Ricardo Castro

March 27, 2022

I make photographs in search of beauty and truth. I must see both in the frame – together – before I depress the shutter. The confluence of these may simply be known as authenticity, without which any image is devoid of value. In Native Man with Tiny Dog, for instance, I saw a dignified man whose imposing stature seemed wholly at odds with the fragile, tiny creature he held so delicately against his ample body. There was real, authentic love there. But there was something else – equally authentic – which I had missed and did not appreciate until I developed the film: his pride in being Native American. I had missed the dream catcher sewn into his cap, the leather braids that adorned his hair. I learned later that he is a local activist who advocates on behalf of Native people in New York State and beyond. Identity – perverted and exploited –
is at the core of so many of the world’s conflicts, as the war in Ukraine so clearly shows. Identity used falsely to divide and conquer, quite literally in the case of the current Ukraine crisis. But the Native man in my image shows that expressions of identity can celebrate what is beautiful and true in each of us, reinforcing the right of all of us to live and thrive. My deepest hope is that the Ukrainian people will once again be able to live and thrive in their own country.

Printer - Epson SureColor S80600 (9 ink cartridges) - 1.440 DPI  

Paper - Semigloss 200 grs/m2  -  Image size 40X28 cm  -  Paper size - 50X36 cm

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Printer - Epson SureColor S80600 (9 ink cartridges) - 1.440 DPI  

Paper - Semigloss 200 grs/m2  -  Image size 40X28 cm  -  Paper size - 50X36 cm

Mais Informações