The New York Latin American Photography Festival is now showing a variety of works ranging from the harsh reality of migrant crossings in Mexico, environmental damage in the Amazon, and aspects of the lives of street children in Guatemala.
Now in its seventh year, from July 11 to 28, this highly anticipated festival, organized by the Bronx Documentary Center, has grown and for the first time has expanded to the boroughs of Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn to simultaneously showcase the work of professional and emerging photographers.
The festival attracted the attention of other cultural organizations that also wanted to host the exhibition, the center’s director, Mike Kamber, explained to Efe.
The center posted a message on social media on Thursday inviting people to the opening of the event.
TONIGHT! Thursday, July 11 • 6-9PM—Join us to celebrate the opening of our 7th Annual Latin American Photography Festival! ⏰ 6:30PM | Welcome + Informal Tour with the Artists
⏰ LIVE MUSIC: 7:30PM | Anonima Orchestra (in front of BDC Annex) pic.twitter.com/8EKWYbbzoz— Bronx Documentary Center (@followbdc) July 11, 2024
This year, for the first time, the festival has doubled its usual number of images from about 150 to more than 300, Kamber said.
Also included this year is a solo exhibition by Venezuelan photographer Alejandro Cegarra, winner of the long-term project, one of the main World Press Photo awards this year, which portrays migration through northern and southern Mexico, which he documented for six years.
The photos, displayed in the Documentary Center’s buildings, garden, and outdoor walls in this community in the South Bronx, feature images by photographers from Mexico, Bolivia, Cuba, Peru, and for the first time from Brazil, and by children from Guatemala, who are returning to the festival after six years.
They cover a variety of topics, including traditional Bolivian cholas, environmental damage in the Amazon, the Peruvian ballet school for poor girls, and hip hop culture in that country, among others.
The work on display from Guatemala, which occupies the main room, is by children between the ages of 12 and 15 from the FotoKids program, which began with children who lived in garbage dumps and survived by selling what they found in the trash.
The program, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary, has expanded but is still aimed at children in extreme poverty, who participate in this festival with photos that show what their life is like, that of their families or community, capturing traditional religious and cultural celebrations, among others, the founder of the initiative, Nancy McGirr, explained to EFE.
The first minors to start the program are now photography teachers, but they are also taught web design and how to make videos so they can get jobs, McGirr said.
The impact of US immigration policy in Mexico is present in Cegarra’s work, composed of the 28 photos that won him the World Press Photo award last April, which are shown in another room under the title “The Two Walls.”
Cegarra told EFE that he documented migration through Mexico for six years, taking 35,000 photos – some of which have been published in various major media outlets – of which he submitted 28 to the contest, which he is now showing in the Bronx, invited by the Documentary Center.
“I’ve never seen so many photos of myself in one gallery,” he said during today’s presentation of his work, including his favorite, that of a couple in love amidst the immigration chaos.
The freelance photographer, who works for the New York Times, among other outlets, captured immigrants on the train known as The Beast, crossing the border or waiting to cross, waiting in line to request asylum, in shelters or as children play, oblivious to the tragedy their parents are experiencing.
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