Cafecito: Building Community to Break Barriers - Featured at the 2024 Photoville Festival
Cafecito: Building Community to Break Barriers celebrates various photographers’ work in a virtual call screen mock-up, where we held our meet-ups. Each tile features images selected by participating photographers, accompanied by their names and QR codes that link to their websites. The salon-style imagery on the container walls shares selected series from photographers whose stories highlight their community or communities that have deepened their sense of belonging through their lenses and human connection.
The exhibition also offers visitors the opportunity to participate by sharing their thoughts, hopes, and ideas about what it means to be creative.
Click the name to see the artist’s work.
Danielle Amy
"Danielle Amy is an artist and visual editor born in Jerusalem and based in Brooklyn, NY.
A graduate of The School of Visual Arts, she joined the apprenticeship program at TIME magazine as a photo editor and photographer where she was the first intern to photograph a cover.
Working both on locations and in studios she has assisted established filmmakers and photographers in pre/post-production as well as on location.
Saman Assefi
I'm an Iranian-American female photographer based in Los Angeles. I enjoy capturing and creating moments using beautiful light with a specific focus on portraiture, action and some documentary work. I was born in the Middle East (we emigrated from Iran at the start of the revolution in 1979) and I grew up in LA. I love photographing people and documenting bodies in motion using the still frame. While developing my visual voice, I play with colors, shadows and emotion via movement in my work.
Gili Benita
Gili is a photographer and visual editor, born and raised in Jerusalem, and currently based in New York City. Inspired by the interplay between characters and their social narrative, Gili photographs using soft light and color. He strives to create intimate spaces through tender imagery, preserving the authenticity of the people he photographs and their stories.
He is also a visual editor, collaborating with brands and publications to bring visual concepts to life. He worked at Verizon, producing and editing photoshoots, and at Aint–Bad Magazine, where he edited and designed Issue 15.
Brittany Bravo - De La Tierra
De La Tierra conveys a story of togetherness and sisterhood. It beckons the call for femmes to embrace laughter, love, and the freedom to believe we are beautiful as we are. The heartbeat behind this project is to convey a love letter, and a thank you to these brilliant communities through the photographs I created. My hope is that someone like me can look at these photos and feel loved and worthy just as they are. The inspiration for this project comes from a deeply personal place of growing up as brown women searching to find worth, validation, and community. This vision embodied the sense of togetherness I wanted to create while offering a nod to the community I have now found.”
Brittany Bravo (b. 1995) is a Chicana photographer and director based in Los Angeles, CA.
Her work beautifully reflects her love for her community, capturing them with power, pride, and tenderness. Embracing universal themes of family, love, and togetherness, Brittany infuses each project with genuine joy and care. She often creates out of her photo studio in Los Angeles, where she hand-paints her own backdrops. She has worked on advertising campaigns for Target, Verizon, Sprite, and many more. When she is not behind the lens, Brittany indulges in her love of thrifting, collects photo books, and nurtures her creativity by daydreaming about her next project.
Rose Callahan
Rose Callahan is a New York based photographer and director focusing on character-driven portraits of cultural tastemakers. With curiosity and empathy she makes portraits that celebrate individuality and the transformative power of style.
Two coffee table books of Rose's portraits have been published: I am Dandy and We are Dandy. The books profile a diverse curation of men around the globe for whom dressing is elevated to an art.
Rose works with commercial clients such as American Express, Mastercard, Sony Entertainment, NBCUniversal, Levis, Gilt Groupe, Random House, Rosewood Hotels, and her images have appeared in publications including L’Uomo Vogue, Esquire, Cartier Art, London Sunday Times, GQ South Africa, Wall Street Journal, Elle China, and The Rake. Most notably, Rose is the exclusive photographer for the Metropolitan Opera’s style blog "Last Night at the Met", where she has documented the diverse personal style of the audience since 2013.
Nolwen Cifuentes
She/Her. Based in Los Angeles, CA.
