Art Statement
The purpose of my photo essay “La comunidad” is to show the positive aspects of my Mexican culture for the everyday American viewer who is not familiar with our sense of community. The United States tends to have a more individualistic culture and often portrays the Hispanic culture in a negative light. Through my photos of the community, I intend to mend both views. Showing the whole picture, the whole story of my culture, the American viewer can broaden their perspective about us. Not only will they see the positive aspects of my culture, but also how the repetition of the same narrative and stereotypes about us has limited their way of thinking. I hope to inspire Americans to learn from the communal mentality of my culture so that they can benefit from it.
There are only positive benefits from having a healthy community around us. All the blue zones around the world have that in common. It is tied to an understanding and wisdom connected to our nature and biology, as we are communal beings and need each other to survive. In an individualistic mindset, survival becomes more difficult and even draining, lowers our quality of life, and promotes mental health issues. It is important to go back to our roots of human behavior, not stray away from it. This is why I chose to represent the Mexican community with the roots of our communal culture, which come from our Native American ancestry. The three sisters: the corn, the bean, and the squash, are known to be the representation of our communal roots. These vegetables can grow on their own, but when they are cultivated together, they produce even more fruit. We are not different, as we are also a part of nature. I dream about our future generations becoming more united, and I have hopes of this happening, as we are seeing the negative side effects of our modern, Western way of living. My essay was inspired by my rhetorical analysis of Bad Bunny’s short film, “Debi tirar mas fotos”. Even though his message centers on the negative effects of U.S. colonialism in Puerto Rico, he also portrays his own culture in a positive light. One of these instances was how, in his own culture, there’s a sense of community and trust, and shop owners trust their customers to pay them later for their products when the customer cannot pay right there and then (Bad Bunny). I wanted to expand on this theme for my own essay, as it relates to my own feeling of belonging. I also grew up in a similar culture where socializing is a big part of it, but then later felt disconnected from that beautiful aspect of my culture when I moved to the U.S. I intend to bring that piece of myself to this country only to impact it positively. This country is different from the one I grew up in, but I have been blessed to be here and the opportunities it brought, so I want to give something of myself as well.
What I learned about communicating your ideas in this format was to trust your intuition. We sometimes feel like we are not prepared enough to talk about certain subjects or feel unsure how to present our message clearly, especially with a type of media that is not familiar to us or where the options are too broad. I believe creativity flourishes in constraint, in limitations. Choosing a subject that you are passionate about is going to serve as the compass for your vision, and learning to trust the process is elemental. I saw that happening on my own project, which evolved and got refined through time. I had so many ideas on how to approach this message. The first ones included doing a slam poem, a photo essay, and a music video. I decided to combine poetry with music or a song in a photo essay. From the peer reviews and upon much thought, I decided to omit the music part so that the viewer could focus on the message and the photography. I am happy with this decision, as I also included a narrated intro, which makes the connection between the community and the three sisters clear for an unaware audience. For the poem, I made the three sisters talk in the first person about what they represent. Each model voiced over their respective parts to add layers to the poem. I also had the models dressed in white dresses to show the three sisters as wise spirits. All this with the intention of portraying the metaphorical and symbolic meaning of each vegetable, as well as what they represent as a whole. I chose to have the pictures that captured the real moments about communal spaces in black and white, so that the viewer could focus on the people: their faces, reactions, their smiles, all causes of being around people and a community. I also wanted to include a bit of the Nahuatl language in my poem to emphasize more the roots of our culture and also to honor it, as it was a part of our culture that was erased from us. I wanted to end my poem with a word that simply represents what community is about: living life. I stumbled upon the word yopalki, which basically means living life, or enjoying life, but its literal translation is joy in the heart. Community is the heart of our society and what brings joy to our own hearts.
Cited Work:
Bad Bunny. “BAD BUNNY - DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS (Short Film).” YouTube, 3 Jan. 2025, www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLSzEYVDads.