Purity from Broken Lenses
It all began on the Riverline on my way to teach a painting class. On this Riverline you see all kinds of people. Single mothers, families, addicts, the homeless, and working individuals. They all serve some sort of purpose, right? As I look into the eyes of some of these people reads unhappiness, the kind you experience when you mourn. Mourning from a loss of youth. The innocence lost from being forced to become adults & having to deal with the current textures of time. So I began taking photographs and editing them in black in white for the subject to be the sole focus.
Two years later I’m on the Metro and I have the pleasure of meeting this lovely couple, also known as the “Vodka Twins”. They stumbled on the train and the man was a bit irritated, passengers looking at them with judgment as if they were creatures from another planet. They both took a seat & the woman said “we are not here to hurt anybody” as she revealed her crooked smile. From there they expressed to me where they grew up, how they met at the bar, shared the same birthday, and even how much she love psychology. We exchanged love and laughs until our departure. With glee and bliss, they waved goodbye and this is how the project was born.
How they’re remembered
Luis Rivera
Born January 4th, 1961 in Brooklyn and Raised in Trenton. Luis is the oldest out of three brothers and one sister. He’s family oriented and would do anything to protect them. Back in his day he would work out “Not too big” as he says and boxed for fun. He was known as a heavy hitter in Trenton, those around would ask him “Yo Luis why you hit so hard?” After his hands collapsed, he became heartbroken since this sport was all he knew.
His favorite memories are the days spent helping his dad load trucks and how he encouraged him until the job was done. As well as simply being a kid jumping on the bed with his favorite brother.
Luis is a beautiful soul and unfortunately has become a statistic in the community. However, the innocent little boy still exists at his core.