Nolwen Cifuentes is a beauty & entertainment photographer, writer, and director born and raised in Southern California. Nolwen’s work has been featured in publications both nationally and internationally, including Billboard, Time Magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, The New York Times, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, People, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, Outside Magazine, InStyle, Glamour, The LA Times, Variety, W Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, The Laterals, Schön!, and more.
Nolwen's corporate clients include Google, Bank of America, Samsung, Airbnb, Nike, Adidas, FarFetch, Torrid, Rent the Runway, Wella, Clairol, Ulta, Dove, Guthy-Renker, Netflix, Hulu, NBC Universal, Blumhouse Pictures, A&E, The History Channel, Lifetime, and more.
Anthony Cosme
Anthony Cosme is a photographer and art director living and working in NYC. He feels very uncomfortable talking about himself in the third person, but otherwise he’s doing pretty good! He is available for projects and assignments nationwide.
Anthony has worked with clients like Nissan, Veja, Brunch, Okayplayer, The Hundreds, Sundae Sauuce, Meadows and others! His work was also recently featured on It’s Nice That!
Maegan Gindi
Maegan Gindi (she/they) is a queer Syrian-American photographer from (south) Brooklyn, NY. She splits her time between her hometown and Los Angeles, CA. Her work centers on intimate portraiture; through this lens, she and her sitters have an ongoing conversation about identity, fashion, and the ways in which each bolsters the other. Her images have been described as 'clean, but never sterile.'
With sincerity and effortlessness, Gindi honors her characters by highlighting their humanity. There is a palpable honesty and connection found in her photographs, and the merits of her work rest on her ability to capture a person’s most genuine self.
Selected clients include Louis Vuitton, A+E Networks, Vanity Fair, Teen Vogue, T Magazine, i-D, Vice, and W Magazine.
Emanuel Hahn - American Fever
The title refers to citizens in postwar Korea who, inspired by the image of American culture, desired to immigrate to the US for a better life. These staged scenes reflect the luster and romance of an American West coming out of the Hollywood age, while simultaneously interrogating the darker side of assimilation or failure thereof. He draws on history, archival photography, Western and Korean art, and personal memories to construct scenes that show different facets of the immigrant experience. He is interested in challenging simplistic notions of the American immigrant process - whether it's the model minority myth, or the bootstrap model - and also complicating the seemingly linear idea of assimilation.
Emanuel Hahn (b. 1990, Saipan, USA) is a Los Angeles-based photographer/director interested in cultural identity, diasporic experiences and the question of what it means "to belong". His work America Fever is an ongoing staged narrative photo series that intersects Korean cultural and historical elements with mythologies of the American West in an exploration of Korean American immigrant experiences in the 70’s through the 80’s..
Gabriela Hasbun - The New Black WesT
As long as there have been cowboys, there have been Black cowboys. The New Black West is a collection of images from America’s only Touring Black Rodeo, The Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo.
Being part of a community is super important to me, especially being Latina. The commitment the families make to being at every BPIR rodeo annually is such a testament to the bonds that are forged at these events, that rodeo teams turn into a family. In that same way, they have enveloped me in that warmth and welcomed me to become part of the BPIR family now. Which I feel so blessed by!
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As a photographer specializing in portraits, Gabriela Hasbun’s work highlights the marginalized and unexplored communities around her. Growing up between Miami and her native El Salvador, which was in the grips of a devastating civil war, Hasbun learned the importance of documenting the humanity in people others have overlooked. Her fundamental belief in the radical power of storytelling has led her to subjects like Black cowboys, fat activists, queer skateboarders, and the people of the Mission district in San Francisco. At the heart of her photography is a celebration of the complexities of identity and the human spirit. Reveling in the unexpected, Hasbun’s work makes visible that has gone unnoticed, and challenges how we see the world. She is always searching for projects that make a difference, question existing narratives, and subvert expectations.
