The Bronx Documentary Center (BDC) in New York is holding its annual Latin American Foto Festival (LAFF) from 11 July to 28 July, with exhibitions featuring work from both emerging and established, award-winning photographers from Bolivia, Peru, Cuba, Mexico, Guatemala, and Brazil – including Venezuelan photographer and World Press Photo winner, Alejandro Cegarra.
The BDC is also hosting in-person workshops, tours, panel discussions, and other community events. Find out more at the BDC’s website.
From Bronx Documentary Center (BDC):
EXHIBITIONS
Lalo de Almeida | Brazil
Amazonian Dystopia documents the construction of the Belo Monte power plant on the Xingu River, with all the environmental and social damage that this work brought to the region.
Manuel Almenares | Cuba
“Ten years ago, I began photographing in the streets of Centro Habana to document the barrio where I live and work. Over the years, I have come to know hundreds of people and thousands of stories.”
Lisandra Alvarez | Cuba
“As a photographer, I seek out intimate moments that often go unnoticed but that connect people in their daily lives. My goal is to accentuate those elements of emotion and rawness that exist in the everyday, whether behind closed doors or on the streets of Centro Habana.”
Santiago Billy | Guatemala
‘Palo Volador – Reaching Heaven’ Legend has it that, in the 1700s, the local chiefs of Cubulco, a village located some 450 kilometers from the city of Antigua Guatemala, all shared a dream. In this vision, St. James demanded they perform a ritual dance in which a pair of dancers would spin down from a tree using only a rope. They diligently complied and El Palo Volador, the Dance of Angels and Monkeys, was born.
Alejandro Cegarra | Mexico
The Two Walls Mexico used to have a reputation for being a sanctuary for asylum seekers, embracing migrants with open arms. However, in the last 6 years, Mexico has served as a co-enforcer of United States anti-migration policies.
Fotokids | Guatemala
This exhibition with the Bronx Documentary Center showcases part of Fotokids’ recent 30-year Retrospective Exhibit, with some additional photos taken more recently.
Magda Gibelli | Peru
“The prototype of a classical ballet dancer usually doesn’t fit the characteristic physique of Peruvians, that is a typically small stature with short neck, trunk and arms… But that should not be a stigma or a barrier.” This is how Maria del Carmen Silva, a retired Peruvian professional dancer, explains why she decided to create a ballet school for those girls whose families couldn’t afford a ballet class.
Jorge Santiago | Mexico
‘Identity At Play’
I grew up in Guelatao de Juárez, a village of approximately 500 people in Oaxaca’s Sierra Norte. Guelatao is famous not only as the birthplace of Mexican president Benito Juárez, but also as the site of the annual Copa Benito Juárez, in which more than 300 teams of indigenous Zapotec, Mixe, and Chinantec players compete over a period of five days.
Wara Vargas | Bolivia
‘Dream’
In the history of Latin American art, women were used as muses by artists who typically sought white women incorporating Western standards of beauty. Indigenous muses were rarely shown and indigenous women were mainly delegated to figures of servitude.
Victor Zea | Peru
‘Rap on their Roots’
“Rap on their Roots” explores part of the hip hop movement in Peru and its diaspora which transforms the movement’s rhymes into action. Those engaged in this transformation teach a sense of resistance, community and revaluation of cultural identity.
Toñita’s | Puerto Rico
Marking 50 years as a beloved community anchor, the Caribbean Social Club stands as the last of its kind in Williamsburg’s Southside, a neighborhood almost entirely transformed. Founded by Maria Antonia Cay, affectionately known as Toñita, the club not only serves as a window to the past but also reflects larger themes of migration and displacement experienced by Latin American communities within and beyond New York City.
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