Mexican Night

I have many good friends who are "undocumented" and mostly Mexican that work in restaurants and other businesses throughout Philadelphia. Because of the long hours they work, they can never make it to any of my shows so I decided to have a "Midnight Reception" for them. It was also my amigo Mexicano "Pedro's" birthday, so we combined it into one big party where Colombia met Mexico. I was happy that my buddies finally got a chance to see my work and that of my students, and even happier that so many other people came out as well.

Below is a pic of me and "Pedro" as well as one of me with my brothers of Gamma Phi Sigma, Hermanos Unidos, Fraterity, Inc. Plus the dancing queen, my mom, was back in action as you can check out in the video clip.

My Show Opening

My opening on First Friday was amazing with hundreds of people coming through Third Street Gallery. There was authentic Colombian snacks provided by Colombian Bakery as well as lots of cumbia and vallenato, traditional Colombian music. I was happy to see so many people come out and support my students and me. What made my night, however, was having my mom in town to be there with me. Below is a pict of (from l to r) my aunt Lucy, me, my mother Amparo, my cousin Lydia and my cousin Gilberto.




Below is a little low-rez video clip showing the crowd that was going through the gallery all night long.

Getting Ready for My Show

Now that my students from Grupo Agua 0 have had their show in Colombia, it is time for me to get ready for my show next month at Third Street Gallery in Old City, Philadelphia. I'm excited to be showing all new work from my last few trips to Colombia. Also, these are black and white traditional silver prints, most of which were printed by renowned master printer Robert Asman. In addition to my work there will be select images from Grupo Agua 0, the first time their work will be displayed outside Colombia. The title of our show is Colombia: Nuestro Pueblo or Colombia: Our Home. It demonstrates the different perspectives my students and I have when we look at the city of Cali, Colombia: a place we all consider home.

Exhibit Time!

Last week the students had their culminating exhibition titled: Miradas Pacíficas (Pacific Views) in conjunction with La Festival de Patronio Alvarez. This festival celebrates the culture and particularly the music of Colombians from the Pacific coast. The photographs dealt with that theme and we took a few trips to places with strong Pacific influences, Los Hormigueros and San Cipriano. Anyway, the exhibition was a huge success. Here are images from the opening. I'll post images from the show directly.


We served Arechón, a drink from the Pacific, at the opening. It reminds me of Puerto Rican Coquito, which is like egg nog but with a serious kick.


Astrid shows off some of her photographs.


There was also an awesome dance performance by a local group.

Below is a photo of me along with Hermán and his wife Claudia representing Foto Ackermann, one of our sponsors. For the 2nd year they donated the printing of the photographs for the exhibition.

My First Show in Colombia

Today is the opening of my 1st exhibition outside of the US here in Cali, Colombia. It is such a thrill for me to have my work in front of the people depicted in so many of my photographs. The exhibition is being held in El Centro Cultural de Cali (Cultural Center of Cali).