Yuri Hasegawa
Tokyo-Born and Raised, Los Angels-based, Yuri Hasegawa (She/Her) is a freelance commercial photographer specialized in Portrait, Lifestyle & Reportage.. Fluent in Japanese and English, She is a member of Diversify Photo and Women Photograph.
Nitya Jain
My name is Nitya (níh-tya). I am an Austin and Seattle-based but frequently traveling photographer & tabletop director specializing in food, drink, cookbooks, and hospitality.
I create vibrant and crave-able visual content for commercial and editorial clients.
Every flavor, space, and place holds magic and I follow the light to bring them to life.
My love of food and color goes back to my South Asian roots. I was born in India and grew up in a multigenerational home where the early morning wake-up call was a cup of hot cardamom chai while sauces and spices simmered for all the meals to follow. It was all about gathering people around a table over a shared common experience through food and stories.
A background in architecture and graphic design has shaped my photographic journey of weaving light, textures, and space into telling visual stories unique to each client.
When I am not behind the lens, you will find me out on walks with my pup Gia, cooking up a storm with Hans Zimmer, or traveling with my husband and son.
Carlos Jaramillo - TokALA
“This work is not about me but more about the activist and giving them a platform to tell their stories. I've learned a lot from all these activist, and my goal was to use my photography to help tell their story to a wider audience.”
With a name derived from the Lakota tribe’s historical Tokala Society—a group of warriors who showed bravery and leadership from a young age—Tokala is a photography series spotlighting the next generation of BIPOC climate activists by Carlos Jaramillo and Marcus Correa.
Carlos Jaramillo (b.1988, McAllen, TX) is a photographer based in Los Angeles, CA. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The New Yorker, LA Times, Rolling Stone Magazine, The Guardian, and Zeit Magazine. Jaramillo is a graduate of School of Visual Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography. He has exhibited at Clemente Gallery, NY; GGLA, CA; Selena, NY; and Future Fair Online. Tierra del Sol, Jaramillo’s 2022 project was recently printed in the LA Times, The New Yorker, Zeit Magazine, Sixteen Journal and was presented as a solo exhibition at Selenas Mountain in May 2022 and GGLA in December 2022.He is the recent recipient of the 2022 Forest Lawn Museum Arts Fellowship.
Mary Kang
Mary Inhea Kang is a South Korean American photographer driven by a desire to understand and document the identities we construct for ourselves, which affect how we build our world. Through her work, she explores the tensions and limits between individualism and collectivism. When approaching photos, her aim is to ensure that each person she photographs with looks and feels dignified, particularly those who have long been denied such representation in mainstream media.
Ayesha Kazim - This HOme oF Ours
"This Home of Ours" is an ongoing documentary project that highlights the changing landscape of Cape Town’s vibrant Bo-Kaap neighbourhood. It emphasizes the local community's dedication to preserving their cultural heritage amidst gentrification and continuous displacement.
This series has allowed me to return to my childhood community of Bo-Kaap. While I was not raised in this neighbourhood, returning to where I was born and spent the first years of my life has been a therapeutic process, motivating me to reconnect with my roots.
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Ayesha Kazim (b. 1999) is a photographer working between New York City, Cape Town, and London. Within her creative practice, she utilizes analog and digital mediums to capture the intimate, transient moments of everyday life. Her multicultural background as a Nigerian-South African living abroad influences her desire to create compelling portraits that speak to various audiences and communities. Ayesha’s creative practice balances introspection and curiosity as she photographs subjects exuding resilience, power, and quiet confidence.
Elinor Kry - Where we ARe Now
My only visualization of Cambodia growing up was genocide and trauma - to go back to the place my family had escaped and to see how my relatives had found peace and hope in their lives; even though the landscape is telling of forced labor and death, was empowering and allowed me to find a sense of belonging with my family through photography. Although I do not speak the language, I connected with my relatives through photography and spent quality time with them.
