The New New Yorkers

Yenis crossed jungles, deserts, chaotic cities and lonely towns. Slept on the open air among mud and the endless selvatic rains. Walked kilometers under a relentless sun while holding in arms her loved Diana, a little girl that was already the oldest of Yenis’ treasures, the other treasure was growing in her womb, getting bigger with each step towards the north

Yenis Andrade and Alexis Matos, a couple from Maracaibo in Venezuela, together with their family, are part of the big wave of recent migration to the USA. A big wave of big numbers, headlines, and statistics but that is really made of human lives, persons with face, dreams, determination, and their own story.

And with that same determination, but almost without knowing it, they arrived to New York. The little treasure was now a big belly that Yenis and Alexis pampered and cared for while running between shelters for migrants, cold, bureaucracy to regularize their situation, jobs and the attention to little Diana and her endless energy. All that while seeing that belly turning one day, by surprise, into another beautiful baby girl with roots in Maracaibo and the indigenous Wayúu community, this time a baby born in New York.

Artist Bios

Oscar B. Castillo

Oscar B. Castillo is a Venezuelan documentary photographer and multimedia artist whose work focuses on social subjects that explore ideas of identity, the cycles of violence and political rupture and the initiatives for improvement generated by the affected communities, at the time that questions the structures of power and the photographic industry and the role we and our images can play in a deeper, more complex and more effective dialogue.

He has followed and developed personal projects, fellowships and assignments in many different parts of the world and have been exhibited widely. His work has been published by Le Monde, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Days Japan, The New Yorker, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, and TIME Magazine. His work was recognized by Picture of the Year Latin America in 2015 and with an Eugene Smith Fellowship in 2016. He is the recipient of three Magnum Foundation grants and was awarded the Tim Hetherington Special Award at the Eddie Adams Workshop. His Photobook “Esos Que Saben” is a finalist for the Aperture / Paris Photo Book Award and was selected by TIME Magazine in the Top 20 Photobooks of 2022.

Parallel to his photographic work he has developed a passion for teaching, being photography as well an important tool for education, inclusion and social improvement. As instructor and teacher he has taken part in participatory photographic workshops and formal educational programs in Colombia, Argentina, Guatemala, Mexico, Haiti, India and Venezuela amongst other places.

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