Mar 18

Mar 18 Photo Journal Monday: Christian Rodriguez

"LEO" is a project I began in 2014 in Dominican Republic. My mother and father immigrated from the island to New York City, where I was born. I spent most summers there, in Dicayagua, visiting my grandmother and other family. In the early 2000s I lived there for three years. When I met Leo he was three or four. I was in university and 8 years had passed since I last visited the island. During my trip I was trying to find a story or a theme, thinking about family, immigration, the time I had spent away, and the Diaspora. I soon learned Leo received a visa and would be leaving, not just his home but his mother as well. Her visa wasn't approved until a later time. With these thoughts and my family history I thought this could be an opportunity to document a universal process, one that is painful, scary, and extremely courageous. I've continued photographing Leo, his mother and father, in Long Island, New York, and hope to do so as long as Leo allows me.