I'm a Vietnamese-Cambodian-American photographer based in New York City. I'm currently a student at NYU Tisch Photo. My work is a blend of trying to understand what it means to explore cultural identity as one comes of age; war, generational trauma and resiliency, and the visual language of complex family/personal dynamics. I aim to find entry points into the human condition by focusing on where people are tender with one another and themselves.
Zach Larraz
This 5 year series of work asserts that community memory is an act of resistance, transforming fleeting moments into lasting testimony. Each image captured from Manhatitlan's Día De Los Muertos Events in Queens serves as a historical recording of communal gatherings that offer a safe space for people of all backgrounds to connect to one another through remembrance of departed loved ones.
In times of increasing displacement/gentrification, these photos serve as a historical reference of Mexican traditions in Queens as well as the significance of continuing these celebrations in future years to come.
Monica Patten is a community event and portrait photographer born and raised from Inwood, NYC. Her work focused on the vibrant traditions and diversity of immigrant NYC communities.
Deb Leal - Baroque POP
The essence of Plaza Mexico in Lynwood, CA, is that of familial warmth and childhood enchantment. Walking the courtyards gifted a sense of joyful déjà vu within clinking glass soda bottles and ice cream-laden laughter.
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Deb Leal is a fine artist, director, and photographer currently based in Brooklyn, NY. An annual 28-hour road trip from the Midwest to South Texas is the basis for work categorized as Baroque Pop in a Post-Documentary approach. The use of vibrant colors— particularly green, red, and blue— not only injects youthful spirits into operatic compositions but can also act as markers of cultural identity. Familial experiences of ritual support a study of devotion, as syncretism, a fusion of differing systems or traditions, is conceptually applied through a technical approach.
Pablo Lerma
Pablo Lerma is a visual artist and researcher based in New York. He holds an MFA in Artistic Productions & Research and a BFA in painting from the University of Barcelona; and a Diploma in General Studies of Photography from the Institut d’Estudis Fotogràfics de Catalunya, Spain. His work has been exhibited at; Centro Huarte, Flowers Gallery, King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center at NYU, Under the Subway at Local Project Gallery, Fotoweek D.C., SCAN International Festival of Photography, Museu Picasso in Barcelona, La Fábrica and Fundació Foto Colectania, among others.
Sophia Li
I am a Boston-based food, lifestyle, and travel photographer with a passion for authentic storytelling and slow living.
Growing up with multiple chronic health conditions, I have always been fascinated by holistic wellness and the power of food as medicine. I love exploring the relationship between culture, environment, and our daily life decisions—from what we eat and buy to how we spend our free time. I strive to create images that inspire people to engage with their everyday surroundings in novel ways.
Victor Llorente
Victor Llorente is an editorial and commercial photographer based in Brooklyn, New York.
He has a photography studio in East Williamsburg available for shoots. (Don’t hesitate to email me with any questions regarding the space.)
Victor was born and raised in Madrid, Spain and obtained a BFA in Photography and Related Media from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. In 2018 he attended the Eddie Adams Workshop XXXI and was selected as The 30 in 2020.
AMANDA LOPEZ - This is Country Music
"This is Country Music" is a photo series dedicated to uplifting marginalized voices in the country music genre. The contributions of BIPOC and LGBTQ creators in country music are significant but too often under-highlighted in mainstream narratives. My series aims to shine a light on those who are breaking down outdated stereotypes and forging new paths in an industry that for too long has had unfair barriers to entry. Working on this series helped me find community and heal the parts of myself that initially felt unwelcome in this space.
Amanda Lopez is a Mexican-American editorial and commercial photographer. Whether on assignment or photographing family and friends, her camera eye looks for a balance of strength, vulnerability, and tenacity. Her work has been shown at The MoMa, The Country Music Hall of Fame, and is in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian and The Marian Library at the University of Dayton.
