American Photography 35 Winners

He Photographed What Hurricane Maria ‘Couldn’t Take Away’ From His Family

A mattress, blown onto power lines, as a result of the storm’s category-five winds, still hangs there three months after Maria made its way through the island. Barrio La Yuca, Ponce, Puerto Rico. Description of project: La Isla Del Encanto; Borikén, documents the physical damage to areas in my family’s villages, in Puerto Rico post-Hurricane Maria. These places hold the memories of my youth and areas of countryside I explored. In early December 2017, late February 2018, and late July 2018 I traveled to Puerto Rico to check in on my family, help with any repairs, and to see with my own eyes the way life has changed and has continued pushing forward. Over time I’ve developed a ritual of revisiting the areas and paths that are significant to me. The frames taken are remnants of memories that are etched in my mind that have physically disappeared on the island and moments shared in the company of loved ones the storm could not destroy. With the aid of the photographic medium as a tool, I’ve helped myself put to rest these physical landmarks my family made on the island. I’ve chosen to compose the scenes of destruction in angles most vividly remembered by myself. By capturing the identity of quiet landscapes, toppled homes, crippled forests, and plowed towns, that have seen its unique identity physically stripped away, is my way of coping. My memories on the island and stories I would hear about the way life was on the island will always stay with me, but my ability to retrace the paths I’d explored are forever lost, leaving me with frames of my heritage the storm couldn’t take away.

He Photographed What Hurricane Maria ‘Couldn’t Take Away’ From His Family

My cousin, Eliam, cools off in a small pool of water after hiking down from our grandfather Horacio’s home, in the barrio of Dajaos. The barrio is named after the small fish that frequent the streams in the area. Description of project: La Isla Del Encanto; Borikén, documents the physical damage to areas in my family’s villages, in Puerto Rico post-Hurricane Maria. These places hold the memories of my youth and areas of countryside I explored. In early December 2017, late February 2018, and late July 2018 I traveled to Puerto Rico to check in on my family, help with any repairs, and to see with my own eyes the way life has changed and has continued pushing forward. Over time I’ve developed a ritual of revisiting the areas and paths that are significant to me. The frames taken are remnants of memories that are etched in my mind that have physically disappeared on the island and moments shared in the company of loved ones the storm could not destroy. With the aid of the photographic medium as a tool, I’ve helped myself put to rest these physical landmarks my family made on the island. I’ve chosen to compose the scenes of destruction in angles most vividly remembered by myself. By capturing the identity of quiet landscapes, toppled homes, crippled forests, and plowed towns, that have seen its unique identity physically stripped away, is my way of coping. My memories on the island and stories I would hear about the way life was on the island will always stay with me, but my ability to retrace the paths I’d explored are forever lost, leaving me with frames of my heritage the storm couldn’t take away.