Our Daily Bread

This project was part of an assignment for a capstone course in my senior year of college. I had been doing self-portraits at the time and was looking back a lot at my identity. As a Puerto Rican far from home, I began to long for the little reminders of home.

I also started looking back at my culture, and I came across a painting by Ramon Frade. His painting, Our Daily Bread, showed the jibaro, a symbol of the countryfolk who lived in the mountains of my homeland. I began to reflect a lot on who I was, and I felt drawn to this portrait. I didn't grow up in the mountains, but I knew that it represented for who I was, a man from an island in the heart of the Caribbean.

These photos I took are an appreciation of my culture and my identity. Despite the urban setting, the should of Puerto Rico lives in me, and with these photos, I show it to the whole world.