Nueva Luz vol. 21:1 | Page 32

Jonathan Santiago Jonathan Santiago is an American photographer and filmmaker based in New York. Born in New York City to a Puerto Rican family, his work reflects his background and experiences. A self-taught photographer, his interest in documentary photography took off after a trip to Nepal. Afterwards he took to the streets of the Bronx and after some time came across the Bronx Documentary Center. It is here where his image making and storytelling skills continue to develop. Santiago is a member of the Bronx Photo League, a collective dedicated to social issues within the borough and with whom he created the book, Jerome Ave (BDC Editions, 2016). He is currently a teacher at the Bronx Documentary Center after-school program and works as a freelance photographer and videographer. His work can be found in publications such as The New York Times, Burn, and Time. The river took my home My selection includes images from personal projects such as ‘The River Took Our Home’, which follows climate change migrants moving from the south of Bangladesh to the vastly overpopulated city of Dhaka, as well as ‘Vicenta’, a story on my grandmother which explores questions on identity, faith, and death, as well as work from my street photography portfolio, in which my aim is simply to document the Bronx, as it continues to undergo changes brought on by gentrification. Jonathan Santiago . A couple on the 6 train at 149th Street in the Bronx . 2016 jws a nt ia g o . co m 32 Nueva Luz Nueva Luz 33