Identity Project

Part of an ongoing collaboration. This is a personal project - born out of the anxiety of dealing with my racial impostor syndrome and a desire to connect with other multiracial latinx identifying people. I come from a racially mixed family. My whole life I’ve had an internal feeling of being watered down, being “too much”, or “not enough” of something. What started out as conversations with friends and family, evolved into a community-based conversation on identity as a social issue and construct. Using an experimental method of storytelling, I’m examining the creation of latinx identity through a subject's hand-written autobiographical text, historical ambrotype wet plate photography, and installation art. With the translucent nature of the ambrotype plate, the viewer is invited to look through the physical surface to read the beautiful handwritten text and gain a deeper understanding of the subject and how they identify. Abrotypes interact with the environment, changing from negative to positive depending on the angle of view and the background. They’re also highly reflective, so a viewer will see themselves in each portrait move around the piece. When the juxtaposition between viewer, subject and background aligns - a more complete picture of the subject’s identity is revealed.