[Mis]perceptions
I was raised with a mindset of straddling between two worlds: the Puerto Rican and the North American cultures. Puerto Rico, the oldest colony in the world, constantly struggles to define its own identity. As a result, I question my perceptions of reality. The conceptual approach of this series represents my perspective of reality, which is characterized by being blurred between reality and fiction.
By addressing the verisimilitude of photography and its relationship to reality, I reflect my own experience. I use photography’s closeness to reality to explore how images affect our perception of reality and vice versa. Shifting the representation of an object through size, scale, and isolation from its typical context also shifts the perception of the object. These photographs represent the opposite of what our perception informs us.
I offer this work to expand a conversation about modes of perception, and ask the viewer to question the appearance of truth. Nevertheless, ultimately, it is up to us to question our realities, how we construct them, and whether they are valid.
