Artist Statement
Young athletes are a compelling and recurring subject in my portrait photography, in
particular Dominican amateur baseball players. Realizing a career in professional
baseball is a long shot that entices scores of youngsters in many Caribbean and Central
American countries. These portraits are meant as a tribute to youth and they originate
from my desire to explore my own youth and interest in sport. I endeavor to represent a
strength of character in the subject, as well as the uncertainty that naturally arises in
adolescence.
Major league teams have “farms” in Santo Domingo and San Pedro that source out and
cultivate new talent. It is at these baseball diamonds that many players hope to realize
their lifelong dream of making it to the major leagues. My images were taken at a
vulnerable point in many of these young peoples? lives, between childhood and
adulthood, their future uncertain. Whether or not they are destined to play professional
baseball is yet to be decided; living the dream proves too be enticing.
With this series, I represent the players in context, showing the environment/the world
where they play and live. I wanted the final composition to be spare and direct. The
results are more similar to formal portraiture rather than sport photography which tends
to present its subject in the act of play. For similar reasons, I decided to stay away from
artificial lighting and camera techniques that draw attention away from the subject.
This series of portraits were made using an old Graflex four-by-five camera that requires
a considerable amount of time to set up. This gives the photographer the necessary
time to study the subject, the available light, and environment that the subject is in.
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