[HARDINESS] [VALOR] [INNOCENCE] [VIGILANCE] [PERSEVERANCE] [JUSTICE]

I want to share with you the latest series of photographs that I am working on, which are remarkably political.

Artist Statement

Political dialogues are an essential way of remaining involved in the processes that govern the nation. Nowadays, talking about politics can be a dilemma and divisive, especially when someone wants to change others' personal beliefs. Political opinions are very personal and individual, which is the reason why humans need to be willing to listen and to learn when they are talking across political divides. When people are willing to listen and learn; we can start to link into some exciting dialogues about people's beliefs. There are political positions that seem like they will never be compatible. When this situation happens, individuals need to keep their etiquette and be respectful, considerate, and honest with each other. As well as understand that it is acceptable not to have the same points of view. It is time to move forward and not backward by bonding our differences with the interest of resolving our disagreements as a community that we are because it is easy to turn political dialogues into hate.

Process Statement

This is a series of artwork which is attempting to initiate a dialogue about politics in a safe environment without being judged. With the suggestions of one of my professors and my creative mind, I was able to complete these appealing portraits photographs. I asked about 15 students if they were willing to help me with one of my finals for a photography class. I asked if they could model for me and the topic was going to be political. To the students that were willing to help me, I told them that the photographs would be taken in a studio lighting. I scheduled and gave the location for different days and times. Each photo shoot started with a unique and individual conversation, where I started the dialogue with a single question and let the conversation flow to a point where the discussions reached a profound point. After concluding that point, I requested each one of them to uncover the mysterious object that was under the black fabric, and they discovered that they could do whatever it was they wanted with that object. The object is a strong symbol that means hardiness, valor, innocence, vigilance, perseverance, and justice in this nation. Meantime, I had the camera in tripe and prepared to capture the essence and expressions of each one of them.