Belonging creates boundaries. Spaces in which we feel at home, and spaces in which we feel excluded. How can we redefine the notion of belonging? Is it a place? A moment of connection? An experience of safety? A person? The space they leave behind?
Like many of us during the three years of covid, I have lost a loved one. These tragedies force us to confront ourselves and our place in the world, bereft of a touchstone that shaped it. Loss can bring out the best of us, but also the worst. How can we process such an event?
This project is a process of exploration. An attempt to understand the foundations of love, life and legacy. When we lose a loved one, we must redefine how we belong in a new, strangely unfamiliar world. Memorializing the moments of a life allow us to celebrate the past, and look into our own future. A moment to be vulnerable, and reevaluate our sense of belonging.
The Acevedo family welcomed me into their home to create a project that asks these questions, that invites the viewer to relate. To belong. To redefine loss as an opportunity to discover who we are, that we belong to each other. We are all we have.
TEAM CREDITS
PHOTOGRAPHER + CO-DIRECTOR: Darren Vargas
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY + CO-DIRECTOR: Celeste Barbosa
PRODUCER: Ben Shmikler
1st PHOTO ASSISTANT: Saul Barrera
2nd PHOTO ASSISTANT + BTS: Alyssa Gonzales
1st A.C.: Vik Gros
AUDIO TECH: Rocio Parades
WARDROBE STYLIST: Mel Gordillo
PROP STYLIST + SET DESIGN: Rosie Benson
TALENT: Margarita Acevedo and Jesse Acevedo
Darren Vargas
Photographer / Director
Darren is a Mexican American photographer located in Los Angeles, Ca.
He is known for his method of organic storytelling and creating timeless and memorable moments in his portraits that evoke vulnerability. The foundation of his work is authenticity, and he strives to foster an environment where viewers can personally connect by bringing their own experiences into the work.
217 Centre Street, Floor 7
New York, NY 10013
East Coast: 212.279.2252
West Coast: 310.341.3132
Midwest: 312.735.8835
ALL VISUAL MATERIALS PRESENTED ON THIS WEBSITE ARE ORIGINAL WORKS BY THE AMP MENTEES ©2023. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THESE MATERIALS MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED, STORED IN A RETRIEVAL SYSTEM, OR TRANSMITTED IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, WITHOUT THE PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT OF THE COPYRIGHT OWNER.
Designed by Kristine Arth of Lobster Phone & Darnell Scott / Site Development by Bruno Tatsumi + Mariana Torres of U.I.W.D & Darnell Scott