Antonella (ANTO) Verdezoto
I am a recent graduate from NYU Tisch DPI and I am greatly interested in using visual languages like photography and film-making to alter the social and cultural memory surrounding my marginalized communities. Currently, I am working on a project focusing on redefining girlhood through photography ,with the hope of being able to exhibit it in the future
Maria Louceiro - Joyful Rythym
This series aims to create a vibrant and interesting set of portraits, seeking to photograph the women and non-binary gender queer community that I am part of. These are the people who welcomed me when I first came to Berlin. The focus is on a diverse range of individuals, including all races, ages, beliefs, and body types.
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Maria Louceiro is a Portuguese photographer and visual artist based in Berlin, working globally, with a background in communication design, mining, and geo-environmental engineering. Maria's work often involves creating atmospheric and moody scenes, mixing analog and digital photographic techniques, and blending reality and imagination.
Allie Leepson + Jesse McClary - Cowboy by Choice
"Cowboy by Choice" is an ongoing project documenting the LGBTQ+ community's impact on the American West's history and culture. It confronts the traditional narrative's exclusion of queer and trans individuals, spotlighting their diverse roles from ranchers to artists.
As queer and trans people ourselves, it's been a gift to be able to see ourselves reflected in a narrative loved by our country. We have gotten to connect with so many people like us across the country whom we may never have crossed paths with otherwise–they've become friends and have helped us start to build a community of others who share their lifestyle or a love for it.
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Allie Leepson (she/her) and Jesse McClary (he/him) are a queer/trans married photography duo exploring the narrative of Americana. Their commitment lies in highlighting the often-overlooked voices and contributions of marginalized individuals in American history and culture. Their work seeks to bridge societal and historical gaps, inviting a deeper appreciation of America. Drawing from their proficiency in analog formats, their distinct style intertwines nostalgia and intentionality.
Estefany Molina
Estefany Molina is a Latin American post-documentary photographer and multimedia artist based on the North Fork. With a cultivated instinct and a distinctive blend of culture, heritage, and a lyrical eye, she explores what it means to belong—traversing origins and deep roots in pursuit of the broader human quest for identity. Her work captures images that are shaped by feeling, intuition, and a connection to subject matter, echoing the rhythms of personal and cultural evolution.
AnnAnn Puttithanasorn
AnnAnn Puttithanasorn is a photographer and director based in New York City.
Born in Thailand and raised in the suburbs of Dallas, Texas, AnnAnn found her love for the arts at a young age. From painting and drawing to playing classical music, she eventually graduated with a degree in classical flute performance in upstate New York before moving to New York City for photography and film. Her work is inspired by various genres of music and art, an observation of life happening around her.
Some clients include: Vogue, Google, Puma, Jaguar Land Rover, Warner Brothers’ Discovery, Food Network, The United Nations, Outright International, Tribeca Film Festival, Rolling Stone, The Washington Post, ECCO, Russ & Daughters.
Bicho Rivera - Puerto Rico Cars
This series explores Puerto Rican placemaking through the lens of car culture in New York City. The subjects were found by exploring New York City and conversing with different Puerto Rican car owners who were identifiable due to their placement of a Puerto Rican flag on their vehicle. Puerto Ricans are proud people who, through gentrification, displacement, and colonialism, continue to represent their identity. Their dedication to self-determination, as expressed through their cars, reminds them of their continued presence in the community and resilience to their erasure. Photographing this series has allowed me to connect and build community with my people in a creative way and learn the different lives Puerto Ricans in the diaspora live. Through this project, I have gotten to meet and create long-term relationships with different Puerto Ricans across different generations who are recent migrants, are business owners, have suffered mental breakdowns, and are overall proud to be Boricua.
