TE IMAGINO AQUÍ
(I IMAGINE YOU HERE)

Capturing "flashes" of Puerto Rico's liminal urban spaces through fragmented photo-sequences, evoking nostalgia and disconnection amidst colonial history's complexities.

My photographic work delves into the forgotten, unnoticed, and liminal spaces within the urban architectural landscape of Puerto Rico's colonial history. When I speak of "liminal," I'm referring to a state that exists at a sensory threshold, barely perceptible yet capable of eliciting a profound response. In the context of Puerto Rico's colonial experience, this liminality mirrors the island's status as a US territory without statehood—a place suspended in a perpetual state of flux, neither fully belonging nor standing alone.

Visually, I explore these liminal spaces through fragmented photo-sequences. As spectators, we are confronted with a distorted, closed-in perspective, inviting an intimate yet unsettling experience. My images suggest rather than show the places they are capturing, leaving meaning and context tantalizingly open-ended. This ambiguity evokes nostalgia, weariness, and confusion, prompting us to mourn the loss of these spaces due to the relentless forces of colonization, gentrification, and the passage of time.

Despite the absence of a clear visual chronology, a storyline emerges through the interplay of text and image. Short, lyrical prose drawn from my personal journals adds a poignant voice to the narrative, weaving together desires, fears, and estrangement from reality. Thematic motifs such as religious iconography, walls, windows, and shadows further amplify the sense of liminality, serving as thresholds between the material and the spiritual, the seen and the unseen.

This liminality manifests as a "flash," a sudden and transient instance that punctuates our consciousness. Just as lights, ideas, and cars flash by, my camera captures fleeting glimpses of these liminal spaces, freezing them in time. This metaphorical "flash" underscores the ephemeral nature of liminality and its intrinsic connection to the act of photography itself.

Ultimately, my work aims to reframe our perception of overlooked spaces in Puerto Rico and honor their personal, sentient histories. As a lifelong resident (born and raised here), I still grapple with a sense of alienation and displacement, exacerbated by the exodus of friends and family in search of stability. The remaining inhabitants are left to bear witness to our homeland's transformation into a tourist spectacle, feeling increasingly disconnected from each other and "our land".

In capturing these overlooked spaces, I seek to convey the fractured, confusing essence of liminality that defines our colonial existence. Through my art, I endeavor to translate this experience with honesty and resonance, inviting viewers to contemplate the complexities of belonging, identity, and memory in a world caught between past and present, history and fiction.