Rebeca, 2009; Digital Print
Priscilla Mercedes Vazquez Photographer ~ Illustrator
P
riscilla Mercedes is a photographer and illustrator. She was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico and currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. She received
a BFA in Media Arts with a concentration in Photography from Pratt Institute in 2009. Priscilla is always full of creative energy, and enjoys searching for new outlets and means of production. Her work has been featured in the newspapers El Vocero and El Nuevo Día, as well as the University of Puerto Rico’s magazine, Diálogos and the Czech Republic’s Lime Magazine. She has shot for the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Metro Magazine, and The New York Times City Blog. She has exhibited with the Puerto Rican Society for Artistic Photography and presented work in the 2009 Framing AIDS exhibit at the Queens Museum of Art.
Acacias, 2009; Digital Print
Carcel Ventana Azul, 2009; Digital Print
Curas, 2009; Digital Print
priscilla@priscillamercedes.com priscillamercedes.com 917.733.1506
EDUCATION AWARDS AND HONORS RELATED PROFESSIONAL WORK
Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY BFA Media Arts/ Photography Outstanding Merit Award, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY Gotryke.com, New York, NY 2009-present Freelance Contributor Concert photography and videography Album reviews Absolutelee Studios, New York, NY 2009-present Freelance Studio Assistant Document artist’s production in the studio Prepare artwork for shipping Freelance Photographer 2007-present Worked on photography projects with various oraganizations such as Metro Magazine, The Brooklyn Museum, and The Brooklyn International Film Festival. Suza Scalora Photography, New York, NY Oct.- Dec. 2009 Online Marketing Manager Research and explore emerging online media to increase the effectiveness of marketing and advertising Devoloped promotional campaigns in online marketing and social media News-Drops.com, New York, NY 2009 Photography Editor Produce editorial work to be featured with articles Seek out photo essays for publication on website Consult on requirements for photo and video content AFG Management, New York , NY Jan.- March 2009 Studio Assistant Researched visual references and locations for fashion shoots Prepared producer’s books for on-location shoots Organized photographer’s portfolios Whiplash Studios, New York , NY 2006 Production Assistant Prepared equipment for video shoots Assisted Art Director in Set Design
Lovers, 2009; Digital Print
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Daussy, Benjamin. “Naomi Shelton” ABS Magazine. February, 2010. The New York Times. “Ask a Graffiti Artist” City Room Blog. March 1, 2010. Garcia Benitez, Mariana. “Roedor de Grandes Ojos” Dialogo. August, 2008. BeeBee. “Sofia Maldonado” Lime. June, 2009. Delgado, Gloribel. “Los Muros Pintados de Futuro” El Nuevo día. November 8, 2008: 75.
EXHIBITIONS
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Queens Museum of Art; Queens, NY: December, 2009 Cafe Seda, San Juan, PR: July, 2009 Errores Fotograficos, Nuestro Son; Rio Piedras, PR: July, 2009 Epilogue, 111 Front St. Galleries; Brooklyn, NY: April, 2009 El pulguero de los artistas, Parque Luis Muñoz Rivera; San Juan, PR: April, 2009 *Translation, Steuben Gallery; Brooklyn, NY: March, 2009 200 dentro de 1, ARWI Feria de Arte y Vino; San Juan, PR 2008
Cruz, 2009; Digital Print
Cena, 2009; Digital Print
Translation
Senior Project for Pratt Institute
March 26, 2009
P
hotography, like translation, is never an actual representation of what was there, but rather the combination of the original and the artist’s knowledge to capture the essence of the scene or the piece. My work serves as a translation in this regard, I am presenting the quintessence of Gabriel García Marquez’s works; the heat and loneliness of a town that once was great and is now dying. For him that is Latin America, for me that is the global community. In my work, I have transformed images of people from contemporary news stories into the silhouettes of characters in Macondo, Garcia Marquez’s fictional town. Silhouettes replace realistic representations of individual in an attempt to remove all traces of ethnicity while maintaining all traces of humanity.
In this body of work I am depicting One Hundred Years of Solitude. I have chosen to represent this work because it unfolds in a space where the cruelty in love and the beauty in death are linked to the political corruption of a fading place. Considered by many to be one of the greatest Latin American writers of all time, he created a world within his stories that not only transcends reality by working fantastical elements into the storylines, but also deals with the essence of Latin America, within itself and in the face of the rest of the world. His work is magic realism, where fantastical elements form part of the story and are not the center of it, and politicians are capable of selling the oceans. To paraphrase Marquez: the conquistadors must have been amazed to travel through dense rainforest only to find people whose voices brought on the rains.
Hermit, 2009; Digital Print
Huerto, 2009; Digital Print
Framing AIDS 2009
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Exhibit Statement
November 29, 2009
S
imilar to a caravan wandering lost in the desert we are left to fend for ourselves, seeking refuge from the rising sun. Many lay sick, watching
savings go towards healthcare premiums that in the end do little to cover the high cost of health. While much of the focus of healthcare reform has been on extending coverage to those without, little has been done to lower the escalating cost of coverage and care. A study from Harvard University found that half of all bankruptcy filings were due, in part, to medical expenses, even though more than half of these individuals had health insurance. Why has healthcare not been tax deductible for individuals, as it has been for businesses? Why are our tax dollars going towards funding everything from wars, schools, and aid in other countries, while Americans file for bankruptcy because of medical expenses? We seek coverage, in a desert; unable to find the oasis we need to save ourselves. There is no food to be found in this arid land, no shelter
Red Sun in the Morning, 2009; Digital Print
from the intensifying rays. Those we elected to help us find it do not know the way.
Tratado, 2009; Digital Print
All images are the sole property of Priscilla Mercedes
Aureliano Babilonia, 2008; Digital Print