Bicho is a photographer born and based in Brooklyn, NY. He is an activist who organizes with the Puerto Rican community around the issue of independence and sovereignty for the archipelago. A photographer of 8 years, Bicho finds inspiration from the family photo albums handed down to him from his grandmother. He documents the Puerto Rican diasporic experience by highlighting the cultural expressions and political diversity of his people. As a photojournalist, he uses photography as a medium for getting to know the Puerto Rican community to learn from them and build the independence movement. He is also a high-energy event photographer capturing parties, punk shows, perreos, DJ residencies, and weddings. He utilizes both analog and digital photography to capture his subjects. The major themes in his work are placemaking, identity, and resilience. Bicho is also an educator teaching photography to middle school students in collaboration with the International Center of Photography as well as the Josephine Herrick Project.
Kadar R. Small - My Brotha
My Brotha aims to shift society's perspective on urban housing developments and brotherhood.
Over several months, I got to know each of my subjects and developed a deeper connection by documenting them at home and their friendships. By taking to the lens to create portraits of each young man simply existing, I changed the perspective of the negative cognition of young black men in urban and developed areas. So, I documented a handful of my sitters as a fly on the wall. Capturing some of them in their homes for a couple of days, hanging out with friends, getting errands done, etc.
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Kadar R. Small is a Trinidadian, Brooklyn-based Photographer & Director. His work focuses on documenting black and brown queer experiences, specifically in relationships and intimacy.
His portraiture work was influenced at a young age when he was sneaking off and documenting nightlife, capturing intimate portraits of black and brown people laughing, dancing and enjoying one another, highlighting the importance of spaces specifically made for them. Kadar’s work has also been highly recognized for his tender, intimate portraits of black men and breaking down stereotypes of growing up in urban environments.
Daniela Spector
Daniela Spector (b. 1988) was raised in Miami, where she went to the Art Institute for photography. In 2013 she moved to New York with an ill-fitted coat and the right amount of naivety. Currently, she lives in Long Island City with her partner and loaf-shaped dog. Her focus is portraiture and documentary photography, searching for playful but tender moments.
Aldi Victoria
Aldi Victoria is a queer, Mexican-American Photographer and Visual Artist based in New York City. With a BFA in Photography and Imaging, her creative journey has been shaped by literature, 90’s fashion magazines, and community. She’s worked hard to create an extensive body of work that elicits introspection as she blends fashion and documentary together. Utilizing her seven years of industry experience, Aldi is a published author of a fashion photography book titled 'Clutterbug,' worked with designers from hit tv show Only Murders in the Building, and has had her work featured in multiple online publications. Her hope is to teach others about the history of the clothing she photographs and to elicit questions on why certain styles originated and how they’ve been shaped throughout the years by different communities
Amanda Villarosa - COming Home
“Photographing my maternal grandmother (who turns 100 this spring) has allowed me to understand her as a woman, empowered me to follow the curiosities I've had about my heritage and family history, and has made me understand that I am so much of her and what she's experienced. Whether in conversation or in photoshoots, time with her has revealed both personal and overall cultural stories of dark oppression yet great, great resilience.”
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Amanda Villarosa is a lifestyle, travel, and portrait photographer, born and raised outside of Los Angeles within a large Filipino immigrant family, with over a decade of NYC creative experience. Amanda is known for freezing fleeting moments, capturing when the light is just right, and bringing out the natural presence of all she photographs. She values representation and inclusivity, always making it a point to bring both to the forefront of her work.
Yasmin Yassin
Yasmin is a Canadian-American visual artist, filmmaker, and photographer based in Minneapolis.
With a background in science, Yasmin brings her research experience along with her to build relationships & understand context before creating her art. Her goal is to tell stories as authentically as possible to their essence, with integrity towards those that invite her into their lives — in the tradition of her East African oral-storytelling heritage. Yasmin recreates feelings in her imagery using the dynamic effects of light and color, while considering the lived experiences of those captured in relation to shared spaces and environments.
Yasmin was described as a ‘photographer to watch’ among the Top Ten winners of LensCulture’s Critics’ Choice Awards.
She is also a recipient of the Fresh Vantage Grant through the Saint Paul Neighborhood Network for her directing work.
