Self-Portrait:
Raizes (Roots)

I am a child of parents who migrated to the U.S.A with their baby boy in search of some economic opportunity. I am also a person who has struggled heavily with body image issues ever since I was a young child. I have no memory of life in Mexico. I also don't remember a time in my childhood where I felt like I was allowed to feel comfortable with how I looked. Whether it was in the implied or direct remarks of my peers and subsequently my own thoughts, I often found my "worth" being devalued because of my weight, height, skin color, ect. 

My goal with this series of photographs was to pay homage to the cultural roots of Mexico; the country that holds the majority of my ancestral origins. By capturing myself as the main subject, I also sought to confront my own negative body image and replace what once were negative views of what made me "different" with celebratory appreciation of who I am and where I come from.