Photography as preservation
On diving to document climate change in the Caribbean
For the last few years I’ve been obsessed with using creativity to explore my Latino heritage’s connection to sustainability. I want to use my camera to understand climate change’s effect on our culture, history, and future.
If you know me irl, you know helping people preserve their memories through photography is a genuine source of joy for me. So when the opportunity to photograph Black and Brown youth diving for coral reef preservation in my mother’s homeland of Honduras last year, I jumped at the chance.
(p.s: if you want to hear more about how God led me to this opportunity, let me know in the comments and I’ll share the tea in a separate letter)
The Journey to Honduras
This trip would require me to learn how to photograph underwater, so I took the leap and invested in my first Go Pro camera. Next I braided my hair into blonde twists, packed a carryon bag full of swimsuits, prepped my camera gear, and boarded a flight to Roatan, Honduras to meet fourteen BIPOC youth from around the USA for Diving With A Purpose CARES program. We waited in an obnoxiously long line of mostly white tourists, passed immigration check, squished into a van with no AC and drove to a port on the coast of the island.
On our way we passed Punta Gorda, the area where my mom’s family is from (and the oldest settlement of Garifuna people in the Caribbean). From there, we boarded a boat and sailed a choppy two hour ride to the small island of Guanaja.
When we arrived, we were greeted by a local non profit group of brilliant Guanajan youth. We spent the week surveying the coral reefs on the island and monitoring the health of the marine ecology, but more importantly we got to know one another. This kind of cultural connection, diving and coral surveying work matters because it’s preservation of land, culture, people, customs and ecosystems that will literally disappear if we dont pay attention now.
Documenting this DWP CARES program was the type of human-centered climate storytelling work that my 2020 self dreamt of being a part of.
But it took a few years and a new level of faith to arrive here.
The path less traveled
My transition into sustainable work was slow. For the first couple years, it was challenging to find my place in this rapidly evolving market of sustainability, climate awareness and climate justice. Sure, the online job market is tough, but even harder was letting go of my “do it all” mentality as my safety net. Nothing I did in my own efforts worked. It wasn’t until I threw in the towel and went to God completely that any results began to appear. I mean it when I say it was God who positioned me for this
Because of God’s timing and grace I am now working in climate storytelling in ways that are genuinely soul-nourishing. The irony of pursuing a creative career in sustainability is that it to keep yourself sustained throughout is the biggest challenge.
I’ve learned so much in the last two years about how to take care when the road seems impossible, how to build faith in the void, how to refine and pivot the vision, and how to take the path of least resistance toward opportunities that align with my purpose and God’s will for my life.
I’m working on a program that will share everything I know about pivoting into a career in sustainability from this lens. More soon.
For now enjoy these awe tings :)
3 Awe ‘Tings
a short list of awe-inspiring content to help you through your week
📹 Celia Cruz and her boo two words: sequins and swag. periodt.
🎧 How to Leave Work at Work Mexican’s cultural approach to work-life balance
🎵 Leslie Odom Junior’s this a cappella rendition of ‘Loved’ gave me goosebumps