Brought from Home

Immigration from Latin America to the United States has been consistent, and peaking in recent years due to most countries’ state of violence and economic crises. However, although immigrants leave their native countries behind, this rarely means that ‘home’ doesn’t come with them.

As an immigrant myself, and daughter of a man who had a deep connection with his native Peru until his last breath in 2020, I developed Brought from Home as it is a topic that is personal to me and my family.

Brought from Home is a two-part documentary-photo project that takes place in NYC and Mexico. The project highlights the stories behind objects of sentimental value that Latino immigrants bring with them, and the symbolism the items hold: of never truly leaving home. The first part of the project consists of participants living in NYC who migrated from their native countries and still preserve an item that roots them to home. Thanks to The Queens Council on the Arts, I received a grant to expand this project to interview and photograph items carried by migrants in the U.S.-Mexico border city of Tijuana, Mexico. Participants are migrants staying in the two shelters I visited in 2023: Espacio Migrante and Movimiento Juventud.

Brought from Home gives viewers an intimate look on immigration and the meaning of home from the perspective of migrants who communicate and demonstrate resilience, as well as hope for the rebirth of a new and better life, while holding on to pieces of what once was.

Artist Bios

Angelica Briones

Angelica is a Peruvian-born and NYC-raised visual story-teller. She is a self-taught photographer who holds a Visual Storytelling certificate from the International Center of Photography. Angelica combines her artistic expressions of photography and writing with her passions for culture, animals, and travel. She develops photo projects and photo-documentary series in her beloved New York and the different places where she travels.

Angelica’s work explores themes of love and connection. She is moved by witnessing the motivating force that drives a single person, a family, or a community toward joy. Angelica intends for her audience to view her images and stories as relatable, and as an opportunity to understand, learn, and empathize with experiences beyond their own.

Angelica’s body of work includes young indigenous girls learning photography in Oaxaca, Mexico, the story of an orphanage in Tanzania, the love and affection seen in the streets of a country perceived to be dangerous, items of sentimental value carried by immigrants that symbolize their native countries, as well as her current project that consists on a collection of photos of senior dogs and letters written to them by their owners, amongst others.

Organizations

Photoville

Founded in 2011 in Brooklyn, NY, Photoville was built on the principles of addressing cultural equity and inclusion, which we are always striving for, by ensuring that the artists we exhibit are diverse in gender, class, and race.

In pursuit of its mission, Photoville produces an annual, city-wide open air photography festival in New York City, a wide range of free educational community initiatives, and a nationwide program of public art exhibitions.

By activating public spaces, amplifying visual storytellers, and creating unique and highly innovative exhibition and programming environments, we join the cause of nurturing a new lens of representation.

Through creative partnerships with festivals, city agencies, and other nonprofit organizations, Photoville offers visual storytellers, educators, and students financial support, mentorship, and promotional & production resources, on a range of exhibition opportunities.

For more information about Photoville visit, www.photoville.com
NYC Parks

NYC Parks is the steward of more than 30,000 acres of land — 14 percent of New York City — including more than 5,000 individual properties ranging from Coney Island Beach and Central Park to community gardens and Greenstreets. We operate more than 800 athletic fields and nearly 1,000 playgrounds, 1,800 basketball courts, 550 tennis courts, 65 public pools, 51 recreational facilities, 15 nature centers, 14 golf courses, and 14 miles of beaches. We care for 1,200 monuments and 23 historic house museums. We look after 600,000 street trees, and two million more in parks. We are New York City’s principal providers of recreational and athletic facilities and programs. We are home to free concerts, world-class sports events, and cultural festivals.