Marian Carrasquero is a Venezuelan documentary photographer who seeks out compelling cultural and human stories that she can translate into visual narrative through photography. She photographs to learn about her subject matter; to experience; to observe and capture beautiful people, moments and light. She uses photography as an excuse for interaction, an excuse with beautiful results of those interactions. She received her B.F.A in photography with a minor in creative writing from the Savannah College of Art and Design and attended Eddie Adams Workshop XVIII in 2015. She is always seeking to immerse herself in long form stories relating to youth, race, gender and other social issues.
Yamacraw in the Sun
West of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, South of the Savannah River, 315 grey concrete homes conform one of the oldest black neighborhoods in Savannah; Yamacraw Village. The projects, the hood, the ghetto [Yamacraw Village]— an isolated, marginalized, often criminalized space that appears frequently in popular media — is known as one of the most dangerous areas of the city. This neighborhood is one of the Housing Authority of Savannah’s partially subsidized residence communities and is mostly occupied by black low-income families. The invisible wall that surrounds Yamacraw Village guards a collective identity that exists among the residents of these homes. Entering the different homes and common areas of this neighborhood gave me a broader understanding of the is identity and the realities that exist among these boundaries.
Yamacraw in the Sun explores the daily life of a group of residents in this difficult neighborhood through a different lens. Although there is some truth to media’s representation of this neighborhood, there has not been a visual documentation that brings focus to a broader picture beyond the stereotypical crime related news. Yamacraw is complex mixture of beauty and brutality experienced by the families that conform it. With my work I explore themes of family, relationships, coming of age and parenting which are all part of the collective human experience— no matter where we live.
To view more of Marian’s work please visit her website.