the series of portraits that make this body of work My America In Baroque, 2020 were created in response to the police brutality in the United States of America during the uprising of the Black Lives Matter movement and their efforts to seek justice for George Floyd who was murdered by Derek Chauvin (former Minneapolis police officer). As multitudes of people across the country rallied in support of BLM, social justice, and morale the waves of solidarity surged into downtown San Jose, CA. On 29, May 2020 protestors banded together in an exhibition of civil unrest; punctuated with vehicles and dumpsters charring in flames, broken glass disseminated across sidewalks, and SJPD officers in combat formation established containment lines.
This event was broadcasted via local news channels in real time while watching the coverage an overwhelming sense of obligation as a member of the Xicano/a community and photographer prompted me to be present, to show my solidarity (as someone who has experienced racial profiling/negative typecasting for being Mexican), and document what I could of this pressing moment. The black and white photographs with the portraits also include scenes of the public demonstration at San Jose City Hall on 5, June 2020.
The portraits were shot in my garage, Gaby Ponce (an Oakland based black and brown advocate) set against a black backdrop, cladded in a black and white American flag, gracefully embodied a sense of America that was her own: fortified, dignified, peaceful, diligent, and visionary– with the use of a single light I photographed the emotional state(s) she imbued. This one light set up produced dramatic imagery and was used to emphasize the splitting contrast between lightness and darkness in the world we know. A lighting technique inspired by the Baroque Period paintings by Caravaggio.