A new photo exhibit reflecting New York City’s migrant communities has made its way to the track at Van Cortlandt Park, after stops in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan throughout this fall.
The portraits will remain on display through Nov. 24 and were shot by Brooklyn-based photographer Oscar B. Castillo, who is originally from Venezuela and also lived in Spain and France.
The nonprofits New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) and Photoville collaborated to create the exhibit for the New York Proud campaign, which transforms highly visible public spaces with images of the often-overlooked people who keep the city running.
“New York Proud is about honoring the people who make the Bronx—and New York City as a whole—vibrant, diverse, and strong,” said Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition, in a statement.
“From past to present, immigrants have played a defining role in shaping the cultural fabric and shared prosperity of New York. In the face of growing hostility at the federal level, this campaign reaffirms our shared responsibility to uplift and include all who call this city home.”
In an interview with the Bronx Times, Castillo said his work is often linked to social and political unrest and conflict, in his home country and others, reflecting his “very particular mix of lived experience.”
For New York Proud, Castillo said he aimed to shoot a diverse group of immigrants in their home and work environments— not in a studio. Those featured include a doorman, a deliverista, doctors, a mechanic, small business owners, chefs and a nonprofit director.
It also includes the Bronx’s own Mino Lora, executive artistic director at the People’s Theatre Project, who is an immigrant from the Dominican Republic.
Castillo said his portraits show the successes of immigrants despite the “grinding machine” of New York City, where “not all contributions are valued in the same way.”
The meaning of success is different for each person, Castillo said. “Success is like, we can reach goals during our journey and keep having bigger or different goals ahead, to keep moving towards,” he said.
When people see the work, Castillo said he hopes they focus on the commonality of human experience and embrace their own immigrant roots.
“Unless you are from a local indigenous community, you are an immigrant, from three days ago or from three hundred years ago,” he said.
Castillo’s portraits show the complexity of each person and their engagement with the community, even if under appreciated in societysaz. “We’re migrants, but we’re a lot more than migrants.”
Working on the exhibit was eye-opening for Castillo, who said he considers himself “a baby New Yorker” after about five years in the city.
Shooting each portrait took him to a different corner of a different borough and into each subject’s personal environment, whether their home or an auto mechanic shop on a Sunday, he said.
“People is beautiful in all their differences, no? It’s so amazing to be close to that,” said Castillo.
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
