach, California | Los Angeles Editorial Press Photographer.

Fans mourn the dead of singer Jenni Rivera at a Candlelight vigil in her honor on December 10, 2012 in Long Beach, California | Los Angeles Editorial Press Photographer.

A general view of atmosphere during a Candlelight vigil in her honor on December 10, 2012 in Long Beach, California | Los Angeles Editorial Press Photographer.

A general view of atmosphere during a Candlelight vigil in her honor on December 10, 2012 in Long Beach, California | Los Angeles Editorial Press Photographer.

// Day 3 //

The following days I was doing assignments related to Jenni Rivera’s early life, people she interacted with, and getting images of the work she did by  helping people in the community, all those images were editorial assignments and I will post there here when I have the final articles.

// Jenni Rivera Memorial //

Jenni Rivera ‘Celestial Graduation’ was held at the Gibson Amphitheater on December 19, 2012 in Universal City, California

For days press, fans and general public were speculating about were the memorial services of the singer will be at, some media outlets were saying that it was going to be at the Long Beach Arena, others at the Staples Center, but on Wednesday 18, 2012 Pastor Pedro Rivera confirmed in a press conference that memorial services in honor of her sister Jenni Rivera will be at the Gibson Amphitheater, the reason they didn’t do it in Long Beach was (according to him,) they did not get in to an agreement with the venue, he also mentioned the process to get tickets will be through livenation.com/ticketmaster.com

On Wednesday I went early and City Walk at Universal City was already crowded, hundreds of people were outside the Gibson Amphitheater trying to get a ticket to get into the memorial, most were wearing t-shirts with the image of Jenni Rivera ‘La Diva de la Banda’, ‘La Gran Señora’ or carrying banners, posters, images, autographs anything with the image of the beloved regional mexican singer.

A fan poses with a photograph with the image of the late singer, during Jenni Rivera Celestial Graduation on December 19, 2012 in Universal City, California | Los Angeles Editorial Press Photographer.

Fans gathered at City Walk during Jenni Rivera Celestial Graduation on December 19, 2012 in Universal City, California | Los Angeles Editorial Press Photographer.

A fans wears butterflies and images of the late singer Jenni Rivera at City Walk during Jenni Rivera Celestial Graduation on December 19, 2012 in Universal City, California | Los Angeles Editorial Press Photographer.

A fan poses with a photograph with the image of the late singer Jenni Rivera at City Walk during Jenni Rivera Celestial Graduation on December 19, 2012 in Universal City, California | Los Angeles Editorial Press Photographer.

General view of Press Vans parked at City Walk during Jenni Rivera Celestial Graduation on December 19, 2012 in Universal City, California | Los Angeles Editorial Press Photographer.

Security was tight, officers of the sheriff department were ready in case there was any disturbance at City Walk during Jenni Rivera Celestial Graduation on December 19, 2012 in Universal City, California | Los Angeles Editorial Press Photographer.

Local and national media outlets setup in front of Universal Studios to broadcast their shows during Jenni Rivera Celestial Graduation on December 19, 2012 in Universal City, California | Los Angeles Editorial Press Photographer.

// After the Memorial //

The day after the memorial the word on the street was that Jenni Rivera’s burial will be held at noon at All Souls Cemetery and immediately went there, only to find couple of media friends from Univision and Telemundo who were stationed outside the cemetery, we waited for hours at around 3.45 pm, Singer Juan Rivera gave a brief press conference saying that they will bury the remains of her sister Jenni Rivera within seven to ten day at the All Souls Cemetery.

Singer Juan Rivera speaks to the press during a brief press conference outside All Souls Cemetery on December 20, in Lakewood, California.

Last but not least, I am not a journalist, a reporter or a writer so bear with me, I am a photographer and I take good pride of my images, I enjoy every minute of my assignments, this was a very long editorial assignment and I am glad many people will see what happened this past days through my images.

Best,

Jc Olivera

Twitter: @JcOlivera

Facebook: JcOlivera.Photography

About  Los Angeles Photographer Jc Olivera:

Jc Olivera  has provided professional photography services to a diverse client base across the USA for over a decade. Based in Southern California, the agency specializes in high quality photographic work in the areas of: Editorial, Music, Corporate Events, Celebrity Coverage, Gifting Suites, Fashion, Children & Family Portraits, Headshots, and Food photography in the Los Angeles Metro Area.