It is in the silence that we see what is truly beautiful. Reflections start to take shape in the objects that surround you; but it is when weathering your own inner storm these words start to exist in harmony.
A body of work about family, tradition, and the things we share and unite us. Thirteen people sit around a tiny dining room table in a small apartment in Washington Heights, New York. They came together to eat, drink, and share stories about their week. Food is said to be a universal language we all speak. We consume it in different ways and for many it is the language we speak better than others. It has been said that food can bring people together from every corner of the planet. But in this case, I zeroed in on my part of the world, my family’s Sunday night dinner table. For the past 70 years, the Vega family has sat down at their dining room table and shared a well-prepared family meal. NO arguments or excuses, you where there, present, and for the most part happy about it.
Today, even after many in our family are no longer with us, my mother continues the traditions that her parents had passed on to her and her siblings. This work examines the dynamics of our family’ Sunday Dinner as well as the effect the recent pandemic has had on this tradition. The project encompasses a video showing the family’s interactions in a typical Sunday Dinner as well as a series of images of spontaneous moments during family gatherings, including a more formal family portrait around the infamous dinner table.
Over the past few months I have been trying to come to terms with my diagnosis of having clinical depression. Through journaling and my love for music came this project. Using song lyrics and excerpts from my journal each photo represents a part of my life that needed to be shot to express my former inner struggles.
This project was a process of self discovery and how much I have changed in the six years since being diagnosed with clinical depression.
This project stemmed from talking a walk around campus between classes. During those walks did the similarities all around become clear. From the light reflections to the different sky patterns the world around me was starting to blur together. And so to find that similarities elsewhere these walks became an everyday thing with my camera serving as my diary.
During a photo documentary class we were given an assignment to focus on stereotypes and the people that are most affected by them. While doing this task the realization hit that my family was the only thing to pop in my head. My mother is a single Hispanic parent, my father is African American, two of my uncles are openly gay and have successfully adopted my two cousins Jaiden and Anthony. After all that there was no way I couldn't do my family for my personal project. Starting with small things like weekly family dinner then traveling to my uncle's house to see how they interact as their own separate family unit. Then tackling a huge family event at one of our biggest holidays; Thanksgiving. Family are all unique and mine is no different.
Bridges connect us to every part of the United States and so for this project capturing the bridges that have been photographed so often the objective was to find a new and interesting way to see them. Part one of my Tightrope George Washington Bridge.
The Brooklyn Bridge is one the most photographed bridges in New York and finding that new point of entry felt like a interesting challenge. I have never walked the Brooklyn Bridge until this point and getting to experience that for my art just felt right.
The Manhattan Bridge. This bridge was included because it has has a great view of the city and the Brooklyn Bridge. The only way to walk the bridge is from the side and it is always interesting to great weird angels that way.
Bergenfield, New Jersey has been called my home for 21 Years. Through this project stores, houses, streets, and local neighborhoods (including my own) become forever photographed through daily walks from my job at the local town library to my house.
The 59th Street Bridge or more commonly known as the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge is next. The approach for this bridge literally took me for a ride. Instead of walking across the bridge like the other three the tram was my ally in this quest for a new perceptive.
The Verrazano Bridge is latest bridge. Of all the bridges photographed for this project the Verrazano was the only one unaccessible to walk across. That being said being creative took on a whole new meaning. A near-by military base in Staten Island was the closest site for this photos.
Combining photography and mixed media. My graphic design work lets me mix my computer skills with my passion for photography. Expanding my art forms through the adobe suites using Photoshop, Illustrator, and Indesign to create the pieces you see here.
