7th Annual Latin American Foto Festival

7th Annual
Latin American Foto Festival

On View: September 20 – October 27, 2024

BDC, 614 Courtlandt Ave, BDC Annex, 364 E. 151st St, and outdoor venues

Featuring: Lalo de Almeida | Brazil •  Manuel Almenares |  Cuba •   Lisandra Alvarez | Cuba  •  Santiago Billy | Guatemala  •  Alejandro Cegarra | Mexico  •  Fotokids | Guatemala  •  Magda Gibelli | Peru  •  Alí Marín | Mexico  •  Jorge Santiago | Mexico  •  Wara Vargas | Bolivia  • Victor Zea | Peru

The Latin American Foto Festival is curated by Cynthia Rivera and Michael Kamber. 

Spanish translations by Maria de la Paz Galindo. 

Outdoor vinyl exhibitions printed by Photoville.

Wheat pasting in collaboration with DYSTURB in celebration of their 10th anniversary.

The 7th Annual Latin American Foto Festival is made possible by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and by City Council member Rafael Salamanca; the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; Con Edison; Open Society Foundations; and The Action Lab.

Ramos, born in 1986, and a World Press Photo Award winner, shows us the current land of unfortunate extremes–in the past decade, El Salvador has gone from being one of the most violent countries in the world, largely controlled by heavily armed gangs, to today being the country with the highest incarceration rate on the planet. Ramos’ photos document, as well, some of the millions of Salvadorans who have made a dangerous trek north to seek refuge in the United States, and the brutal, autocratic and wildly popular crackdown by President Najib Bukele.

Their work will be displayed throughout the South Bronx’s Melrose neighborhood. This year, marking the 7th anniversary of LAFF, we will be expanding the Festival to five new locations in Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn! The Festival includes works from Bolivia, Peru, Cuba, Mexico, Guatemala, and Brazil–photographs representing long-term projects on Bolivian women wearing traditional skirts or “cholas”; environmental and social damage in the Amazon; the

worlds of single mothers and girls in Centro Habana; a centuries-old ritual dance in Guatemala; a ballet school open to all girls in Peru; the impact of US immigration policy on migrants in Mexico; the community of Tlacotalpan, Mexico, and its river; basketball culture in Oaxaca indigenous communities; the hip hop movement in Peru; and archival images of a Caribbean social club in Brooklyn. As part of the Festival, the BDC will hold in-person workshops, tours, panel discussions, and other community events.